Andy’s BALL

Young Chang

Parker Grant is going to wear a shockingly white wig, black pants,

a black shirt, shabby shoes and red socks for Halloween.

The black shirt might be splotched with paint. A pair of quirky

glasses should complete the signature Andy Warhol look.

While other attendees of the Orange County Museum of Art’s

Masquerade Ball for the Arts plan to dress in the Andy Warhol theme

the ball has adopted this year, Grant plans to just go as Andy

himself.

“He’s one of the main catalysts for pop art ... He would just be a

fun character,” said the San Francisco resident who will travel to

Newport Beach for the annual fund-raiser on Nov. 2. “And at

Halloween, you want to pick something fun.”

Having a theme is a first for this increasingly popular ball for

young professionals. Past years required simply that revelers don

black-tie attire and a mask. “Andy Warhol is a timely theme given

that the exhibition just came to Los Angeles, and it’s a timely fit

with the organization we’re supporting,” said M.C. Sungaila,

publicity chair for the “Andy Warhol Glamour Ball.”

So how exactly does one get Andy Warhol-esque? You could go for

the obvious and dress like a Campbell Soup can, Mao Tze Tung or

Marilyn Monroe. Or you could dress like the people the artist used to

party with in New York in the late ‘60s and ‘70s.

“Models and rock stars would party together at his velvet

underground parties,” Sungaila said. “A mixture of pop icons and

players of the day.”

Event chairwoman Sally Peckenpaugh added that the mix of people

who regularly gathered at Warhol’s studio for the Factory Parties,

because his studio was called the Factory, were “eclectic” and ranged

from socialites to drag queens.

Warhol was also a famous presence at Studio 54, a happening New

York club in the ‘70s. It was a rather notorious place, with

discerning bouncers.

“The bouncers were really well-known for creating a really wide

mix,” said Peckenpaugh, a Balboa Island resident. “There’d be

everyone from Bianca Jagger to Andy Warhol.”

The event chair will wear, in line with the fashions of the

revelers from Warhol’s time, a vintage ‘70s red toga dress by Bill

Blass.

Michele Bush, Grant’s girlfriend and a former resident of Corona

del Mar and Laguna Beach, has chosen a vintage gold-patterned dress

on loan from a friend’s mother, who used to wear it when she partied

during the era.

“Their clothing tends to be bright and short skirts,” Bush said.

“And I love a lot of the Diane von Furstenburg look and everything

just kind of came together for me.”

Joanna Fowler, whose mother has volunteered at the museum since

1979 and who is attending the ball to help support the venue, will

wear a short pink Cynthia Rowley dress with go-go boots.

“Kind of like an Andy Warhol groupie,” Fowler said.