Flashy Clothes & Free Drinks

Even wealthy and famous folk appreciate a complimentary cocktail as evidenced by Truman Capote's Courreges windbreaker complete with drink chits in the pocket.

Sometimes an object's worth has absolutely nothing to do with its intrinsic value. At least that's what the folks at Bonhams & Butterfields New York Auction House are hoping as they prepare to auction the clothing and personal effects of Truman Capote.

Joanne Carson recently emptied the room in which Capote lived during his annual six month visits to her home. A huge talent in a tiny package, Capote's suits and polo shirts are child sized. Also on offer are Truman's passport, the above mentioned windbreaker with free drink tickets for Studio 54, his tuxedo from the Black & White Ball, a rosewood settee, on which he posed frequently, and possibly most interestingly, a baby blanket knitted for him by his beloved cousin Sook, the model for the character in Capote's autobiographical and lovely story, The Thanksgiving Visitor.

"As objects, Capote's old polo shirts are essentially valueless,"says Margaret Barrett of Bonhams & Butterfields. "These things are only worth what someone is going to pay for them." Due to the recent presence of Capote on the big screen in two critically acclaimed films, interest is bound to be high. One wonders what the caustic Capote would say if he could see the well-heeled battling it out for possession of his ratty bathrobe.