LOS ANGELES ON $500 A DAY

London was the first in this series, and who knows where you'll be going next--but for now start out with your canvas Gucci luggage (GGuch) and take off for the Beverly Hills or Bel Air or Wilshire (""suites are more fun""). The best shopping street--on a par with St. HonorÉ--is Rodeo Drive where you can buy just about anything; even consider some ""glitter wedgies"" as a ""terribly camp souvenir."" ""What a trauma. . . all those new clothes""--but you'll be told where to wear them and whom you'll see there, be it eating or playing tennis or golf. As for ""culture,"" there's always a little pop art or antique to pick up. If you should find yourself with a pain in your status stomach under your Theodore t-shirt, surely there will be some palm in a cachepot nearby.