Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, June 10, 1990                   TAG: 9006080030
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By ANNE-MARIE SCHIRO THE NEW YORK TIMES
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

COVER-UPS AS POPULAR AT THE WATERFRONT AS SWIMSUITS

Today more and more people are taking those warnings seriously and refusing to venture out into the sun unless they are slathered in sun block - or swathed in fabric.

Beach cover-ups have become almost as important as swimsuits for summer at the shore or by the pool.

"We used to sell one cover-up for every five or six suits," said Miriam Ruzow, president of the United States division of Gottex. "Now some stores are selling one for one."

Gottex has become known for the wide range of its cover-ups, and now many other swimsuit designers are including cover-ups in their collections. A fashion-conscious woman can have one that matches every one of her swimsuits.

Norma Kamali has designed a loose cardigan jacket in nylon jersey that comes in all the colors of her swimsuits: not just black and white but sand and bright tones as well. She even supplies a matching headwrap to protect the hair in style.

Calvin Klein's swimwear has drawstring shorts and a wrap skirt in the same yellow, lime, tangerine and plum cotton-spandex as his swimsuits.

The Anne Klein swimwear line designed by Louis Dell'Olio includes a hooded cotton anorak in red or black, the main colors of the collection.

Anne Cole has provided a nylon anorak in a bold graphic pattern of orange, white, blue and black to go over a matching suit or a solid in any of those colors.

There are still wraps in all kinds of patterns and colors to drape around the torso like a skirt, but the newest cover-ups are those that cover more of the body.

They have sleeves and often hoods. They may be summer-weight versions of the sturdy anorak or simply hooded T-shirts or sweatshirts.

"It's next fall's silhouettes in this season's fabrics," said Kalman Ruttenstein, vice president for fashion direction of Bloomingdale's. "There are cotton versions of anoraks, duffels and parkas with hoods. Anything with a hood seems to sell. When we advertised a hooded cotton T-shirt dress by Tapemeasure, we sold 300 in a week."

Bloomingdale's also has the most amusing cover-up of the season: Body Glove's see-through vinyl coat piped in black. It may be a little warm for the beach, but it would provide good protection from salt spray if you're on the waves in a small boat. It would also come in handy for sudden summer storms.

Of course, you don't have to shop in the swimwear department for a cover-up. Any big shirt, T-shirt or sweatshirt can serve the purpose.

Michael Kors has several cotton jersey styles in his sportswear collection that would look totally at home on the beach. Bergdorf Goodman sells his hooded white cardigan and matching pull-on pants. Saks Fifth Avenue has his navy and white striped T-shirt dress.

The best shirts are those borrowed from the man in your life. But if he won't part with his, Saks has Calvin Klein's oversize shirt in white or striped cotton and Donna Karan's big white shirt. Bloomingdale's has Gordon Henderson's short-sleeved big shirt in taupe cotton.

"Big shirts are suddenly catching on," Ruttenstein said. "Customers seem to want things they can get a lot of use out of. A big cotton shirt can be worn over a swimsuit at the beach, it can be worn with leggings during the day in the city, and it can even be bloused up and worn on the dance floor at night."

And that just about covers the waterfront.