For Fall, It’s Short, Snug and ‘60s-ish : California: Designers take hints from the past. Color-blocking also makes a return.

The emphasis was on hot pants, French twist hairdos, unitards, hoods, riding habits and ladylike (albeit thigh-high) chemise dresses, as California designers focused on fall in two major weekend shows staged in Los Angeles.

Fashion heroes from the ‘60s, including Andre Courreges and Rudi Gernreich, came to mind as models, often weighted down under past-perfect hairdos, traversed the runway in “Fall for Real” at the Eastern Columbia building Saturday night and in the California Mart’s “Focus on Fall” at the Park Plaza Hotel Sunday night.

Although there were exceptions, Leon Max among them, many California designers cast a wistful eye back to the ‘60s, making the look of fall predominantly tight, short and Space Age athletic.

No woman worth her fashion salt will want to be without a body-hugging unitard--or a supply of leggings and opaque hosiery, the essential accessories shown under extremely brief A-line dresses, suit skirts and hot pants.

Along with snug and short, the ‘60s architectural approach to design also has returned. It showed up noticeably in Roberto Robledo’s color-blocked cotton-Lycra unitards and form-fitting sculptured sheaths.

There was more of the ‘60s structure in a number of dresses, including Melivier’s beige-and-white chemise, reminiscent of Jackie Kennedy’s White House wardrobe.

Color blocking also was used by Van Buren’s Maggie Barry for a shapely suede jacket.

But in this case, the effect was more amazing than architectural. Van Buren showed the jacket over a sexy suede corselet tucked into tight, striped-suede trousers.

Less spectacular but easier to wear was Van Buren’s moss-green, three-quarter-length swing coat decorated with gold studs. It was paired with a suede miniskirt worn over opaque tights.

In contrast to Van Buren’s hip use of suede, Melinda Besnoin for Melivier took a more genteel approach. She added suede patches to the inside of jodhpurs and trimmed the matching, redingote-style jacket with a suede collar and belt loops. Underneath was a silk shirt fastened with suede buttons.

Besnoin’s polite collection included some of the richest fabrics shown. She used cashmere for jackets, skirts and pants. And in one extremely well-bred outfit, she combined cream-colored cashmere trousers with an Hermes-inspired silk blouse that had a yoke of matching cream-colored cashmere.

More ladylike concepts came from Lisa Anne, whose collection included cashmere bodysuits and pants, along with well-cut herringbone jackets, and smart little chemise dresses worn under pigskin jackets and shawls.

A more trendy approach to suits was taken by Lee Saelee, who combined keyhole-backed jackets with hot pants, miniskirts or very narrow pants.

In place of lapels, Saelee showed artistically cut edges on jackets. He brought back the big-zipper look of the ‘60s in a many-zippered red chemise.

Hoods, a fall favorite, looked especially new in the Comme Classique collection by Gina Ruiz, who put hooded blouses under long suit jackets and short jumpsuits.

But no one made the look more dramatic than Pepito Albert, whose nighttime-glamour collection included a hooded, navy-velvet parka lined with gray silk-organza.

Leon Max, known for soft elegance, came through with a fall collection that featured a two-piece-look jumpsuit and a long, button-front jacket over fluid pants. Either one of the soutache-trimmed outfits could replace the little black dress for special occasions.

And a note to shoulder-pad fanciers: Max was one of several California designers who favored the natural-shoulder look.

Surprises of the weekend included a new look from Laundry by Katayone Adeli . She used blanket-patterned wools for a collection that had a rarity for the season--a long skirt.

Rated R by Biya also took a new turn with a group of soft, short jersey dresses and a collection of black-and-white, chiffon-and-Lycra separates complete with a flowing duster.

In a separate show--in the untamed back-garden area of Cafe des Artistes in Hollywood--Michele Lamy showed her interpretation of fall from California.

Lamy let friends cavort in happy, youthful separates that featured more of the season’s color blocking. One of the best examples was a pair of two-tone, gold-and-black biker shorts under a swingy, solid gold three-quarter-length jacket.