EVITA! EVITA! : SOME THINK MADONNA VEHICLE WILL FUEL DRESS-UP TREND AGAIN.

Byline: Barbara De Witt Daily News Fashion Editor

``Evita'' just might inspire us to dress up again. After all, Madonna has been known to start a fashion trend or two.

The extravagant musical starring Madonna as Argentina's first lady Eva ``Evita'' Peron, doesn't open in theaters until Christmas Day, but retailers are ready to give us the whole picture - from those nipped suits to open-toed pumps with thick Cuban heels and veiled cocktail hats.

With the movie, the music and Madonna, style watchers are hopeful that the high-maintenance look will return.

``The timing is right for the look,'' says Leon Hall, spokesman for the New York-based Fashion Association and fashion critic for the E! Entertainment Network, ``as it's coming at a time when women are sick of little black slip dresses ... but I think its biggest influence will be seen on the periphery, through sleek chignon hairstyles, carefully planned makeup, prominent jewelry and luxurious accessories - including fur. After all, the essence of the `Evita' look is head-to-toe glamour.''

Bloomingdale's, the New York department store that recently opened in Southern California, opened in-store Evita boutiques this month, featuring a selection of Evita-friendly designers.

Kal Ruttenstein, senior vice president and fashion director of Bloomingdale's stores, said he got the idea last May when he heard about the film. ``I was curious about the costumer, so I called Disney and saw clips of the film and stills (photographs). We got excited about it ... and met with several designers and started coordinating the collection so designers wouldn't overlap. We wanted the clothes to be inspired but not total copies, to appeal to all ages. And it's worked, as we've been selling Nicole Miller's polka dot dresses to mothers and their daughters,'' he said.

Other hot sellers, Ruttenberg said, are Victor Costa's version of Evita's white coronation gown and the lace matilla, which he said was sold out and being reordered.

``It's definitely captured the interest of our customers,'' Ruttenstein said, ``and while our boutique will close Jan. 9, I don't think a film of this importance can go unnoticed ... so I think we'll see more of the tailored, body-conscious look in the spring.''

Although designers tried bringing back the '40s suit a couple of years ago, they didn't have a vehicle like Madonna, whom Ruttenstein describes as having great taste.

According to Ruttenberg, ``Madonna sets fashion trends and music trends, and I think everyone is interested in what she wears. For instance, John Galliano created the pink ensemble she wore to the `Evita' premiere as his first couture gown for Christian Dior. Her look and this film will reinforce her position as a glamorous movie star.''

About the Evita boutique.

Los Angeles-based A.B.S. is, perhaps, the most-inspired participant with a 40-piece Evita collection of flirty velvet-trimmed suits, long day-dresses and satin evening gowns with stoles that also are available at A.B.S. stores.

Tahari, known for its career clothes, has several dark wool suits with the nipped waist and button detail, while Nicole Miller and Jill Stuart favored silk dresses with polka dots and flowers. Victor Costa gowns and Adrienne Landau's fake furs add the formal touches to the collection.

Accessories galore are provided by R.J. Graziano, Deborah Rhodes, Steve Madden, Color & Optics, Cejon, Carolee. The boutique also features Ferragamo shoes, which were worn by both Madonna and the real Evita.

Also at Bloomingdale's is an exclusive Face of Evita cosmetic collection from Estee Lauder, available now through January. It's a huge collection - 17 items - that focus on ruby red lips and nails.

While Bloomingdale's has focused on the movie for its boutique, with pictures and T-shirts of Madonna as the tragic heroine who died of cancer at age 33, women who don't even know who Evita was have caught '40s fashion fever.

One of the reasons, suggests Hall, are the Christian Dior fashion exhibits at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

``Not only was Dior's New Look (nipped jackets with extended shoulders worn over full skirts) a favorite style of Eva Peron, but every major designer was at the New York exhibit, so I expect it will influence their collections,'' Hall suggested.

Ruttenstein only hopes that it's not overdone. ``The '40s look requires someone with fashion sense and originality to carry it head to toe, as it's a tongue-in-cheek look,'' he said.

To make the '40s look contemporary, keep it simple, suggests Lee Hogan Cass, director of the Los Angeles chapter of the Fashion Group International. ``The three things I would do to avoid turning the outfit into a costume, are change the shoe to a more current style, avoid extreme hemlines and adjust the accessories. If you're going to wear Evita's five-strand pearls, then nix the brooch,'' Cass advised.

From vogue-ing to Vogue

Remember the tube skirts and all those rosary beads? And what about the ice cream cone-cup bras worn as outerwear and the fab-but-fake ponytail?

Madonna has come a long way since her ``Like A Virgin'' tour of 1984, when girls went wild and parents went crazy over her outrageous, belly-baring ensembles and like-a-slut eye makeup.

Although she's raked in the bucks and awards for nine top-of-the-chart albums in 11 years, it is Madonna's sex appeal and personal style more than her voice that have made her a pop culture icon.

