{"id":33527,"date":"2024-02-14T17:29:12","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T16:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/?p=259918"},"modified":"2024-02-14T19:12:50","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T18:12:50","slug":"the-real-story-of-truman-capotes-black-and-white-ball","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/rss_feed\/the-real-story-of-truman-capotes-black-and-white-ball\/","title":{"rendered":"The real story of Truman Capote\u2019s Black and White Ball"},"content":{"rendered":"

In November 1966, the writer Truman Capote, riding high on his fame, threw a New York party that would reverberate around the world. Fashion historian Dr Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell takes us inside the evening at the Plaza Hotel, the glittering guest list, and extravagant fashions that continue to inspire to this day\u2026 <\/p>

By Dr Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 14 February 2024 at 16:29 PM<\/p>

\n\n

Before it traces the writer Truman Capote\u2019s self-inflicted social downfall, the FX drama series\u00a0Feud: Capote vs. The Swans<\/em>\u00a0shows us the lofty summit of his social success: the \u2018Black and White Ball\u2019 that the author and\u00a0bon vivant\u00a0hosted at the Plaza Hotel in New York City on 28 November 1966.<\/p>\n

Riding high on the success of his 1966 non-fiction novel\u00a0In Cold Blood<\/em> \u2013 a sensational true-crime follow-up to\u00a0his earlier novella Breakfast at Tiffany\u2019s<\/em> \u2013 Capote threw the \u2018party of the century\u2019, as it was immediately dubbed, inviting 540 A-listers from the realms of high society, politics,\u00a0science\u00a0and the arts.\u00a0Although Katherine \u2018Kay\u2019 Graham, owner of the Washington Post<\/em>, was the guest of honour and subject of the party, for all intents it was Capote\u2019s bash.<\/p>\n

Part of the party\u2019s allure were Capote\u2019s so-called \u2018Swans\u2019, a tight-knit group of women who comprised the author\u2019s inner-circle; socialites, models and artists, many of whom were the wives of powerful men.<\/p>\n

\"Lee\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Lee Radziwill \u2013 socialite and sister of First Lady Jaqueline Kennedy \u2013 and writer Truman Capote, pose together in the Grand Ballroom of the Plaza Hotel. (Image by Hulton Archive\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

In acknowledgement of the event\u2019s social cachet, the\u00a0New York Times\u00a0<\/em>published the complete guest list, the first time it had done so for a party that did not take place at the White House<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Who attended the Black and White Ball in 1966?<\/h2>\n

Revellers included figures of Hollywood\u2019s elite such as Lauren Bacall, Merle Oberon, Sammy Davis Jr, and newlyweds\u00a0Frank Sinatra\u00a0and Mia Farrow. Joining them were artists and socialites such as Norman Mailer, Edward Albee, Gloria Vanderbilt, Harry Belafonte, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, Lynda Bird Johnson, Rose Kennedy, Tallulah Bankhead, Claudette Colbert, Leonard Bernstein, and Cecil Beaton. Other esteemed guests included the\u00a0Maharaja and Maharani of Jaipur.<\/p>\n

\"Frank\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
\u2018It-couple\u2019 Frank Sinatra and his wife, actress Mia Farrow, as they arrived at Truman Capote\u2019s Black and White Ball in 1966. (Image by Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Capote\u2019s theme was inspired by photographer and designer Cecil Beaton\u2019s Ascot costumes for the 1964 musical film\u00a0My Fair Lady. The dress code: black and white, with masks (to be removed at midnight) and, for the ladies, fans.\u00a0Beaton, in turn, had been inspired by the real-life \u2018Black Ascot\u2019 of 1910, when racegoers wore mourning for the recently deceased King Edward VII<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For Capote, the masks were a key component: \u201cYou see for the first hour \u2013 before the unmasking \u2013 anybody can dance with anybody they want to, or talk to anybody they want to,\u201d he explained to friends at the time, adding that it allowed one to make \u201cnew friends\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Two\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
The Earl and Countess of Ilchester on the first day of \u2018Black Ascot\u2019, 1910, when racegoers mourned King Edward VII. (Photo by Hulton Archive\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

This\u00a0monochromatic palette combined the fun of a costume party with the ripped-from-the-runway contemporary fashion that\u2019s seen at events such as at the Met Gala and Oscars today. Indeed, the guests included \u201cnearly every woman on the International Best Dressed List\u201d, claimed the Associated Press.<\/p>\n

The tablecloths were red, but there was no red carpet. Though photographers and curious spectators mobbed the entrance of the hotel, most of the guests were wrapped up against the cold in floor-length furs and capes. Besides, brand ambassadors and today\u2019s \u2018sponcon\u2019 arrangements were decades away.<\/p>\n

While some reported that the ball itself was a bit of a snooze after the months of hype, and criticised the food (spaghetti and chicken hash at midnight) \u2013 and most partygoers ignored the \u2018fan\u2019 part of the dress code \u2013 the frocks were to die for.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The fashions of the Black and White Ball<\/h3>\n

Many of the gowns and masks worn that night survive in museum collections, preserved not just for their aesthetic and monetary value but as souvenirs of an instantly legendary party.<\/p>\n

Recognising its significance, the Museum of the City of New York began\u00a0collecting gowns, masks, and other memorabilia within months of the event, including a mink-trimmed Halston gown and bunny mask\u00a0worn by 20-year-old model Candice Bergen<\/a>, who had just made her film debut that year, and a two-tone Galanos gown\u00a0worn by socialite Isabel Eberstadt<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Candace\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Candace Bergen (right) wore a rabbit ear mask to Truman Capote\u2019s Black and White Ball. (Image by Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

She accessorised it with an appropriately swan-themed headdress by Bill Cunningham, who worked as a milliner before he became an influential street fashion photographer.\u00a0\u201cI can\u2019t see or hear a thing in it,\u201d\u00a0Eberstadt\u00a0admitted to fashion columnist Eugenia Sheppard, one of the few journalists admitted to the exclusive event.<\/p>\n

The silver-sequined white gown and matching quilted silk matelasse evening coat Italian designer Mila Sch\u00f6n made for Princess Lee Radziwill (formerly Bouvier, Lee was the younger sister of Jackie Kennedy, played by Calista Flockhart in the series) is preserved\u00a0in the Victoria & Albert Museum<\/a>. As one of Capote\u2019s \u2018swans\u2019, she and the author bonded over her jealousy of her sister, who had married US President John F Kennedy.<\/p>\n