A socialite is a person, typically a woman from a wealthy or aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society.
Word history
The word
socialite is first attested in 1909 in a Tennessee newspaper.
[ Oxford English Dictionary, s.v.] It was popularized by
Time magazine in the 1920s.
[David E. Sumner, The Magazine Century: American Magazines Since 1900, 2010, , p. 62]
United Kingdom
Historically, socialites in the United Kingdom were almost exclusively from the families of the
British nobility and
landed gentry.
Many socialites also had strong familial or personal relationships to the British royal family.
Between the 17th and early 19th centuries, society events in London and at country houses were the focus of socialite activity.
United States
Americans members of the Establishment, or an American "society" based on birth, breeding, education, and economic standing, were originally listed in the
Social Register, a directory of the names and addresses of the "preferred social contacts" of the prominent families in the 19th century. In 1886,
Louis Keller started to consolidate these lists and package them for sale.
18th and 19th centuries
The concept of socialites dates to the 18th and 19th century. Most of the earliest socialites were wives or mistresses of royalty or nobility, but being a socialite was more a duty and a means of survival than a form of pleasure. Bashful queens were often forced to play gracious and wealthy hostess to people who despised them. Mistresses had to pay for their social reputation and had to use their social skills to obtain favor in the court and retain the interest of their lovers.
With the increase of wealth in the US in the 19th century, being a socialite developed into a role that brought power and influence.
21st century
In the 21st century, the term "socialite" is still attached to being wealthy and socially recognized. The lines between being a socialite and
celebrity with an exuberant partying lifestyle have since become blurred due to the influence of both
popular culture and the
media influence, particularly when the status of being a celebrity is largely due to that lifestyle. Celebrity
Paris Hilton is an example of a 21st-century socialite due to her ability to attract media attention and fame based only on her connections and associations. Hilton is the great-granddaughter of
Conrad Hilton, the founder of Hilton Hotels & Resorts, and heiress to the Hilton Hotel fortune. Due to her outrageous lifestyle, Hilton was hailed by the media as "New York's leading
It girl" in 2001.
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Gossip Girl, an American television series airing between September 2007 and December 2012, focuses on the lives of New York City socialites who live on Manhattan's Upper East Side. The show is a strong influence on how socialites are regarded in the 21st century because of the presence of scandal, wealth, and fashion in each episode. Pop culture gives the impression that by simply being wealthy and fashionable, an individual has the opportunity to become famous. Consequently, it is an individual's ability to climb the social ladder due to his or her wealth and recognition that makes them a socialite.
According to The New York Times, socialites spend between $98,000 and $455,000 per year (young and old, respectively) to maintain their roles as successful socialites.
Gender
Buzzfeed advises its writers to "not use this
sexist term ... and consider how you would describe a man in a similar circumstance."
Gallery of notable socialites
File:Boucher Marquise de Pompadour 1756 detail.jpg|Madame de Pompadour (1721–1764)
File:Madame Recamier - Jacques Louis David.png|Madame Récamier (1777–1849)
File:Mariquita Sánchez 1845.jpg|Mariquita Sánchez (1786–1868)
File:Caroline Schermerhorn Astor.jpg|Caroline Astor (1830–1908)
File:SarahBernhardt.png|Sarah Bernhardt (1844–1923)
File:Lillie Langtry, 1875.gif|Lillie Langtry (1853–1929)
File:Margaret-Emma-Alice-Margot-Asquith-ne-Tennant-Countess-of-Oxford-and-Asquith.jpg| Margot Asquith (1864-1945)
File:Consuelo Vanderbilt90.jpg|Consuelo Vanderbilt (1877–1964)
File:Alice Roosevelt by Frances Benjamin Johnston (cropped) (cropped).jpg|Alice Roosevelt (1884–1980)
File:Vincenzo Laviosa - Duke and Duchess of Windsor - Google Art Project (cropped).jpg|Wallis Simpson (1896–1986)
File:Zelda Fitzgerald (1923 Portrait) Retouched.jpg|Zelda Fitzgerald (1900–1948)
File:Barbara Hutton on a ship (cropped).jpg|Barbara Hutton (1912–1979)
File:Stanley Grafton Mortimer Jr. and Barbara Cushing honeymoon in 1940 (crop).jpg|Babe Paley (1915–1978)
File:Gloria Vanderbilt 1959.JPG|Gloria Vanderbilt (1924–2019)
File:Marella Agnelli 1950s.jpg|Marella Agnelli (1927–2019)
File:Silver Pitcher presented to White House (Portrait).jpg|Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929–1994)
File:Prinses Margaret in het Amstel Hotel (Bestanddeelnr 917-7739).jpg|Princess Margaret (1930–2002)
File:Lee Radziwill.jpg|Lee Radziwill (1933–2019)
File:Kathleenkennedy.webp|Kathleen Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington (1920–1948)
File:Wedding of Talitha Pol (Rome, 1966) (cropped).jpg|Talitha Getty (1940–1971)
File:Paris Hilton et Doug Reinhardt 66ème Festival de Venise (Mostra) 2 (cropped).jpg|Paris Hilton (born 1981)
See also
