I read a lot of blogs back in 2006 but I never came across Socialite Rank. So imagine my surprise when I read about it from an announcement about an upcoming documentary.
Socialite Rank was a gossip blog that ranked the “pretty young things” in New York. The “it” girls. Why it existed and how it operated is a fascinating read.
This week, director Zackary Drucker released the new documentary Queenmaker: The Making of an It Girl, which charts the world’s obsession with the young, rich, and powerful women who were at the center of early 2000s popular culture. The film delves into the way social media, the burgeoning internet, and the changing rules of modern society helped make people like Paris Hilton, Tinsley Mortimer, and Olivia Palermo more than just “socialites,” but instead internationally recognized stars. — From “A Definitive History of Socialite Rank” in Town & Country
Another great read on the topic:
When Hilton left for L.A., finding fulfillment as a reality-show star, she was succeeded by a generation of girls—perhaps 100 at the core—who wished to repeat her success, without taking off their underwear. A peculiar amalgam of some of the oldest names in New York, daughters of captains of industry from all over the world, and pretty young things with the right dresses but no pedigree at all, these girls proudly called themselves “socialites.” — From “The Number-One Girl” in NYMag.
