This month marks the 50th anniversary of American novelist Truman Capote’s greatest social triumph, the Black & White Ball. Internationally regarded as “the party of the 20th century,” Capote’s 1966 masquerade held at New York City’s Plaza Hotel is still regularly referenced in fashion and culture as the height of societal glamour.
The meticulously planned ball centered around Capote’s upper crust inner circle of beautiful muses—Babe Paley, Slim Keith, Lee Radziwill, C. Z. Guest, Gloria Guinness, Marella Agnelli—he called his “swans.”
A detailed breakdown of how the list was meticulously made and remade over months is on wiki.
Let’s enjoy some pictures!
Truman Capote dances with an unidentified woman.
Actress Candice Bergen.
Sargent Shriver and his wife Eunice Kennedy.
American actress Tallulah Bankhead (center) arrives at the ball.
Oscar de La Renta and Miss Francoise De Langlade at Truman Capote’s Black and White Ball
Andy Warhol Looks Adoringly at Edie Sedgwick
The story goes that when Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow (scene below at the party) were ready to leave around 3am, Capote begged them not to leave. Going so far as to stand in front of the door. He knew once Frank left the party would clear out, and he was right.
Mia Farrow, Frank Sinatra
