A Real Drag

How far would you go to get into a movie premiere? The documentary “Paris Is Burning,” a movie about the Manhattan subculture of drag balls and vogueing, premieres Wednesday night with a benefit for AIDS Project Los Angeles. For the party afterward at the Catch One discotheque, the invitation specifies: “Come to Catch One in full drag to be admitted free.” For those who prefer to stick to the more predictable clothes of their gender, admission is $30.

Inviting Fashion Madness

At least that invitation was explicit about the kind of dress required for the party. Your Buzz staff has permanently furrowed brows from trying to figure out some dress code requirements. There was the one that said “Dress: Yes,” which leaves a little too much room for interpretation. “Black tie: black, white and sparkles” was the request for the gala dinner for the film “The Player,” shot at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Invitation designer Marc Friedland has been asked by clients to print these dress requirements: “Casual black tie” (for a bar mitzvah), “sizzling attire” (for MOCA’s Grand Splash party), “slinky” (for the Sports Club L.A.) and “flat shoes” (a law firm’s dinner party in a back yard; perhaps the host didn’t want to be sued for letting guests get their heels stuck in the lawn). The one Friedland has always wanted to do? “Semiformal from the waist up.”

Essentials

WHAT YOU NEED TO MANEUVER THE L.A. SCENE: Everyone is familiar with L.A.’s established power eateries (Morton’s, Spago, The Ivy), but do you know the hot restaurant of the nanosecond? Thanks to a rocky economy and Angelenos’ fickle dining habits, new restaurants are opening and closing with alarming frequency. The trick is to know what’s currently the talked-about eatery, which celeb chef is in the kitchen, the best bets on the menu and what stars, studio heads or top agents have been recently spotted dining there. Because the list changes week to week, keeping track of reviews and gossip column bites about who’s eating where is paramount. Should your favorite restaurant suddenly plunge into Chapter 11, don’t despair; the principals will soon turn up in another venture. It’s a small world, after all.