By the time people were wearing Gloria's jeans, socialites had morphed into a new iteration: Suddenly, they were 'It Girls.'Įnter: Edie Sedgwick, the lithe heiress who played muse to Andy Warhol while poking fun at her own all-consuming privilege. You might be familiar with her personalized line of blue jeans. She built her life around the legacy of her famous surname, as the descendant of railroad tycoon Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt, and became a fashion icon in the '70s. If you've got it, spend it, right?Ī little later down the line, Gloria Vanderbilt made her debut, following a tumultuous childhood abroad. A member of the Woolworth family, Hutton is rumored to have spent nearly all of her billion-dollar inheritance over the course of her lifetime, dying with only a meager amount in the bank. Not long after Mona's rise, socialite Barbara Hutton - the “Poor Little Rich Girl” who held an elaborate debutante ball during the height of the depression - came onto the scene. The portrait was aptly titled “ The Kentucky Countess,” a nod to her Southern roots and social status. The new society queen commissioned a painting of herself from none other than Salvador Dali. She traversed her way through the ranks of society through marriage - as if rock climbing to the top of a mountain made of a cash, where a socialite's crown waited for her at its peak. But from those humble roots, she rose ever upward, ultimately becoming the first woman to ever be titled, “The Best Dressed Woman In the World” (yes - this was an actual award) by an international panel of renowned designers. Mona began her life in Kentucky, the daughter of a horse breeder. To really get perspective, we have to go back in time to Mona von Bismarck, a prominent figure from the 1920s. In 2016, the Kardashian clan is more recognizable, more prominent, and more talked-about than any of America's OG monied families, including the Vanderbilts, the Gettys, and even the Hiltons.īut to fully understand how the socialite of yesteryear evolved to its current Kardashian incarnation, you have to understand where the tradition - and the word - comes from. With each passing year - it's already been nine since we first were welcomed into that Calabasas home on Octoshe has only become more famous.

To some people’s dismay (if that’s you then, it's time to just get over it), Kim is synonymous with wealth, status, privilege, and influence. Over the last decade, the 36-year-old has gone from reality show punchline to glitzy debutante to fixture of an elite social scene. The real reason that Kim Kardashian has risen to superstardom is because she's actually just the latest reinvention of an archetype our culture has long been obsessed with: the wealthy socialite. But while all of the aforementioned elements have contributed to her remarkable (and in the many ways, surprising) rise to international fame, there's another component that could explain the public's fascination with a girl like Kim. Is it her family, a contemporary, more bronzed version of the Brady Brunch? Perhaps it's her body, which she displays proudly and without hesitation? Or maybe her scandals?

Here's a trick question for you: What is the one thing, above all else, that makes Kim Kardashian West so famous?

Socialite meaning