BOULEVARD FASHION : VALLEY'S CLOTHING MECCA LETS YOUR STYLE SHINE THROUGH.

Byline: Barbara De Witt Daily News Fashion Editor

Designer fashions, thrift-store chic, country, career and couture - you'll find all these fashions on Ventura Boulevard.

Tucked between coffeehouses and antique stores are little jewels of personal style where wearable art and personal service are the norm.

Take Camille, for example. The new boutique in Sherman Oaks near Woodman Avenue has a cozy ambience with covered deck chairs and a mini-bar where customers can sip sherry while they peruse easy-to-wear sportswear by street-savvy manufacturers including Carol Le Valley and Flax.

Owner Bill Thomas has kept prices pretty realistic, with dresses under $100, and there's a wealth of accessories, from plaid tights to handmade hats, allowing you to pull together a complete ensemble without ever leaving the dressing room.

Meanwhile, down The Boulevard in Studio City, a funky boutique called Patricia Miles has pink sequins on its walls and pink and purple stars on the carpets. Owner-manager Miles dresses mannequins in wild wigs and arranges them on sofas to add to the eccentric flavor. Let her serve you champagne and pull drop-dead looks out of her special closets, just like she does for Roseanne, Brett Butler, Beverly D'Angelo and Janet Jackson.

A few doors down is Extra Touch, an elegant store with comfy sofas and never-empty bowls of candy, devoted to women who wear size 14 to 32. Owners Esther and George Nemes sell everything from intimate apparel to evening gowns, with brand names like After 5, Vikki Vi, A.P. Collection and Nah Nah.

Need something for Oscar night? No chance Armani or Valentino will be lending you a gown? Whether you're a size 2 or 16, you can find a swank dress and fur boa at Forever Young Resale in Sherman Oaks. The boutique specializes in designer clothes that have been worn once or twice but still look fab.

``We carry a lot of vintage clothes from the '30s and '40s, but most of our clothes are almost new, high-end designs purchased from private parties and the movie industry,'' said store manager Lisa Zohar.

Look around the well-stocked store, and you'll find piles of almost-new purses by Gucci, Fendi and Dooney & Bourke for about $100 each, as well as round racks of castoffs by Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Richard Tyler, Nolan Miller and Escada. Among the bargains were a blue St. John knit suit for $229; a gold-sequined column gown by Bob Mackie for $600; a Vicky Tiel leopard-print cocktail dress for $229; and an Armani slip dress for $159.

In one corner of the store is a cold-storage vault packed with furs, including a lush white fox boa for about $100. For more bargains, check out the back room, where everything is half-price. These gowns are not the best quality or particularly current, but if you need a dress that looks good at a distance, this is the place, says Zohar, who sells many of them to concert performers.

The boulevard is rich in such resale stores, each with its own particular cachet. At nearby Reel Clothes, you can find the actual apparel and accessories worn by your favorite TV or movie stars. In the alley-configured shop, you'll find costumes, wigs and accessories from ``2 Days in the Valley,'' ``The Birdcage,'' ``The Stupids,'' ``A Time to Kill'' and ``Daylight,'' as well as some cool black patent pumps worn by Bette Midler in ``Get Shorty,'' but in almost-perfect condition.

At the bright pink Iguana boutique near Van Nuys Boulevard, you'll find a fashionable blast from the past with oldies-but-goodies music blasting overhead.

It's the place where costume designers from TV shows such as ``Melrose Place,'' ``3rd Rock From the Sun'' and ``Beverly Hills, 90210'' shop for vintage styles such as '20s flapper dresses, poodle skirts, vintage Levi's 501s, platform shoes, polyester shirts and bell bottoms.

Unlike traditional thrift stores, which simply crowd everything onto a rack, Iguana has its wares organized by style and/or period, so you can shop by the decade.

Besides the film industry, the store's best customers are teen-agers. Said store manager Sheila Cohn, ``We get teens from local schools like Van Nuys High and Harvard-Westlake, as well as from Brentwood and Los Angeles, looking for bell bottoms and platform shoes for '70s parties.''

