Off the Chain Gang

More on The Chain Letter That Would Not Die: Six months ago The Times reported on a massive chain-letter assault on Hollywood, publishing executives, attorneys and public-relations honchos. Some people found it tedious, but had their secretaries suck up copier fumes anyway as they obligingly kept the A-list chain going. This week Wanda McDaniel, corporate liaison for Giorgio Armani in Beverly Hills, proclaimed herself more than a little annoyed after receiving four of the letters in the space of 10 days. It’s not the kind of popularity she seeks. “I don’t send them on,” she said. “They’re hitting a brick wall when they get to me.”

Pas de Deux

What is it about June 2 that balletomanes love? In an ironic juxtaposition, the date marks a party celebrating the return of the American Ballet Theatre to Los Angeles and a party marking the closing night and departure of the Joffrey ballet from Los Angeles after its final performance as a Music Center resident company.

Essentials

What you need to maneuver the L. A. scene: When you’re at one of those black-tie events that turns into a long day’s journey into the night, tux shoes can get a wee bit uncomfortable. Reporters, photographers and publicists have known this for years, but lately regular party-goers, including celebrities, have been showing up at formal events shod in everything from wing-tips to loafers to black Reeboks. At the Academy Awards, one of the longest evenings of the year, alternative footwear was almost de rigueur ; Best Actor winner Jeremy Irons even wore a pair of comfy-looking slip-ons.

Graffito on the wall of the women’s restroom at Bullock’s in the Beverly Center: “Ugly rich people get all the best clothes.”