TINSELTOWN SPYWITNESS.

Byline: Elizabeth Snead

TAKING NO RISKS: The show will go on, according to Oscar producer Gil Cates but uneasiness over the impending war with Iraq may mean some cancellations or postponements of events leading up to the awards show next Sunday.

Italian designer Giorgio Armani, who has dressed some of the biggest names in town including Jodie Foster, Michelle Pfeiffer, Julia Roberts, Ashley Judd, Annette Bening, George Clooney, Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, Benicio Del Toro and Leonardo DiCaprio, was scheduled to attend his first Oscar ceremony in 15 years.

Some fab private dinners with his movie star clientele were planned this week and he was skedded to be honored with a nifty plaque at a glitzy Rodeo Drive Walk of Style event.

But thanks to Saddam (or Bush, depending on how you look at it), Armani has postponed his trip to L.A., and the Walk of Style event has been set back until Armani makes the trip later in the spring.

There's also a huge Diamond Information Center bash scheduled Thursday at Sotheby's in Beverly Hills, hosted by Sharon Stone, that may be up in the air due to possible war.

Industry observers say some movie studios are now extremely hesitant to talk about their Oscar night parties. Miramax and Paramount are being unusually tight-lipped about their plans, perhaps for very understandable security reasons. Everyone knows that Vanity Fair's party is always at Morton's on Robertson and that venue still sounds inked in. And the competing Oscar bash thrown by InStyle magazine will be held nearby in a tented parking lot on North Robertson. The InStyle folks have reportedly lined up a Grammy-winning artist for the party.

They're not naming names, but let's think: Of all the Grammy winners, who would make the most fantastic InStyle cover girl?

Could it be Norah Jones? Let's hope Saddam doesn't scare her away, too.

HE'S GOT QUITE A PAIR: If the shoe fits, buy it. That's what Oscar nominee Nicolas Cage thinks.

L.A.-based cobbler-to-the-stars George Esquivel just fit Cage for $25,000 worth of fancy footwear at the Fred Segal Feet shop on Melrose in Hollywood.

Seems the actor, recently divorced from Lisa Marie Presley, fell in love with Esquivel's handmade walking works of art that range in price from $480 to $2,000.

So how many pairs of shoes does 25 grand buy?

``I can't discuss that,'' Esquivel says. ``They're all unique, special order, custom made. But he is gonna have a lot of shoes.''

One pair was designed to accessorize Cage's '59 Cadillac; black and silver with a red interior. Natch, the shoes are black and white with red lining. The dressiest shoe he bought is called the Stingray, a sleek, sexy black shoe with a bumpy sharkskin textured vamp.

Will they be ready in time for the Oscar red carpet? Esquivel insists he can turn shoes around in just two days for special events.

So will Cage wear them? Esquivel isn't sure. But he's hopeful. ``I know he wears a lot of Versace and I told him the Stingrays would look great with a Versace suit.''

And Cage's reaction? ``He smiled.'' Pretty Cagey.

We see U

Jill Hennessy, left, and her hunky hubby hiking on Lookout Mountain.

Michael Jackson, undisguised, at the Bodega Chocolate Store in The Grove but his security guards wanted him to leave because of the crowds. The manager of Bodega managed to give him a lovely bunch of chocolates before he fled. But not before looking the manager in the eye and graciously saying ``Thank you.''

Just a few days later, Alicia Silverstone, right, was shooting a scene from her new film, ``Mismatched,'' at the store. No word on whether she indulged - but then, you know she may be trying to keep that svelte figure of hers.

Tori Spelling, indulging in a reflexology tootsie treatment, and Mira Sorvino, wearing a cowboy hat, juicy jeans and a leather jacket, picking out new yoga duds at Lucky magazine's down dog couture by juicy, an event at Harold and Susan Becker's Hollywood Hills home.

Amanda Peet at Orso on third street, dining on pasta with her mother and a very tall, dark-haired young man. When mumsy left the table for the ladies room, peet, wearing a black turtleneck and jeans, puckered up with the lucky laddie.

CAPTION(S):

5 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) ARMANI: Making an alteration.

Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com

(2 -- color) JONES: Come party with her?

(3 -- color) CAGE: No business like shoe business.

Steve Granitz/WireImage.com

(4 -- color) Alicia Silverstone

Gregg DeGuire/WireImage.com

(5 -- color) Jill Hennessy

Amy Graves/WireImage.com