Think you have to drive over the hill for big-name designs? There are several shops along the boulevard that carry French and Italian designs, including Paris Bluff in the Courtyard Shops of Encino, which also offers Prada-like fashions by California Designer of the Year Janet Howard. The Paris-inspired boutique owned by Eileen Wizman is stocked with upscale leather goods, sweaters, evening dresses and sportswear for a cutting-edge clientele that includes Heather Locklear and Natalie Cole.

Want that new bridal gown worn by Carolyn Bessette Kennedy or Gucci's sleek new jersey gowns with those skin-baring cutouts? You can have a copy made just for you at Julie's in Encino.

In this small, unpretentious store owned by Julie and Luis Yanez, high school girls come in by the hundreds for custom-made prom dresses. Many learn of Julie's at the preprom fashion shows the store holds at local schools such as Taft and Kennedy, and they come clutching photos they ripped from magazines of dresses worn by stars.

With that picture and three fittings, Julie and her staff can create a close copy within three weeks, but the prices - which start at $300 - are an added enticement.

According to Julie Yanez, who also designs bridal and mother-of-the-bride ensembles, ``The most popular styles last year were Versace evening gowns and Chanel- or Armani-looking suits, but this spring we expect a lot of interest in the new Mrs. Kennedy's wedding gown, which we'll sell for about $600,'' she said.

When it comes to men's clothes, there are plenty of tuxedo rental shops in the area, but Ron Ross and Rick Pallack are the major players, specializing in customized suits and sportswear for those with discriminating taste.

At Pallack's in Sherman Oaks, where the warehouse is on The Boulevard, but the actual store is a few yards away, you'll find refined suits and sportcoats with an Armani look - but they're designed by Pallack, a graduate of Taft High School who started working out of his home and then opened his tony store 15 years ago. ``I knew I'd made it when Sylvester Stallone came in,'' said Pallack, whose clientele now includes Jay Leno, Bob Dole, Frank Sinatra and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

At the other end of the fashion spectrum - and The Boulevard - is King's Western Wear, which held court on Van Nuys Boulevard for 50 years, but moved to its three-level location in Studio City in 1996. A place where local equestrians and stars such as John Wayne and Gene Autry shopped, it's still a warm and friendly store with saloon-style doors on the dressing room, framed pictures of celebrity shoppers and the original horse statue out front, said family member Georgette King.

Once a place to buy saddles and curry combs, King's now focuses on western clothes for the cowboy in all of us. There are 3,000 pairs of boots in stock, jeans, snap-front shirts, fringed leather jackets and felt hats that they'll steam and shape while you wait.

CAPTION(S):

10 Photos

Photo: (1--Cover--Color) Looking fresh on The Boulevard are '70s-inspired designs like this iridescent jacket by Cizi, $219; geometric print shirt by Claude Zana Paris, $99; and boot-cut pants by Tark 1, $149, from Paris Bluff in Encino.

(2--Color) Take a casually chic fashion stance with an unbuttoned polo shirt, $100; worn under a glen plaid sports jacket, $395, from Rick Pallack in Sherman Oaks.

(3--Color) There's a return to old Hollywood elegance along The Boulevard, with a new interest in '40s-style suits like this double-breasted crepe stripe style by Rick Pallack, $650, updated with a solid-color tie.

(4--5--Color) Patricia Miles boutique in Studio City is known for its zany proprietor and funky fashions. Miles' clientele includes TV stars such as Roseanne and ``Grace Under Fire's'' Brett Butler.

(6--Color) Ventura Boulevard is loaded with upscale resale stores, including Forever Young Resale in Sherman Oaks, where you find designer gowns like this Oleg Cassini handkerchief-hemmed beaded style, $329, accented with a white fox boa, $100.

(7--Color) For Casual Fridays or lunch on The Boulevard, look for comfy clothes like this A-line design by Flax, $68, with plaid tights, available at Camille in Sherman Oaks.

(8--Color) no caption (Palm Trees)

(9) For those ``black tie optional'' soirees, go for the ``Casablanca'' look of a classic ivory shawl-collar dinner jacket, $450, at Rick Pallack.

(10) Designer fashions fit for the Valley's laid-back lifestyle are available at several boutiques along The Boulevard, including Paris Bluff in the Courtyard Shops of Encino, where you'll find this iridescent jacket by Cizi in a variety of colors.

Photos by David Sprague and Tina Gerson/Daily News