When we last talked about Matt Barnes he was helping inspire our reckless summer-to-be. Well, today he's trying to make an icon out of Truman Capote. Or, rather, a style icon out of him, since Mr. Capote's status as a generally iconic guy is as set in stone as anything. It's funny, when we talk about all the dead guys whose lifestyles inform our own (Necrofeelinya™) Truman Captoe never gets the nod. His lack of traditional masculine traits (putting it lightly) are probably to blame for his lack of expertly-curated-black-and-white-digital-photo-retrospectives on mens-y blogs.
Capote's greatest gift to the world of fashion is undoubtedly his 1966 black and white ball, a party still considered whatever is more legendary than legendary. You can read all about it on the kind of blog that you would expect to write about black and white balls. But all you really need to know is that Gianni Agnelli, the father of modern day sprezzatura, and his main squeeze were there. Oh yeah, and some high-society broad told her husband that she would killer herself if she wasn't invited. Capote ended up inviting her, but made sure to tell everyone at the party about her threat, which we're pretty sure is what "Ima Boss" is all about.
Barnes' latest fashion editorial attempts to explore Capote's "rumpled elegance" and focuses on the author before he sort of flew off the rails and began living as some bloated celebrity caricature of himself. By bringing the young Capote's "rakishly tousled demeanor" to life, Barnes may be successful in presenting Capote in a new light to menswear fans eager to kill their idols, adopt new ones and stay ahead of the ever moving curve. At the very least, Philip Seymour Hoffman is probably psyched to go shopping.
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