(FORTUNE Magazine) – AS ARMIES of lobbyists struggle to grab the attention of busy legislators, eye-catching gimmicks seemingly pop from every alcove and hallway on Capitol Hill. Along with the usual press releases and information, the lobbyists hand out things like message-bearing electric-pink socks and peanut butter. They have also produced the world's largest jeans and the world's longest zipper. ''It's ludicrous,'' says a congressional aide. ''Everyone's trying to upstage everyone else.'' Legislation to cut back textile and apparel imports has spurred some of the liveliest antics. The most extravagant campaign of the season was concocted by Pamela Kostmayer, a former publicist for Ringling Brothers circus and now a Washington public relations consultant. She works on behalf of the Fair Trade Council, a group of 100 retailers who oppose limiting textile and apparel imports. For one stunt, she costumed a college student as a panda and sent her to stalk the halls of Congress dispensing the council's press releases along with jeans, socks, and farmers' bandannas, bearing such messages as ''The textile bill's got America by the seat of the pants'' and ''Don't let the textile bill choke the American farmer.'' Among the 300 journalists and 600 lawmakers on Kostmayer's mailing list: her husband, Pennsylvania Congressman Peter Kostmayer, a Democratic supporter of the textile bill. Proponents of limiting textile imports are fighting back with splashy tactics of their own. To dramatize support for the textile bill, Edward Bauman, chairman of Blue Bell Inc., a Greensboro, North Carolina, apparel manufacturer, ordered his employees to make the ''world's largest jeans.'' In an October ceremony on the Capitol steps, Bauman delivered the jumbo jeans -- four stories high and weighing 165 pounds -- to North Carolina Congressmen to hand on to the White House. President Reagan declined the denims. Bauman sent a pair to fit presidential proportions (36-inch waist, 33-inch inseam). Reagan accepted. The Capitol steps were the scene recently of another gargantuan presentation: a 60-foot red-white-and-blue zipper. Ralph Gut, president of Ideal Fastener Corp., the Oxford, North Carolina, company that manufactured the giant zipper, presented it to North Carolina Congressman Tim Valentine, a Democrat. Gut's message: the textile bill would put teeth into existing textile and apparel laws. The tag line -- ''Win one for the zipper'' -- was clearly aimed at the President, but the Gipper is expected to veto the textile bill if Congress passes it. Show-and-tell tactics are hardly new -- especially for lobbyists and Congressmen dealing with farm issues. Members of agriculture committees stockpile wines, raisins, macadamia nuts, and the like from their districts. < They dispense the goodies freely to their colleagues. To fight a measure that would have sliced price supports for peanuts, Congressmen Charlie Rose (D- North Carolina) and Larry Hopkins (R-Kentucky) spread 435 jars of peanut butter over Capitol Hill. They beat the amendment. Do the gimmicks bear fruit? Some turn up on the evening news. Illinois Congressman Edward Madigan, senior Republican on the agriculture committee, says: ''They sure grab my attention, but they don't change my vote.'' But lobbyists argue that Congressmen are like mules -- you've got to get their attention before you can hope to change their ways.