I think it's more that the cigarette holder is Paula's signature image, like a grin is for the Joker, and so she's generally drawn with it in 'establishing' shots like that so we'll know for sure who she is. I mean, it's not like she's wearing anything that immediately identifies her, and while I like Harry Peter's artwork, a lot of his women have the same basic look to them (especially here, where she's evidently post-Amazon face reshaping). The snake-entwined cigarette holder is unique enough so that we'll immediately know it's her.
Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but is this story AFTER Paula got converted to being an Amazon, during the period where her slave girls were being weaned off of her? 'Cause I thought she'd essentially quit smoking after that, but it looks like I was wrong. If this is the case, that makes her one of the few good guys to use a holder in the history of comics, not counting FDR.