IF YOU CARE TO WEAR A BEAR

In an episode of "The O.C." last season, Marissa Cooper, played by Mischa Barton, returns from a bout in rehab and is presented with her old plush "Share Bear" Care Bear by a thoughtful pal. That made it official. Care Bears are back. For those who don't remember (or choose not to), the Care Bears, created in 1981, were a bunch of pastel-colored creatures with names like "Funshine Bear" and "Tenderheart Bear." They lived high above the clouds in a magical place and cared for kids on earth by checking up on them with a giant telescope. Occasionally they would pop down and help the little human tykes. At the height of their popularity, the cloyingly saccharine bears were an industry unto themselves--there were stuffed toys, a cartoon series, a hit movie and more than 45 million comic and children's books.

Now Care Bear tees are the latest retro T shirt to make it big among the twentysomethings who grew up with the unctuous ursine pack, and 120,000 shirts have flown off the racks since they hit stores last year and sales are growing. "Everybody grew up with them or remembers them," says Natalie Groff, of Junkfood, a licensing company. "They're happy. They make people feel good." Hollywood fans of the line include Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Tyra Banks and Rachel Bilson (also of "The O.C."). For Barton, the bears rock on screen and off. In the latest issue of Jane, the current "it" girl proudly owns up to wearing Care Bear undies.