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Menace to Society

By Drew Grant 5/30/12 9:36am

Menace to Society

A Faustian bargain!

Menace to Society: Press for Success

Becoming a socialite is a grueling slog even in the best of circumstances. And I’m not in the best of circumstances. I don’t really know anyone or have any money, and while I’ve gotten plenty of ink over the years, it’s not the kind on the society pages (it’s on my shoulders, calves, upper arms, forearms…).

But nobody does it alone. Cinderella had a Fairy Godmother and a bunch of little birds. I had an editor, a stylist and a photographer lending occasional advice, but it wasn’t enough. I needed a publicist. And I knew of only one man for the job: R. Couri Hay. Read More

By Drew Grant 5/02/12 9:00am

Menace to Society

NYO_makeover_fin

Menace to Society: Junior (League) Miss

I’m not exactly what you’d call a social person. I can count the number of close friends I have on one hand, and that includes close relatives and the person I am currently dating. Which leaves three more spaces, in case anyone wants to be my buddy.

My mother once told me that I avoided joining large playgroups because I had a fear of “disappearing” into them. Apparently I was a very metaphysical child, noticing at an early age that girls who hung out together inevitably developed a sort of hive-mind mentality—dressing the same, talking the same, laughing (at me) the same.

In my recent bid to increase my social standing and ingratiate myself into a group of fancy ladies, I have resolved to hit the charity circuit. But it’s not as easy as it sounds. Read More

By Drew Grant 4/04/12 9:00am

Menace to Society

SAVE VENICE Inc. A Night on the Lido

Menace to Society: Tea with Tinsley

As I approached the steps of the Plaza, a frightening thought occurred to me: I couldn’t remember what Tinsley Mortimer looked like. Of course I’d seen her before. Who hadn’t? But there are so many pretty blonde socialites these days, they all sort of blend together. It didn’t help that Ms. Mortimer had taken a two-year sabbatical from the New York social scene, and was only recently reemerging. Maybe I should just quickly check my smartphone for her photo…no, that would be too obvious, what if she turned out to be standing right next to me? Read More

By Drew Grant 3/13/12 9:10am

Menace to Society

Patrick McMullan, Drew Grant

Menace to Society: Lensy Legend Patrick McMullan Helps the Kid Stay in the Picture

I’ll never forget the first piece of advice ever given to me by Patrick McMullan. “Don’t get photographed while doing high-kicks on a stripper pole,” he admonished while snapping pics of me doing my best impression of a “sexy lady,” a la Liz Lemon.

“But I’m having fun!” I whined as I made another one-legged hop around the pole at The Box. Besides, I was having my photo taken by New York’s premier nightlife photographer, so I must have finally been doing something right. I’ve even been considering handing over my Bat Mitzvah photos for Mr. McMullan to slap up on his site, since as everyone knows, the number of images of a person on Patrickmcmullan.com precisely reflects their social status, emotional well-being and innate value as a member of the human race. (I had 3.) Read More

By Drew Grant 3/01/12 3:36pm

Menace to Society

Caroline Astor: The OG socialite of New York

Menace to Society: A History Lesson

For months now, my steady assault on the social world had provided me a healthy diet of Krug and canapés.

Not this time.

“We’re giving you a book report,” said my editor. That sounded suspiciously like work.

“You won’t make it any further in society until you know what it is, where it comes from,” he said. “You’ll just hit a wall. Having no idea what you’re doing is charming, but only to a point.”

So instead of dressing up and going to parties, my mission was to find out everything I could about the history of New York’s upper crust. Read More