11.   Except for the Cub Room, the new places have doormen and velvet ropes, which invariably draw clumps of onlookers.

12.   For those who hope to stride past the velvet ropes to baseball immortality, the dress codes just became clearer.

13.   Is a disco-style velvet rope at a hotel entrance absolutely necessary?

14.   It is not, contrary to expectations, a collection of rare cars behind velvet ropes.

15.   It was a beehive of designers, fashion tycoons, models and hangers-on who waited with showy impatience behind a red velvet rope until a table was open.

16.   It should be framed and hung in the Louvre, protected behind velvet ropes.

17.   It was a tooth-and-nail battle against club crawlers who knew how to bolt a velvet rope.

18.   Landmarks also have hidden cameras and alarms and guards to prevent vandalism, and velvet ropes to keep the crowds in line.

19.   Outside, an anxious throng of impeccably primped and perfumed clubgoers waited behind the velvet ropes.

20.   Outside of tony clubs, the velvet rope barring the door separates the hippest and hottest from the rest of the herd.