Pat Kerr has always had a gift for occasion dressing. When she competed in the Miss USA portion of the Miss Universe pageant in the late Sixties, Kerr, representing Tennessee, concocted a King Cotton ensemble--complete with a bale of cotton placed on her shoulders--for the state costume competition. Only moments before the start of the pageant parade, her getup was vandalized; someone had bashed in the smile on her king's huge plastic head, and she had to rush backstage and pound it back out. Kerr won for best outfit anyway Since then Kerr has marshaled the same ingenuity and pluck that brought her that first official design accolade to build a renowned bridal.