(Thumbs up) BURIED under the Michael Jackson news is the trivia that the King of Pop was a fashion plate, believe it or not.

Forget the beaded military jackets. Long before Hugo Boss became a household name, there was Jackson looking dapper in a Hugo Boss elegant cream-colored suit on the album cover of “Thriller.”

Such was his passion for fashion that it was said that Jackson (or his handlers), whenever he flew to a country for shows, made it a point to contact a local designer in that destination.

In Manila, in 1996, when he did a two-night concert, Frederick Peralta did three leather jackets for Jackson, one with the requisite bling. Fresh from his victory in an international design tilt, Concours de Jeunes Creaturs de Mode in Paris, Peralta was summoned one day by a “mystery” client to the Manila Hotel’s MacArthur Suite. He had no inkling who the client was.

Since Jackson was in the hotel’s Champagne Room attending to a group of orphans, Peralta had to cool his heels in Jackson’s suite with the pop icon’s staff running about. As the minutes ticked, he soon realized who the mystery client was.

Then Jackson walked in the door and greeted him with a shy smile. Since Jackson hardly said a word, Peralta couldn’t recall anything extraordinary from the encounter. What he did remember was how Michael looked so lean and delicate.

“There was no time to lose, so I immediately went back to the shop to work on the jackets,” he says. “Before I could manage to sit down, however, my phone was already ringing off the hook. Print and broadcast journalists wanted to interview me about my encounter with Michael.” Alex Vergara

Cory, Imelda, Dewi

(Thumbs up) DEWI SUKARNO, the forever beautiful former first lady of Indonesia was the guest of honor at Imelda Marcos’ 80th birthday party Thursday night at Sofitel Hotel Grand Ballroom.

The event and decor, with high-octane guest list, was designed by Marcos’ BBF Dr. Teyet Pascual. The overhanging white silk draping made Louie Cruz remark, “This reminds me of those legendary tents in that historical bash in Persepolis thrown by the Shah of Iran in the ’70s. ”

By 7 p.m. the ballroom was filled to capacity – 1,300. Among the well-wishers were Dr. Norma Javellana (the most important old guard dermatologist in Manila), Nellie Cristobal, Carla Sibal, and Isabel Rivas. True Blue Ladies Sonia Mathay and Lulu Tino joined Lolita Mirpuri, a lovely Baby Arenas and a sexy Baby Cruz.

Marcos loyalists Anthony Costelo and Victor Wood, Kuya Germs aka German Moreno joined Pitoy Moreno, Butch and Carina Zafati, politicos Senator Richard “Dick” Gordon and Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando.

Sofitel sponsored what seemed like a kilometric-long buffets, refurbished till the last guest said goodbye past 2 a.m.

Marcos, at one point, asked the audience to stand and observe a minute of silence to pray for former President Cory Aquino. Now, the irony of the moment astounded me.

Marcos and Aquino were once great adversaries. That, for me, is the mark of a true lady, one who forgives with full acceptance and understanding. Marcos was said to have offered prayers thrice that day for Aquino – at 8 a.m. in the Tondo Cathedral, Payatas Chapel at 11 a.m., and that night.

But a side story – Sukarno – for the young and the curious today. A decade and a half ago, Vanity Fair gave a full account of how Sukarno and our own Minnie Osmeña had a terrible shouting match in the exclusive ski lodge of Aspen, Colorado.

Perhaps it was the very harsh words that Osmeña uttered that made Sukarno lose her temper and slash a deep gash in Minnie’s right cheek with a wine goblet. This nasty encounter was fodder for society columns and tabloids the world over. Charges were filed by both but it was Dewi who did time in a US jail. In six months she was free to pursue a criminal charge against Minnie who settled out of court.

But look at Sukarno’s photo here taken at 2 a.m. beside the Imeldific who doesn’t look 80. She was one of the 100 Most Beautiful women in the world hailed by Harper’s Bazaar in 1969, one of the four in Asia – Imelda Marcos, Queen Sirikit of Thailand, Madame Kao Ky of Vietnam and “the sweetest lotus bloom in Indonesia,” Sukarno herself.

Take a hard look at Sukarno’s face, body and gown by John Galliano. Notice her Chopard suite of emeralds. The size and color remind me of green traffic lights. Photos do not lie. She doesn’t look a day over 40? And she may be almost twice that age?

I asked Sukarno her secret to her beauty, she said, “Offer prayers and thanks to your God daily, a good cosmetic surgeon , and lots of cash.” Larry Leviste