Isn’t that what socialites did in madcap '40s & '50’s comedies?
Only if she has “the Forgotten Man” on her scavenger hunt list
No, no soooo…last year. Ahem!
It’s scavenger hunts this season.
Ninja’ed by mere seconds!!!
I’ll be lucky if I can rise to the level of Gadfly.
Excellent reference.
I think the term “socialite” is old fashioned. Wealthy families have always sought further wealth and influence. Maybe they still host debutante parties at the Craptown Country Club. But the term seems more relevant to bigger cities, with some mix of influence, the sort of targeted philanthropy where one must be seen to be doing good, fostering local connections and a feigned or occasionally real interest in art and highbrow topics. One suspects they have not yet accomplished much beyond garnering attention if only described in those terms (though this may not be true).
Even before the Internet, things were changing. Influence is quantifiable (though perhaps inflated) by webpage views. No one even pretends to much care about the level of interest in art and highbrow topics. Philanthropy has been somewhat replaced by being seen to be on the hospital board or worthy cause.
A nepo connection might help. Not to diminish the charms of Maggie Sajak or Paulina Gretzky or Paige Spiranic (sic?) or any of the other highly accomplished people who seem to regularly grace the airwaves or the back pages of the New York Post. Maybe a socialite is just a celebrity or wannabe, with enough charisma to perhaps boost pulses, sales, attention levels or circulation; or has a name people already recognize.
Truman Capote liked them socialites. Til he wrote thinly veiled tell alls.
So did Kissinger. He only told the parts that were self-serving.
There’s a long history of that. It was a plot point in a P. G. Wodehouse novel.
And I remember reading the book Serial, and delighting to the antics of the Marin County social scene. And then hearing that the author (Cyra McFadden? It’s been almost fifty years…) was skewering her friends, who all recognized each other.
Looks like you gotta dodge unscrupulous authors to be a socialite.
These days I think they want the attention. By which I mean providing free photos to news outlets willing to print them. But not secretly bombing Cambodia.
Is a socialite the same thing as a Society Dame?
I’m getting the image of Joan Crawford at a party with a cigarette and high-ball, pouty-lipped frown, and shoulder pads.
Depends. Does the party include a crap game with barons or earls?
Followed by brandy and cigars in the study.
Funnily enough, Fran ended up becoming something of a socialite herself - she seems to spend most of her time hobnobbing with various New York A- and B-listers, with breaks for the occasional speaking engagement or documentary appearance.
As the the quote goes: the Lowells talk only to Cabots, and the Cabots talk only to God…