Brio
Who writes the rules of entry to Manhattan society? Stretching back to the days of Anthony Trollope, fashionable society always had its share of people whose resources and backgrounds were shrouded in mystery; or who were so ordinary in their histories but so extraordinary in their ambitions, that the rules of society bent to accommodate them. At times they've even been courted: meet the right person, and maybe society will discover you! But that means devoting a lot of time and attention to putting yourself in front of the right people. Eliza Doolittle had Henry Higgins; Jean Genet had Jean Cocteau and Coco Chanel; half of 1970's society had Andy Warhol. Nowadays this route is even harder. Grit and luck, those two secret ingredients in the life of the city, and the ability to brush yourself off after the inevitable and serious faux pas, are the principle reasons these folks are where they are today.
