Karen Caldwell often makes the list of San Francisco's best-dressed women, tastefully but elegantly turned out on gala nights in column gowns that are simply designed and usually monochromatic. With her blond hair swept into an updo, the effect is dramatic but always soft - like a sweet silver-screen starlet from the 1940s. And that is no accident. Caldwell was influenced at a young age by film fashion, thanks to her grandmother Carla Wiese, a dancer who worked as a choreographer for MGM studios. Wiese's stage name was Iris Nielsen, and she was a good friend of famous Hollywood costume designer Edith Head.

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When Caldwell, now 44, was growing up in the San Fernando Valley, her fashion sense was shaped by visits to her grandmother's house in the Hollywood hills. There, she played with her grandmother's costumes, dresses, tutus, castoff pieces of tulle and accessories from Hollywood studios. Her grandmother told her stories about Head's eye for design, inspired by things she'd seen in her travels. As a result, Caldwell's wardrobe today leans toward the Hollywood look of the 1940s, '50s and '60s, which she defines as clean, simple lines "with not too much fuss, and then layering after that, adding accessories to make it more dynamic."

Others may soon be able to capitalize on her signature style, thanks to the forthcoming launch of her own line of clothing, Karen Caldwell Design, scheduled for spring. Caldwell, who works with her husband, Oliver, at their Caldwell Snyder galleries in San Francisco and St. Helena, has used her time in the art world to hone her own sense of color. She favors dramatic shades and adorns herself with an accent piece in another color, whether a shoe, a bracelet, earrings or a scarf. Yellow is set against gray, bright jade green against orange, and purples accented with orange or red.

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It's Caldwell's first foray into clothing design, although she has long collected vintage pieces by Christian Dior, Cristobal Balenciaga and Oleg Cassini. By deconstructing the pieces and reworking them, she said, she developed hands-on knowledge of design, construction and materials.

The line features about a dozen pieces, including blouses, knee-length and full-length gowns, four swing coats, a couple of skirt suits and accessories such as gloves and an obi sash.

"My grandmother collected geisha robes and loved the obis to tie them with," Caldwell said. She pairs them with dresses, in a contrasting color, for stylish effect.

"I also love gloves," she said. "I love the look of it, a finished look. You can wear a black suit, but pairing it with magenta gloves makes people remember you."

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Colors range from soft turquoise, grays, pinks and purples to custom-dyed colors. Materials include hemp, silk, wool, cashmere and knit jersey, but not fur. "I'm anti-fur," she said. "I love animals. I'm on the quest for the perfect vinyl shoe."

With the help of representatives at Mood Fabrics and Preview Textile Group in New York, she obtains fabrics from Italy, Korea and France that run anywhere from $50 to $200 a yard. Her husband designed her logo, her name in black capital letters on a cream ribbon. Sizes range from 4 to 12, and prices run from $250 for an obi to $600 for a dress and $3,000 for an evening gown. The line is available online, and she is working with a consultant to place the line in upscale stores.

Caldwell works her new business around duties as a mother of two boys, ages 10 and 12, and as a patron of arts and medical causes. At home, she drapes and pins the fabric on a dummy and then takes her designs to seamstress Ana Morales, owner of Vianett Bridal in Yountville, who sews them up in a matter of weeks. Ideally, Caldwell said, she would create a local manufacturing business to keep the work in the Napa Valley.

For now, the garments are made the old-fashioned way, something her grandmother, and perhaps even Head, would have appreciated.

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"I like the strong silhouettes of the '40s, '50s and '60s," Caldwell said. "Women were strong in those days."

Strong today, too, with plenty of moxie to start their own businesses.

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Carolyne Zinko, a native of Wisconsin, joined The San Francisco Chronicle in 1993 as a news reporter covering Peninsula crime, city government and political races. She worked as the paper’s society columnist from 2000 to 2004, when she wrote about the lifestyles of the rich but not necessarily famous. Since then, she has worked for the Sunday Style and Datebook sections, covering gala night openings and writing trend pieces. Her profiles of personalities have included fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone and Emanuel Ungaro fashion house owner Asim Abdullah, to name a few. In a six-month project with The Chronicle’s investigative team, she recently revealed the misleading practices of a San Francisco fashion charity that took donations from wealthy philanthropists but donated little to the stated cause of helping the developmentally disabled. On the lifestyle front, her duties also including writing about cannabis culture for The Chronicle and its cannabis website, www.GreenState.comwebsite.