quiddities and agonies of the ruling class - a rolling new york times thread

Trying to figure out if Town & Country is aimed at aspirational upper middle class, aspirational nouveau riche, or actual old money. It's hard to believe legit old money would have a glossy magazine about being old money, but IDK.

"The Rich & The Recession: What They Can't Afford Anymore" kind of suggests the first option.

i think its for all those people. half of that magazine is party pictures from aspen or florida or wherever people go for fancy balls. i think for some people its like the nyt wedding thing. get your picture in T&C at the charity ball and you've made it somehow.

Today, the magazine is published monthly, and its readership is composed of mainly younger socialites, café society, and middle class professionals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Town_%26_Country_(magazine)

Is the art-collection-related blushing due to bad taste, superiority, or obscene content?

Like are you supposed to have been embarrassed by

(a) a bad painting of sailboats
(b) a Charles Ray sculpture of a gay orgy consisting of Charles Ray clones
or
(c) a bunch of expensive Damien Hirst bullshit

haven't we banged this out before? there's no real old money tbh

why did i say "tbh", meant "anymore"

there are still some royal families iirc

do gettys and hearsts not count?

Rothschilds, Vanderbilts and Rockefellers still have mad cash, right?

pretty sure I've personally met people who qualify as old money - I mean how many generations back does it have to go. 18th century? 17th?

IMO "old money" now just means being rich is an established way of life in your family. So I guess if you're like third generation super-rich that would count? Maybe it's analogous to immigrants -- the first generation will never fool anyone, the second generation badly wants to fit in, the third generation has roots.

http://www.socialregisteronline.com/#!__questions

The Treat Rotunda at the New England Historic Genealogical Society on Newbury Street in Boston was the setting for a reception celebrating the publication in October 2011 of the first genealogical treatment of the Lowell family of Boston in more than a century. Among the family members present were Mr. John L. Thorndike (who spoke about the genesis of the project); Mr. and Mrs. Edward L. Stone (Cassandra S. Reeve); Mrs. Standish Bradford Jr. (Brigitte Pullerdt); Mr. and Mrs. Francis V. Lloyd 3d (Lida L. Thompson); and Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius Byron Waud (Corinna Roosevelt Reeve). The Society’s president and CEO, D. Brenton Simons, and co-author Scott C. Steward were among the other speakers

Is the art-collection-related blushing due to bad taste, superiority, or obscene content?

Super curious about this and not finding anything informative about it online. Almost curious enough to see if the public library subscribes to T&C.

An interesting dead end:

http://i.imgur.com/RFMND.jpg

http://www.townandcountrymagazine.com.au/
Wagga Wagga News, sport and weather

haven't we banged this out before? there's no real old money tbh

this is prob objectively true but you'd be hard pressed to convince some people I know in new England of this

my aunt could be considered NE "old money", I guess ... ancestor invented some goofy Yale tradition, last living heiress of an old family worth tons o money. waspy nickname as everyday name. she's pretty cool, lives and acts pretty humbly, you'd never tell.

i come from an old waspy new england family but the money was long gone by the time i was born. and i didn't grow up like that. my grandfather did. and my father and his sisters to some extent. i always enjoyed meeting cousins and great aunts and uncles who had edith wharton accents. my grandmother talked like that. they were from another world. kinda hard to relate to them in a lot of ways. but i think whatever manners i have come from those people. and, of course, my natural sense of superiority.

Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild

she married into that name. and made her fortune in the 90s!

my father theorizes our surname is an assumed one, as we were probably horse thieves in the old world and went into hiding

you guys missed a great one!
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/17/fashion/the-midwife-becomes-a-status-symbol-for-the-hip.html?_r=2

It was linked above.

oh :( i opened the whole thread and ctrl-f'd "midwife"

i apologize

I just didn't want you think that we'd missed a gem like that. :)

"Crunchy types". "The women in the red-bottom shoes". Is there a phrasebook for this stuff? The closed circle of examples (models, actresses) and interviewees (stylists, magazine editors) brings this story close to NYT Style perfection.

never heard of these Brant kids before, but some people posted that story on FB and I could tell I didn't need to click on it from looking at the photo.

Yeah I was disappointed there wasn't more discussion about the midwife link, especially with that classic "hey look at me" quote from the author.

Richard Chen, 23, grew up in a building on Guernsey Street with cream-color siding and an awning that looked as if it was white once upon a time. Mr. Chen said he was also pro-awning, for practical reasons and because they seemed in keeping with the old character of the neighborhood, before houses started selling for over $1 million.

“I miss the good old days,” he said.

Richard Chen, 23, misses the good old days.

yeah, let's talk about them shits

^gets it

i wish i could go back in time to every single fiction workshop i've ever taken and change every criticism to "ok just apply to NYT"

http://www.jessandruss.us/
didn't know where else to put this

I feel like I'm overdosing on twee.

on the one hand: it's cute and I love stories about how people meet

but even in my own circle of friends, I know there's maybe 1 or 2 people who wouldn't just scroll to the bottom to rsvp for the invitation, you know? like it seems a tiny bit tone-deaf to think that everyone basks in your story as much as you do that they will sit for what feels like a long time awwing at the minutiae of your story.

but I feel bad for feeling that way because I don't want to be cynical internetperson #5,568,098

lolllllll @ the ring pic

i want them dead

She went on her second Match.com date, but sparks were nowhere to be found.
He celebrated Obama's election victory with the good people of Lawrence, Kansas.

she calls new zealand "down under-ish". i'd like to know what new zealanders would think about that.

none of the pictures work for me (IE 8). do not hire for Web design.

She got her hair did and sang an Etta James song at the AIGA Holiday party

i can't guess the password, i want to rsvp

someone pls pls post the ring pic!

she made this
http://www.dailydropcap.com/

I don't think the ring pic can be hotlinked?

I really did like the image w/ the falling chairs in front of the French restaurant that followed the ring pic!

(VG inspired me to look for something positive)

<3

I've never seen a wedding invitation that looks so much like an effort to get people to see your portfolio