[Still white trash. Don't they know that fancy clothes and luggage will not impress the old rich peppering the lecture halls at Oxford? I bet she doesn't have any wellies yet or a Barbour jacket, de rigeur for country weekends. And, by the way, have Bill and Hillary paid off their legal bills yet? Or are they waiting for more donations to that legal fund.]

PageSix.com

NEAL TRAVIS

August 27, 2001 -- Bill & Chelsea's Vegas Binge

WITH Las Vegas currently promoting itself as a shopping mecca rather than a gambling den, last week's visit by Bill Clinton and daughter Chelsea couldn't have come at a better time.

The ex-prez and the Oxford-bound Stanford graduate plunged into expensive boutiques for a three-hour spending frenzy that tested his plastic to the max. (With that $10 million book advance and $400,000 he got for addressing Japanese saleswomen in Vegas, the stores knew Bill could afford it all.)

According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, Chelsea is going to be the world's best-dressed back-to-schooler. She dropped a bundle at Versace and other famous-name stores, while Dad mostly went for his top-of-the-line shoes at Ferragamo. (Yes, that's also where his infamous Monica Lewinsky tie reportedly came from.)

The father-and-daughter team checked out luggage at El Portal and Louis Vuitton and, aided by their Secret Service detail, schlepped dozens of bags of goodies back to their $3,900-a-night, 4,400-square-foot penthouse suite at the Four Seasons.

Over three nights, they dined at Spago, got the best seats for the campy old Siegfried & Roy show, and took in "O" at the Bellagio. I can imagine them finally leaving Vegas and telling each other, "We're not in Little Rock anymore!"

Ex-traordinary

-- Anonymous, August 27, 2001

Answers

White trash, yes. Going up in the world, no. Really cool people don't clothes shop in LV. They go to NYC or Hollywood or out of the country, to Paris or some such.

Of course, the Ultra Cool sew their own, visit the thrift shop, or, in a pinch, Sears or Penneys. The Ultra Cool know that pennies are better spent on books, tools, or music. Who said, "Beware of endeavers that require new clothing"?

-- Anonymous, August 27, 2001

Who said, "Beware of endeavers that require new clothing"?...

Yeah, that's the trepidation I felt when Casual Day was introduced here at work, once a week. I barely had a suitable outfit. Sometimes there's scuttle that we may go all five days. Can't do it. I'd have to quit my job instead.

-- Anonymous, August 27, 2001

Smae person who said, "fine feathers do not fair lady make."

Brooks, two words: thrift shops! I just sent my dad a brand-new Christian Dior shirt that I bought for $4.98.

-- Anonymous, August 27, 2001

ABC

Bill Clinton Goes Bikini Shopping in Rio

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton gave tourists visiting Rio de Janeiro's picturesque beaches something else to gawk at on Monday when he went bikini shopping with British actor Sir Anthony Hopkins.

A gaggle of photographers, beachgoers and security men followed Clinton and Hopkins along the trendy Ipanema beach promenade. Television showed Clinton, clad in Bermuda shorts, sneakers and a T-shirt, knocking a volley ball around and admiring a sand sculpture as passersby stared.

But the high point came when the two silver-haired men entered the Blue Man beachwear boutique to check out Brazil's most famous fashion product -- the bikini.

According to TV Globo, Clinton spent $113 on two bikinis and three sarongs.

It was not immediately clear who he was shopping for.

Clinton, whose two terms in office were highlighted by an economic boom but also marred by a sex scandal, is due to give a speech to professors and students at the Armando Alvares Penteado Foundation in Sao Paulo on Tuesday.

Clinton and Hopkins are then heading to the spectacular Iguassu waterfall on the border with Argentina.

-- Anonymous, August 27, 2001

somebody better warn Anthony Hopkins not to stand still too long around Clinton.

-- Anonymous, August 28, 2001