The LBD is still the sexiest

I admit I'm fascinated with New York's socialites and their glamorous life. Yes, I read Park Avenue Peerage (and did read the now defunct Socialiterank.com). NY Times put 14 of the most prominent socials in NY (oddly Tinsley Mortimer's missing) in some of the hottest Little Black Dresses this season. These women are nothing like the sort of socialites like Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. They are accomplished women with fiece careers (or at least ambitions). The photos are all in black and white, which is always my favorite, as almost everybody can look glamorous in a black and white photo. And the dresses are just gorgeous.

Ferebee Bishop

Public-relations consultant

Bishop moved from Chapel Hill, N.C., to New York on Sept. 10, 2001, intent on breaking into the fashion industry. But what she perhaps lacked in timing, she ultimately made up for with Southern tenacity and finely tuned social skills. She worked her way up the Calvin Klein P.R. ladder to the celebrity-services team before becoming Harrison & Shriftman’s director of V.I.P. relations. “Certain girls have gotten jobs in fashion to get that label,” says Bishop, who now consults for young designers like Alexander Wang and Brian Reyes. “But I work in the industry for a different reason.” Narciso Rodriguez black washed silk charmeuse embroidered dress, $3,265. At www.neimanmarcus.com.


Zani Gugelmann

Jewelry designer

“I work hard and I play hard,” says Gugelmann, who moved to New York from Greenwich, Conn., just after 2000 with the goal of rocking the world. Now that she’s a jewelry designer, that’s close enough. While she claims to also be part homebody, a look at her calendar suggests otherwise. “I go to fashion dinners, cocktail parties, home-cooked meals with my friends, house parties, lounges and Socialista,” she admits. “I enjoy going out, and if that fits in the definition of a socialite, then I guess that’s what I should be called.” J. Mendel black silk chiffon and lamé dress, $4,500. At J. Mendel boutiques. Tiffany & Company cuff bracelets.


Amanda Hearst

Student and board member of Riverkeeper

She may be the blondest of the Hearst heiresses running around Manhattan, but Amanda Hearst may also be the least social. “Some people think a socialite is someone without a job, and all they do is go to parties,” she says. “I go out maybe one or two nights a week. It’s not a big part of my life.” Come December, the Fordham undergraduate plans to extricate herself from the social whirl altogether: “I want to go to Europe. I want to perfect my accent, maybe in Madrid, and stay abroad for as long as I can.” Derek Lam black bustier dress, $1,590. At Bergdorf Goodman. Bracelets from Fred Leighton.

See the complete slideshow here