Disco Sucks
The Andy Warhol Diaries“Disco Sucks” appears as a slogan on a costume accessory: the small sheriff’s badge on Diane von Furstenberg’s vest at a crowded Houston movie premiere. The diary preserves the phrase not as an abstract statement but as text worn in public, amid photographers, fans, and the charged pageantry of a premiere.
Appearance and Setting
Diane von Furstenberg was walking up and down the theater aisles in tight pants, a small top, and a vest bearing the badge. The look was further marked by what the diary describes as two tons of 1940s diamond and gold jewelry. The slogan sat within a deliberately conspicuous outfit, visible as one detail in a scene of public display.
The Premiere Scene
The premiere drew thousands of paparazzi and fans, who had gathered for what the diary describes as Houston’s first world premiere. Andy Warhol and Jerry Hall posed for pictures; photographers and guests continued to turn their cameras toward the celebrities inside. The film began, and the audience loved it. Against that surrounding excitement, “Disco Sucks” was a sharp, compact piece of wording on a badge, rather than a separate speech or confrontation.
Preservation in the Diary
The phrase survives because the diary’s account attends to passing details as carefully as to the event’s famous guests. Its weekday entries grew from morning phone conversations between Andy Warhol and Pat Hackett, then were typed up and stored with related receipts. In that record, a slogan on a vest becomes part of the documentary texture of a night otherwise shaped by celebrity, costumes, and cameras.
