WHO WERE TRUMAN CAPOTE'S SWANS?

 

The answer in short: rich, glamorous women whose lives are dramatized in the new series Feud: Capote vs. the Swans.

BY ISIAH MAGSINO

GETTY IMAGES/DESIGN BY MICHAEL STILLWELL

Every item on this page was chosen by a Town & Country editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy.

To be one of Truman's Swans," Laurence Leamer wrote in his 2021 book Capote's Women, "it wasn't enough that a woman be elegant, beautiful, and rich. She had to be amusing." Those women who qualified as such—at least those who became muses of Truman Capote—included Babe Paley (his favorite), Lee Radziwill, Slim Keith, Ann Woodward, C.Z. Guest, Gloria Guinness, Marella Agnelli, and Pamela Harriman.

 These women, though varied in pedigree, style, and attitude, had a few common threads. First, they were each very rich, dames of high society, and members of the international set. They were frequently on the international best-dressed list and appeared on magazine covers (C.Z. Guest graced the cover of Town & Country's November 1957 issue; Lee Radziwill was the cover of the July 1963 issue). Some may argue that they were the original influencers who set the tone of #oldmoneyaesthetic that's still popular today. Ladies who lunch? They were the foremothers of it.

 

Capote—the famed novelist, journalist, and raconteur—was their second common thread. Standing at 5-foot-3 inches, Capote made up for his sleight build with a sharp tongue and a flamboyant way of expressing himself. He was also teetered on literary genius. Many of his works have been praised as literary classics including Breakfast at Tiffany's and the true-crime classic In Cold Blood.

Capote served as a trusted confidant to each woman, accompanying them on their trips around the world and soaking in their secrets. For many, he was a sort of pet. That is, until Capote published "La Côte Basque 1965," an excerpt of his said-to-be-forthcoming novel Answered Prayers, in Esquire in November 1975. The piece exposed some of the scandalous secrets that Capote's Swans shared with him in confidence: substance abuse, sexual assault, a murder cover-up, and infidelity. In return, each iced him out from their high-society circles, excluding him from a world he was obsessed with.

Some of these women have leading roles in Feud, while others don't appear at all. Either way, learn more about Capote's legendary Swans below……..

https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a46541533/feud-capote-vs-the-swans-history-explained/