BY DESIGN : The Style IQ Test : Think you know even the most trifling fashion trivia? Let us be the judge. And keep your eyes on your own paper.

How do you measure up style-wise?

Are you considered a person of style? Maybe you think you are, but in reality you’re a fashion victim. Or maybe you have great personal style and don’t know it. To find out where you stand, take the Style IQ Test. Not that anyone will ever ask for your style-Q, but you’ll have lots of useless fashion facts at hand.

Careful, though. The questions can be treacherous--and knowing the right answer is not always a good sign. Bear in mind, most People With Style are dead, like our centerpiece couple, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. ( They managed to stay on the honor roll even though she is wearing puka shells with a Pucci dress and he’s wearing a kilt.) Earning the accolade requires one to maintain an impeccable personal style for the course of a life--including the awkward preteen years, during ugly trials, immediately after pregnancy and post-retirement.

“Who has that kind of energy?” you ask. Very few, sweetie darlings.

The short list: Oprah Winfrey, Andre Leon Talley, Anjelica Huston, Ines de la Fressange,Princess Diana

1. HOW DO YOU PRONOUNCE THE NAME OF MAKEUP-ARTIST-TO-THE-STARS KEVYN AUCOIN?

A. oh-COIN

B. aw-KWAHN

C. KEY-van

(Answer: B. He’s Cajun, cher. Five points.)

2. WHAT IS THE NAME OF JOSE EBER’S ASSISTANT ON EBER’S INFOMERCIALS?

A. Tiny.

B. Teeny.

C. Piny.

D. Merriweather.

(Answer: C. Piny, pronounced Pea-knee. Five points.)

3. WHEN DID BENETTON CROSS THE LINE?

When it used the image of:

A. A blood-stained uniform of a dead Croat.

B. A terrorist car bombing.

C. A dead AIDS victim.

D. A person with AIDS tattooed with the expression “HIV Positive.”

E. It hasn’t yet.

(Answer: It’s a matter of personal opinion; all answers accepted. Five points.)

GRATUITOUS HISTORICAL SECTION

Included for people with a background in the classics.

Check each word that does not belong.

4. PLAIDS

Argyle, Prince of Wales, gingham, Glen Urquhart, Madras.

(Answer: Prince of Wales. There are shoe and coat styles named for him, but not a plaid. Five points.)

5. CRUEL UNDERWEAR

Bustier, corselet, deecolletage, camisette, merry widow.

(Answer: Deecolletage; it’s a neckline. Five points.)

6. COATS

Zhivago, shrug, reefer, redingote, Regency.

(Answer: shrug; it’s a sweater style. Five points.)

7. HATS

Pork-pie, skimmer, toque, chubby, Breton.

(Answer: chubby; it’s a jacket style. Five points.)

8. A RATIO EQUATING LACK OF TALENT TO SIZE OF ADVERTISING BUDGET BEST APPLIES TO:

A. Tommy Hilfiger

B. Maurice Marciano

C. Joop!

D. None of the above

(Answer: D. They just might be advertisers. Five points.)

9. BAZAAR AND VOGUE MAGAZINES ARE EMBROILED IN A CAT FIGHT OVER THE LOYALTIES OF THEIR MINIONS. WHICH PHOTOGRAPHER HAS AN EXCLUSIVE CONTRACT WITH WHICH MAGAZINE?

A. Patrick Demarchelier

B. Steven Meisel

(Answer: Demarchelier is with Bazaar, Meisel is with Vogue. Five points.)

10. NEW PRODUCTS--If you’re putting it on your body, shouldn’t you know where it’s been?

(1) Pleather is:

A. A new line of lingerie by Heather Locklear.

B. A kind way of describing expensive plastic that looks like leather.

(2) Tencel is:

A. A stress fracture that results from playing too much tennis.

B. A new man-made fiber that comes from trees. It’s made in an Earth-friendly way, so it tends to be pricey.

(3) Nubuck is:

A. A yearling deer.

B. A rugged suede cattle-hide leather with a fine nap that is finished on the grain side.

(Answer: B for all three. Deduct 5 points for each miss.)

11. WHAT FAMOUS RETAILER SAID OF CALVIN KLEIN: “I think the fashion industry has lost sight of the fact that clothes are not made to gratify the artist, but to gratify the person who’s buying them. And when I see some of these eccentric, sex-obsession-driven interpretations of clothes, I feel that fashion has reached a very low point. When you have to stoop to sex to sell a pair of jeans, it’s a pretty bad reflection on the mentality of the individual who has that sort of obsession.”

A. Marvin Traub

B. Herb Fink

C. Stanley Marcus

D. Forrest Gump

(Answer: C. Five points.)

12. THE DESIGNER CROSS THE LINE WITH...

A. Rei Kawakubo and her Holocaust chic.

B. Karl Lagerfeld using verses from the Koran on an evening gown.

C. Romeo Gigli’s Hasidic style.

D. All of the above.

(Answer: D. But unlike Italian clothing manufacturers, designers apologize, then recall the offending garments. Five points.)

13. WHOSE DESIGN IS THIS?

Last year, two world-famous designers went to court in France. Each claimed he had originated the long halter-neck tuxedo dress. This is a five-part question: (I) Who won the lawsuit? (II) Who had to pay damages? (III) Who claimed he’d been copying tuxedo-style dresses for years? (IV) Which French designer did the self-proclaimed knockoff artist say he had been copying? (V) And who did that French designer say he had been copying?

A. Yves Saint Laurent

B. Ralph Lauren

C. Victor Costa

D. Bernard Perris

(Answers: (I): A. Saint Laurent won. (II): B. Lauren paid. (III): C. Costa claimed the longevity-in-copying award. (IV): D. Perris was Costa’s inspiration. (V): A. Perris admits YSL was his inspiration. Whew! Five points for each part.)

14. WHAT A LINE--Match up the California fashion company and the product (the first one has been done for you):

Coed Naked/clothes

Rudeboy (shoes)

Black Flys (sunglasses)

Garage Sale (men’s apparel)

Label Whore (women’s apparel)

Not Just Johns (snowboard underwear)

Original Pimpgear (apparel)

Quick Humps (surf accessories)

Smelly Tuna (snowboard apparel)

So ... L.A. (footwear)

(Answer: The company is on the same line as its product, otherwise we could never keep them straight. Give yourself 1 point for every right answer, add another 5 if you figured out our system.)

15. CUTE COUPLES--Match up the couples likely to reach the Windsor State of Style:

Richard Gere (Carre Otis)

Mickey Rourke (Laura Bailey)

Johnny Depp (Linda Evangelista)

Kyle MacLachlan (Kate Moss)

(Answer: They’re probably not with each other anymore, nor are they likely to be with you or me next. So, who cares? No right answer.)

16. THE DARK SIDE OF ADVERTISING--Match the company with the look of its models:

A. Soviet jeans (Ellis Island immigrants)

B. Diesel NC-17 (sex positions)

C. RL Ralph Lauren (Manson family members)

D. Mossimo (Hillbilly movie stars)

E. Guess? (Gangsters)

(Answer: Soviet, NC-17. Diesel, Manson family. Lauren, immigrants. Mossimo, gangsters. Guess?, hillbillies. Five points each correct answer.)

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Score Results:

* 75-119: You’re a fashion victim. Even a perfect score will never win--a person with style would never take a style quiz.

* 50-74: You’ve read a few fashion magazines, been to a few fashion shows, but you’re not quality style.

* 25-49: In the normal range for humans.

* Below 25: Hopelessly non courant .

*

Too jaded to add up your score? You could have style potential.