Socialite Slapdown

"Around this time of year, people start thinking in brackets. So as a service to New York's great unwashed, we thought we'd provide this method for helping the city define what it values in society." So sayest the newest creation from the Observer: Socialite Slapdown. Ever since that beast of a website Socialite Rank met it's doom, there have been countless attempts to recreate a ranking system for the socials. Because really, what's the point in getting all dressed up, and having to spend countless hours acting interested in conversation revolving around which dermatologist is the best in Manhattan, if you can't get some credit for your efforts. While FameGame is patiently trying to take over where Socialite Rank left off, along comes the Observer (an accredited publication) that will, on April 8th put us all to rest when they tell us exactly who is on top. More from Socialite Slapdown:

"Tinsley Mortimer, in the midst of the purported catfight between herself and her personal Eve, Olivia Palermo, lamented to a reporter recently that the blogs and newspapers believe Manhattan society is like the schoolyard: all hair-pulling and vicious insideriness. It's not like that, she said.

Whether or not it is, one thing even she must agree on is that the rules of Manhattan society are hard to define, hard to know, and therefore difficult not to break. In Edith Wharton's time, gentlemen and ladies made exquisite studies of right and wrong behavior for New York society, and reveled in their difficulties.

Perhaps the reason we like so much to read about direct competition and conflict among socialites is that we would like to imagine that being a member of Manhattan society is that straightforward, and that unpleasant, a proposition. We could participate but we choose not to.

Yes, this is a bracket competition in which we have seeded 64 of Manhattan's bright young things, and made them compete somewhat arbitrarily against each other in a series of rounds to see who comes out on top."

Go vote here now for your favorite socialites in these four categories: Birth, Brains, Beauty, and, my favorite, Brio (Palermo's got that one in the sack!) Thankfully, I'll get to participate in a non-NCAA related bracket this spring!

[Famegame.com]