TINSELTOWN SPYWITNESS.

A NIGHT AT THE `FACTORY': Sienna Miller, dressed in a peach-colored silk dress, was shivering uncontrollably at the outdoor La Dolce Vita party that launched the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Thursday night. Her chills weren't due only to excitement surrounding the premiere of ``Factory Girl,'' the cold evening or party decor that included fanciful costumes and characters from Fellini's ``8 1/2.''

``It's very emotional screening the movie here, where Edie Sedgwick was born and died, because many locals feel it's their story,'' Miller said about her portrayal of the Andy Warhol muse who overdosed in 1971 at age 28. ``Edie had charisma in bagfuls, and I worked hard to capture it.''

The late icon's older brother Jonathan Sedgwick found it jolting to relive experiences from the 1960s when his sister was known as the ``It Girl'' and, as Warhol put it, ``famous for 15 minutes.''

``I met my sister again when I saw Sienna on screen,'' said Sedgwick, who takes issue with ``absurd accusations of family abuse'' in the film. ``She captured Edie's voice, her mannerisms, her purity and her ability to manipulate everyone.''

Co-star Guy Pearce, director George Hickenlooper, festival executive director Roger Durling and Edie's widower Michael Post discussed the relevance of the film.

`` `Factory Girl' should be required viewing for Paris Hilton and anyone else enjoying 15 minutes of fleeting fame today,'' said Durling, who's attracted more than 30 Oscar nominees to the festival.

Miller planned to retreat to her snug cottage at the San Ysidro Ranch in the hills while most others -- including Helen Mirren, Will Smith and Tom Cruise -- stayed at the Four Seasons Biltmore on the coast.

``Edie always tried to do things a bit differently,'' Miller said as she wrapped a borrowed bone-print scarf around her bare shoulders.

THE HOUSE THAT FASHION BUILT: Hollywood fashion designer Randolph Duke's latest creation has forced Angelina Jolie, Felicity Huffman, Sharon Stone, Jennifer Lopez, Katharine McPhee and other hot clients to look elsewhere for red-carpet couture

``Building this house was like designing a collection, but it took two years instead of two months,'' Duke said at a birthday/housewarming/book-signing party hosted by Crustacean at Duke's just-completed multilevel home in the Hollywood Hills. ``But instead of using pins, I had to tear down walls whenever I changed the design, which, unfortunately, was very often.''

The 49-year-old known as ``The Duke of the Stars'' is now developing a fashion-oriented reality TV show. But he's somewhat disenchanted with the rag trade.

``I design dresses to make each woman feel like she's a queen for a day,'' Duke said as he ate garlic noodles and signed a copy of ``The Look: A Guide to Dressing From the Inside Out.'' ``But now everyone wants to be paid to wear a designer's dress on the red carpet and it's all about money, contracts and agents.''

On the culinary front, Duke's not the only one enthused that family-owned Crustacean -- the Beverly Hills Euro-

Vietnamese eatery that's a favorite for Ben Affleck, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Denzel Washington, Heidi Klum and Seal -- has branched into catering.

``You mean now I don't even have to come to the restaurant to eat your food?'' Leonardo DiCaprio asked Catherine An, who flew in from the inauguration of a Vietnamese exhibit at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., to help chef Helene An oversee Duke's bash.

Expect both Leo and Duke to attend Crustacean's three-day 10th-year anniversary party at its just-renovated restaurant in late April.

TALKING ABOUT `BABEL': There were amusing, candid, confidential, embarrassing and emotional moments during ``Babel's'' relatively smooth sail to its seven Oscar nominations.

Cate Blanchett's declaration that she wasn't wearing any underwear in honor of the film's ensemble cast award at the Palm Springs Film Festival got the most laughs. But it was also fun to overhear the conversation between Rinko Kikuchi and Sharon Stone concerning their experiences with on-screen nudity.

Brad Pitt, who admitted that he's ``grossly overpaid'' after observing the performances of the many unprofessional actors in the film, says he's still not sure if the title is pronounced babble, BAY-bell or bah-BELL. And married director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu turned red when he was photographed having a tete-a-tete with Sienna Miller at an after party.

But the most emotional moment occurred when best supporting actress nominee Adriana Barraza, who plays the Mexican nanny Amelia and is among nominees at tonight's Screen Actors Guild Awards, picked up a Hollywood Life Magazine ``breakthrough'' honor.

``I've been an actor for 36 years and this is the first prize I've ever won,'' said a teary Barraza, who's also on a panel called ``Creative Forces: Women in the Biz'' at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Saturday.

But don't expect Barraza, a former drama teacher who admits she was a mess when she heard about her Oscar nomination on Tuesday, to start moving in the Hollywood fast lane.

``It's an honor that people like my work, but I'm much too old to appear anywhere without wearing underwear,'' says Barraza, who lives in Miami and has been accompanied by her husband at almost every event. ``In fact, my main concern is that my underpants might fall off.''

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1) DURLING: Issues a `15-minutes' warning

(2) MILLER and PEARCE: Alias Sedgwick and Warhol

Mark Davis/Getty Images

(3) DUKE: Home design? He's got it nailed

Matthew Simmons/WireImage.com

(4) KIKUCHI and BARRAZA: Knickers in a knot?

Vince Bucci/Getty Images