Kaylee ,'The Message'
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
Damn. I hoped feminism had killed the poufy white dress.
Nutty, you should read Hypocrite in a Pouffy White Dress by Susan Gilman, if you haven't. The book as a whole is fabulous and laugh-out-loud funny, but the essay toward the end (the actual Pouffy White Dress essay) addresses this topic in a really interesting and new way.
Actually, I've been pimping this book to everyone. Love it.
The discussion of "class" returns to money very quicky among Americans, you will note.
It is a very different thing, elsewhere. The American Edith Wharton was also interested in this. What separates the "uppercust" from the "well-monied" was an ongoing motif, for her.
And here, if the money is gone, most of the clout goes too. The first generation might get the invites, but forget it after that. I don't think that carries if you have an actual title.
if the money is gone, most of the clout goes too.
Yeah, whatever happened to genteel poverty anyway?
I could name the ones here, but that's because their names are on everything and usually in the paper (not just the society pages).
There was a huge scandal when one of them was finally arrested for shoplifting at Nemian-Marcus.
Considering he laughed, I'm pretty sure you were.
Well, FWIW, he was a very nice and chatty guy, even to so lowly a person as the front desk receptionist, and he never came to the office so I have no idea what he looked like.
When we look back on our lives, sometimes I am amazed at the connections not-made-at-the-time.
I think this is a fairly common first question no matter where you are.
When the fam and I were in West Virginia we noticed that it wasn't the first question at ALL and almost never came up.
I think this is a fairly common first question no matter where you are.
It's not out of a desire to get to know someone better. It's mercenary in its ultimate form. The implication is that your job better be able to move me ahead, or you're not worth my time.
Maria, are you speaking of DC-socialising or of the question in general?
Dollars to donuts that you wouldn't get that reaction here. It's a basic survival skill: know something about everything.
Oohhh...now I want to test that out. Every reaction I've ever gotten is, "Huh." and a blank stare. When I explain it further, the response is "I never realized there was a need for that kind of thing." It's funny.
The discussion of "class" returns to money very quicky among Americans, you will note.
Except for those from DC. Substitue "money" with "power" and you're spot on.
That's the sardonic beauty of this city. You don't need money to get ahead, but you'd damn well better know the right people.
Maria, are you speaking of DC-socialising or of the question in general?
DC-socialising. I'd forgotten that the other exists.
t /been in DC since 1992