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Though Barbara Bush wears clothes by other designers, Arnold Scaasi has come to be known as her favorite because it was he who created her "Barbara Blue" inaugural gown and because it is he who continues to make many of her dressy clothes and glamorous evening gowns. But he makes it absolutely clear right at the beginning of a conversation that, first, fashion is not her priority and, second, there'll be no secrets revealed about her upcoming wardrobe because, as he so diplomatically puts it, "She seems not to like to have people know what she's going to wear before she appears in it."

Mary Tyler Moore applauded the collection from a * front-row seat, and so did Princess Yasmin Aga Khan Jeffries, Patty Hearst Shaw, Patricia Kennedy Lawford and Alice de Blanc Cramer. Alice may have been the only La Jollan among the 125 clients invited to view Arnold Scaasi's made-to-order finery, but you would have recognized many another face in the crowd.

Baton Rouge had some mighty happy dogs when their young owners completed Wok 'n Whisk's class, "Dog's Best Friend." Teacher Cecilia Dalme, assisted by her son, Clay Shields, instructed the children in the making of dog biscuits. Students learned to carefully measure and mix their ingredients, which can be found in any home pantry. Dalme then let the children roll the dough and cut out cookies in many shapes, including fire hydrants, large and small bones and cats. After the biscuits were baked, each student took home an entire tray of warm treats.

Arnold Scaasi sculpts clothes in dramatic silhouettes with the finest of fabrics and washes them with bold, meant-to-be-noticed colors. "I'm the only American who does made-to-order," says Mr. Scaasi, who buys his fabrics in Europe. "Not every designer is equipped to do it psychologically.

Fate has some cruel sorrows in its quiver, and the story of Rita Hayworth, who slid from sex goddess to Alzheimer's victim inside of three decades, is one of them. The way Hollywood and life devoured Marilyn Monroe is a better known parable, but it can't be any more wounding than this one. Listen to her daughter talk, a daughter who nursed her mother in her own Manhattan apartment until she died two years ago. The daughter's * name is Princess Yasmin Aga Khan Jeffries, and she is nearly 40 years old and remarkably beautiful in several senses of that word.