St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page H001

INSIDE Reversible clothing gets a hip upgrade. QuirkOut! Oh, yes, there is a coupon for that, too! Belleville home sparkles on holiday home tour. AWAY Updated hotels hope to keep Route 66 magic alive The original Wagon wheel Motel included a garage, a cafe and motel. SO MANY PARTIES, I STORY AND PHOTOS BYTOM UHLENBROCK Special to the Post-Dispatch New owners of two of the vintage motels on Route 66 in Missouri are doing their best to see that traffic keeps on trucking on the legendary highway. The Wagon Wheel Motel in Cuba is in tip -top shape after a complete renovation under Connie Echols, who bought the rundown motel in 2009 and has lovingly restored each of the stone cottages.

"It was horrible," Echols said of the motel, which was built in 1935 and is the oldest continuously operating tourist court on the historic highway. "It had the original wiring and plumbing." On the far western side of the state, the Boots Motel in Carthage last spring opened the completed wing of a restoration project that will return the motel to what the first motorists found. "We want to make it as authentic a motoring experience from 1949 as we can make it," said Deborah Harvey, one of two sisters who bought the Boots, which once was scheduled to be torn down for a Wal-greens. "We want to make the rooms as though you're stepping back in time." A four-night tour of the Mother Road included stays at the Wagon Wheel and Boots, as well as the Rail Haven in Springfield, where Route 66 got its name, and the Munger Moss Motel in Lebanon, where the iconic neon sign has been repaired and relighted. Route 66 ran from Chicago to Los Angeles, a total of 2,448 miles, including 317 miles in Missouri from downtown St.

Louis to the Kansas state line west of See route 66 Page H6 One dress can take you through an entire holiday season of parties with some simple styling tricks. BY DEBRA D. BASS Post-Dispatch Fashion Editor 314-340-8236 If you're worried about how to fit a wardrobe of cocktail attire into your holiday party budget, fear not. Your schedule is probably starting to fill up, but that doesn't mean you'll need to stock a closet with new dresses. You've got your office party, maybe your significant other has another, your close friends are having a champagne soiree, your favorite charitable organization invited you to its gala, you plan to attend a neighborhood fundraiser, and then there 's that special night you want to just get out of the house for a really nice dinner.

Normally, this would require a separate closet stocked with a half dozen semi-formal ensembles, but not if you invest wisely. See dress Page H4 Guy Fieri, what you have is a tourist trap Ballyhooed New York restaurant offers ho-hum chain food you can find anywhere for half the price. BY JEREMY KOHLER jkohlerdpost-d ispatch.com 314-340-8337 NEW YORK Guy Fieri, you are probably sick of questions. But you are the one who put your spiky-haired mug on a Times Square Jumbotron with the motto, "LOVE, PEACE AND TACO GREASE." You are the one selling cheeseburgers for $17.50. It is your new colossus on West 44th Street that welcomes the huddled masses to "Flavor Town." So, as much as any man has ever left himself prone to scrutiny, you must expect questions about the quality of food and service at Guy's American Kitchen Bar.

New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells posed several questions in his evis -ceration of your restaurant on Nov. 13. Must your waiters carry hot fries down a refrigerated hall before serving? Is that a hint of antifreeze and formaldehyde in the watermelon 'rita? Is your baked Alaska an expression of insanity? Wells foisted a blinking, towering See fieri PageH6 TOP LEFT: Our little black dress is a black lace-like eyelet with cap sleeve and a boat-neck that hits just below the knee ($139) from Anne Klein at Macy's. Cropped, beaded and sequined, purple and black jacket ($149) from Marc by Marc Jacobs at T.J. Maxx (Runway Collection location), 12129 Manchester Road; necklace ($28) and earrings ($22) both at Kohl's.

TOP RIGHT: Pleather peplum top ($88) at Laurie Solet, 1176 Town and Country Crossing Drive; dramatic industrial-meets-pretty necklace of black rubber, faux pearls, nuts (no bolts) and washers by Everett Johnson, prices available upon request and different options available at The Collective at MX, 626 Washington Avenue; earrings bracelets ($26 each) and clutch all at Kohl's. MIDDLE: For a simple office-party-appropriate look, we added a set of five bangles two necklaces ($28 to $30) and earrings from Kohl's. The belt is the stylist's own. BOTTOM: Candie's tuxedo jacket ($50) at Kohl's, cameo and pearl necklace by Everett Johnson of St. Louis (price available upon request), selections available at The Collective; and red pony hair leather clutch by Monserat De Lucca ($122) at Laurie Solet.

PHOTOS BY ERIK M. LUNSFORD elunsforddpostdispatch.com 1.