The Black And White Ball - A Monochrome Masquerade

Wherever Mr Truman Capote went in 1966 he carried with him a small black and white notebook in which he gradually inscribed the names of the 540 guests who were to be invited to his forthcoming ball. His dress code was provocative. In an age where colour TV had just come in, outfits could only be black or white; and the camera-friendly faces of the celebrity guests, who included Frank Sinatra, Cecil Beaton and Andy Warhol would have to be hidden behind masks. The decor in the Ballroom at the Plaza Hotel in New York City was deliberately understated - the guests themselves were to be the butterflies, the swans and the flowers that would gild the room.

A Curious Invitation invites you to don your finest monochrome attire, your tuxedo, ball gown or pantsuit, accessorised with hairpiece and costume jewellery, and twist, frug, hully gully and go go the night away in a recreation of what has become feted as the party of the century.