HOT TIPS : SHOW YOUR SPIRIT VIA OLYMPIC LOOK.

Byline: Barbara De Witt 

You can be on the U.S. Olympic team, too.

For a vicarious thrill while you're watching the Games beginning next week, zip up a Ralph Lauren navy-and-white nylon hooded jacket with warm-up pants for would-be runners or a bright yellow waterproof laminated jacket with a USA logo tank top for water sports at department stores like Macy's and Saks Fifth Avenue. Chic, but not cheap - you'll pay $75 and up per item, or you can shadow box in the living room in a knock-off of the U.S. Olympic Boxing Team's official boxers for only $18. The stars-and-stripes shorts have extra punch appeal with a tiny Taz cartoon character holding the Olympic torch.

Got a kidlet who wants to join the team, too? Let her play coach to Mattel's new Olympic Gymnast Barbie doll for $15. The doll comes dressed in a leotard with the official 1996 Olympic Games logo, with a special tumbling ring for flips and somersaults, plus a gold medal around her neck.

Shopper's alert: Love all those retro fixtures you see in postwar bungalows and Victorian cottages? At the new Restoration Hardware store at the Promenade Mall, 6100 Topanga Canyon Blvd., Woodland Hills, you can find vintage-inspired heater registers, hinges, doorknobs and knockers, mail boxes and dresser pulls. There's also some cool furniture that's sort of like the stuff you'll find at Eddie Bauer Home Stores and the Pottery Barn, but there's an emphasis on masculine tastes, including old-fashioned cigar clippers and a leather Teddy Roosevelt chair. For information, call [phone].

Volunteers needed: Bored? Lonely? Spending Saturday nights sharing kibble with your dog? Get a life, Miz Hot Tips advises, and consider signing up as a docent for Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House in Barnsdall Art Park, or as a tour guide for the Autry Museum of Western Heritage. Think of it: You'll feel needed and appreciated, learn some local history and maybe make some new friends. Of course, there's no guarantee about getting a better Saturday night date than Spike or Fluffy, but it's worth the risk. To sign up at Hollyhock House, call Sarah Stephenson Keyes at [phone]. For information on the Autry Museum, call Betty Shermer at [phone], Ext. 242.

Get off the sofa: Does your pet think your sofa is his sofa? While you love them, cats and dogs do have a way of taking over all the comfy spots in the house, leaving dirty paw prints and loads of hair. Sure, you can yell at them, spray those ineffective sprays to keep them off or even try a life-size cat statue, which, according to Miz Hot Tips' mom, really does work.

A more scientific method, however, is the new Sofa Saver, a battery-operated training device that lays across the sofa and emits a loud noise when activated by the touch of a paw. Honest, there's no shocks or anything to your pet, just a noisy reprimand.

Best of all, the device has a blinking light that tells you if Spike used ear plugs and sat on the sofa in your absence. It's $29.88 in the R.C. Steele pet supply catalog. To order, call [phone].

MEMO: Hot Tips appears every Saturday. If you have a hot tip on a new product or place, write to Barbara De Witt, Daily News Features Department, P.O. Box 4200, Woodland Hills, Calif. 91365-4200.

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Photo: A replica of the U.S. Olympic team's boxing shorts a re available for $18 at Macy's and Saks Fifth Avenue.