And just when you think she's reached her peak and has nothing more to show us, she reinvents herself again and again, sometimes shocking our socks off. She's been the bad girl, the sort-of-good girl, the sort-of-girl (her androgynous period), the '30s siren, Marilyn Monroe, the rock 'n' roll queen and now Evita, the Argentine first lady who never (well, rarely) left home without her hat and gloves.

Some fans may say the Material Girl has sold out, no longer breaking the fashion rules. If she has to keep on changing (after all, she's now 38 and a mother), Madonna seems well-suited to the ``Evita'' look of smart suits and polished hair and makeup. But, then again, maybe she's just vogue-ing for the cover of Vogue.

Essence of Evita

If you have a yearning for those romantic days of another time and place, but you don't fancy yourself with a moth-eaten fur and ratty old alligator purse from the thrift store, this story's for you.

You can join the ``Evita'' fan club with the new-again '40s look in fashion. Start with a fake chignon, red lips and a little veiled hat. Then check out these Evita-friendly labels at Bloomingdale's new Evita boutique, A.B.S. shops and numerous other stores.

A.B.S.: This Los Angeles-based manufacturer and chain store has a 40-piece Evita collection with polka-dot dresses, fishtail gowns and a beige suit with black velvet trim that looks a lot like one in ``Evita.''

Carolee: They have the five-strand faux pearl necklace and in-your-face jewels to complete the look.

Christian Dior: His vintage New Look designs were an Evita fave.

Ferragamo: Those high-heeled pumps with thick Cuban heels were hot then and now. Other '40s details are ankle straps and open toes (to show red toenails).

Estee Lauder: Any bright red lipstick and nail polish will get you in a '40s mood, but this cosmetic company has the complete ``Face of Evita'' kit.

Nicole Miller: She has those flirty little bustline-caressing silk polka-dot dresses like Madonna wears as a young Evita.

Jill Stuart: Long chiffon dresses with the spirit of Evita in contemporary silhouettes.

Tahari: You'll find plenty of dark wool suits with fitted jackets for the office.

The real ``Evita''

You've seen the magazine layouts and the promos for the movie featuring Madonna in ``Evita,'' but as omnipresent as Madonna is, we don't want to forget the real Evita.

Just the facts, please: Maria Eva ``Evita'' Duarte de Peron was born in 1919 in Los Toldos, Argentina. She was one of five children in a poor family, and at age 15 ran off to Buenos Aires to become an actress. She did, on radio, and became a hot babe around town.

The man of her dreams: In classic rags-to-riches fashion, 24-year-old Evita meets 48-year-old Col. Juan Domingo Peron, and she moves in. They marry in '45 and immediately hit the campaign trail, which results in Peron becoming president of Argentina in '46.

Her claim to fame: As Argentina's first lady, Evita was attractive, charming and a swell dresser, known for spending big bucks on Dior gowns and Ferragamo shoes. But she also was a do-gooder, best known for getting the rich to give to the poor and channeling it through the Social Aid Foundation, which she created.

Her rise to power: Having reached her goals of becoming an actress and a rich man's wife, Evita got involved in politics, acting as her husband's contact with the country's labor unions and later creating the Peronist Women's Party (Argentine women didn't get the vote until 1947). In 1951, she put her blond ambition to the test, running for vice president of her husband's campaign ticket.

And the unhappy ending: Evita didn't win (the idea of a woman leader didn't go over too well with the men in power); got a bad rap for spending too much money on herself; and a year later, on July 26, 1952, died of uterine cancer.

CAPTION(S):

15 Photos, 3 Photos

Photo: (1--Color) The satin gown and stole are part of the new Evita collection by A.B.S., priced at $299.

(2-3--Color) The flirty little polka dot dress worn by Madonna in ``Evita,'' at right, has been interpreted by Nicole Miller for Bloomingdale's Evita boutique and priced at $330. Pearl necklace by Carolee, $110; makeup from the Face of Evita collection by Estee Lauder.

(4-5--Color) You, too, can reign in style with Victor Costa's copy of Evita's coronation gown, priced at $665 at Bloomingdale's.

(5-6--Color) Evita didn't always wear gowns and suits. When she was ready to tango she preferred ruffly floral designs like this red-rose number by Jill Stuart, $328, at Bloomingdale's Evita boutique.

(7-8--Color) To get that '40s flair, suit up in Tahari's retro-inspired suit with a subtle windowpane plaid accented with piping (skirt, $180; jacket, $340) topped with a cocktail hat by Deborah Rhodes, $188 at Bloomingdale's.

(9--Color) Ferragamo, the favorite shoe brand of the real Evita Peron, is part of the Bloomingdale's Evita boutique.

(10) No caption (Eva Peron in suit and hat)

(11) No caption (Eva Peron)

(12) No caption (Madonna looking like Marilyn Monroe)

(13) No caption (Madonna in her rock 'n' roll phase)

(14) No caption (Vogue magazine cover with Madonna as Evita)

(15) No caption (Model dressed in Evita-like fashions)

John McCoy/Daily News

Box: (1) Essence of Evita (See text)

(2) The real Evita (See text)

(3) From vogue-ing to Vogue (See text)