‘Tis Season for Wedding Wear

Now that the big to-do in Japan is over, we can focus on What Really Matters in this town--celebrity weddings!

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Memphis-based Pat Kerr, whose designs are on the cover of three bridal books--including pal Martha Stewart’s--arrives today for Sunday’s Malibu wedding of Paul Mitchell’s John Paul De Joria to Eloise Broady, the beautiful blond model who appears in ads for her fiance’s hair care products.

Kerr’s dress for Broady is “very feminine and romantic,” says Kerr, with an off-the-shoulder, low-cut, fitted bodice, dropped waist, Dior-like scoop skirt, and the designer’s trademark antique lace and ribbon-edged tulle. De Joria, Kerr explains, saw a gown she’d made for Maureen Starkey (Ringo’s ex) for her marriage to Kerr’s stepson, Isaac Tigrett (Hard Rock Cafe).

More Wedded Bliss: Vera Wang, best known lately for Sharon Stone’s unforgettable Academy Awards gown, will show her “very modern,” fall collection of wedding gowns today at I. Magnin in Beverly Hills. Wang says most of the gowns are very narrow and unadorned, which seem to “fit right into the whole Armani minimalist aesthetic in L.A.” Even if Wang’s pricey gowns aren’t in a bride-to-be’s budget, a girl could pick up some tricks of the trade from Wang, a former Vogue stylist.

Like . . . wear a plain white suit, but dress it up with an elaborate veil. Or buy a gown from Wang’s bridesmaid collection--at $350, it won’t have the exquisite detailing and fabric found in her $1,000-and-up bridal gowns, but it will, she promises, be chic and simple. Lastly, swath yourself in tulle. Ten to 12 yards of the stuff, at just a few dollars a yard, ought to do the trick.

Wang, who designed the gown singer Mariah Carey was recently married in, will share more advice in a wedding video she’ll shoot this summer.

Closing Time: Beverly Hills is abuzz over the apparent demise of three boutiques at Two Rodeo Drive, home of Tiffany’s, Cartier and Jose Eber, among others. In the last two weeks, things at Ferre, Krizia and Ungaro, all owned by the beautiful and charitable Winnie Schweitzer, seemed to have ground to a halt. Aldo Pinto, chief executive officer of Krizia, blamed the failure of the boutique on the recession and a case of bad timing:

All that Two Rodeo Drive spokeswoman June Miller will say is that she can’t say anything right now because of “legalities.” Stay tuned.

Who’s the Fairest of Them All?: “The women here today look ‘chiquer’ than in New York,” said Harper’s Bazaar Editor Elizabeth Tilberis. “Really!” she added, before anyone at the I. Magnin luncheon in her honor late last week had uttered a single protest. And why should they? The mostly tall, mostly flawless, mostly society women looked mostly fabulous! And why shouldn’t they?

“Yeah, I bet she says that everywhere,” quipped one society subversive sitting at a lily-laden table.

“The pressure’s on,” mock-complained another, “now we’ll have to buy something on the way out!” (Socialite Betsy Bloomingdale, who cut out early, made a beeline for the shoe salon.)

Only baggy-white-pants-and-beeper-clad actress Shari Belafonte seemed oblivious to out-chic-ing New York. “I didn’t even know where this place was ,” she confided on her way out. But minutes later, driving down Wilshire Boulevard, Belafonte--top down on her cocoa brown Mercedes, smearing on sunscreen--seemed to know exactly where she was going.

Tales of a Tightwad: We made a foray to Designer Labels for Less and spotted a sophisticated dress made of coffee-colored heavy rayon by Barneys New York private label for $62, less than half of the original price. An even better bargain on Sepulveda’s outlet row was at the M. Frederic outlet, where, hanging on the damaged rack, was an undamaged floaty floral print dress with tagua nut buttons for $15.95.