Confessions from the Velvet Ropes

Will the real Truman Capote please stand up? INFAMOUS, Truman Capote, Studio 54 and a decidely un-Capote-ish door bitch

Above: Truman Capote photographed by Andy Warhol

"I don't want to be the Truman Capote of door people," declares 'infamous' doorman Thomas Onorato.

"You needn't worry about that," I always tell Thomas, my subject and collaborator, when he makes this frequent announcement. "You're not the writer here. I am." Not that I would place myself in the same category as the brilliant Tru, but when I wrote Confessions from the Velvet Ropes, I did have a mild In Cold Blood-like crisis when it came to writing the ending: Would Thomas finally throw in the Dior Homme towel and leave the doorman profession? Would he suddenly, overnight, get a new job that involved producing John Galliano shows in Paris? Would Kimora Lee Simmons or Randy Jones of the Village People have Thomas kidnapped? I prayed to my muse every night for any such event, but no. I couldn't wait as long as Capote did for his subjects to be sent to the gallows.

The good news this week for Truman Capote fans, of course, is the release of the film Infamous. Vastly superior to last year's Capote, Infamous shows Truman in all his bitchy, campy, faggy glory. There's no pussy-footing around homosexuality in this film, boys and girls. In one hilarious scene where Truman is visiting killer Perry Smith in jail, an off-camera prisoner shouts at Tru "Hey queer, you wanna suck my dick?" Tru looks up at him for a few amused, silent seconds and says "I don't think it would reach through the bars." There are fabulous scenes of Truman at El Morocco with Babe Paley (Sigourney Weaver) and him dancing with his 'swans' (whom he later betrays in real life, hence Onorato's oft-repeated quip) at Diana Vreeland's apartment. Another standout is Sandra Bullock's performance as To Kill a Mockingbird author, Harper Lee. And beyond the camp, the bitchy repartee and the Manhattan social life glamour, the film also has much more emotional depth than Capote. The scene at the gallows left me stunned and the last frame of the film, which explains how In Cold Blood was basically the last thing he ever wrote, is brilliantly poignant.

Traumatized by his experience and haunted by his decaying soul -- the love, loss, manipulation, and stellar success around In Cold Blood -- Truman spent a lot of time in the 70's getting shit-faced and high while avoiding the issue of his unfinished book, Answered Prayers. In Confessions from the Velvet Ropes you can read about Capote's favorite nightclub, Studio 54. For one chapter of the book I interviewed the original doorman of Studio 54, Marc Benecke who -- along with Studio co-owner Steve Rubell -- invented the art of the nightclub door scene. "Truman was always having a great time at Studio," Benecke told me. Benecke also helpfully breaks down some of the myths and legends of Studio 54 (Did Cher really get turned away? Did someone die in the airshaft while trying to sneak into the club?) in the pages of Confessions. It's the perfect book to read while you're waiting in line to buy your movie ticket for Infamous.

Thanks for reading!

Glenn Belverio

Halloween Costumes for All Tomorrow's Parties: Kimora Lee Simmons, The MisShapes, My Chemical Romance, Madonna and garage punk skeletons

Above: A Karl Lagerfeld fashion model takes a break from the runway with the glamorous Kembra Pfhaler of The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black

Yes, the big day is almost here, the holiday beloved by legions of urban nightcrawlers and suburban kiddies alike...and I'm here to help you with some ideas for Halloween costumes this year. For starters, my book -- Confessions from the Velvet Ropes -- is packed with groovy and ghoulish costume ideas, especially the rambling sidebar dedicated to the hair and clothing styles of the denizens of the club MisShapes and other decadent dens of iniquity. "What Costumes Will the Cool Kids Wear: A Style Guide to All Tomorrow's Parties" can be copped for your Halloween ensembles nonpareil: Indie Rockers (Kurt Cobain zombie, Smashing Pumpkins smashed pumpkin head), Punks (Sue Catwoman glam, spit-covered Johnny Rotten), Fashionistas (Commes des Garcon "bump" dresses circa 1997), '80s New Wavers (Adam Ant in a straight-jacket, Catherine Deneuve in The Hunger), Postpunk Kids (vintage Morrissey looks - hearing aides, gladiolas in back pocket), Gays (Jake Shears disco femme looks), and Goths (studied Batcave looks from 1980 will impress the most).

If none of these are to your liking, here are some additional ideas:

1. The 60's garage band in the above clip -- from the film Mad Monster Party -- bear an uncanny resemblence to certain hipsters, such as the MisShapes, right down to the -- as Cathy Horyn would put it -- "heavy curtains of hair."

 

2. The Kimora Lee Simmons glamorous red carpet ghoul look. Another look to work is Kimora's mugshot from the night she was arrested for spliff-smoking and erratic driving.

3. There's always the "famous person dressed like a dead famous person costume gimmick" as practiced above by Madonna, when she attended the 1990 Academy Awards dressed like Marilyn Monroe. Michael Jackson went as Diana Ross who is technically still alive.

4. Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance. If this look doesn't scream Everyday is Halloween, I don't know what does. Another hot My Chemical Romance look are the skeleton army jackets worn by the band in their new video from The Black Parade.

5. Merlin Bronques of lastnightsparty book and lastnightsparty.com: Don an inexpensive brunette wig, retro sunglasses, brandish a camera and make bold, questionable pronouncements such as, "My photos allow people to express their sexual freedom."

6. Back by popular demand is this photo of Greg.K of the MisShapes with New York's number one club doorman, Thomas Onorato. As far as Halloween is concerned, this Greg.K look is self-explanatory. But for those wishing to dress up as our vaunted doorbitch, you may need to take out a loan. Onorato, a notorious label whore, is known to sport the latest high fashion styles from Burberry, J. Lindeberg, Tsubi, Earnest Sewn, Cloak, vintage Chanel, Giorgio Sant'Angelo, Zoran, and Isaac Mizrahi for Target.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Love, Glenn Belverio

Flashback!: Mis-Shapes by Pulp with Jarvis Cocker, plus the uncertain future of the MisShapes

As reported by Gawker, dyed-in-the-wool fans of the band Pulp have declared a guerrilla war against the party promoters known as The MisShapes. These indie rock revolutionaries, who are behind the blog known as Idolator, have made a Symbionese Liberation Army-like demand: Reclaim the song "Mis-shapes" by Pulp (see above video) from The MisShapes, the DJs and party promoters who run the weekly New York party by the same name, and give it back to "the Common People." Whether  the 'Common People' are yet another collective of Eve Harrington-like party promoters or merely hard-working commuters who live in the outer boroughs remains to be seen. Of course it might help if Idolator had kidnapped Merlin Bronques or Hilary Duff or even Cathy Horyn before making such an outrageous demand.

For those who are fans of Jarvis Cocker and Pulp and/or The MisShapes, there is a hair-raising episode in my book, Confessions from the Velvet Ropes which details the night a loony Pulp fan flew all the way from San Francisco to New York so she could stalk Jarvis Cocker during his guest DJ gig at MisShapes. "It was like Fatal Attraction with a Wild in the Streets chaser," recalls Thomas Onorato, the MisShapes doorman and subject of the book. "I'll never trust an over-zealous fan ever again!"

Thanks for reading!

Love, Glenn Belverio