Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!
Have you ever heard the myth of the ding in sorority rush?
I'm not one to validate or debunk a myth -- more because my powers of Hauteness reach only into the realm of style -- but I'm pretty sure that if a girl doesn't get asked back to a sorority for Round 2, either she "slipped through the cracks" (something that is unfortunately far too common) or she did something to piss off an upper class girl enough to merit an unpleasant remark or two during deliberations.
Alone, a once-scarred upper class fashionista may be weak; but together sisters stand strong. And mean. Or at least vengeful.
It's like this at Dartmouth. And it's like this everywhere else, especially in the Fashion Industry.
You know that clich about burning bridges? Don't burn bridges, or else it will come back to haunt you, yada yada yada... ? Well, trite as they might be, cliches tend to be cliches for a reason.
We live in an overly egocentric world, where every breathing thing is out to better their own social, economic, academic and corporate position via any means possible. There are times in life when it seems that The Bitch always wins and Nice Girls finish last. But at a certain point, backstabbing can come back to bite you in the ass -- and good behavior can actually be rewarded.
In any niche of life, our eyes are set on a prize which waits in the future at the top of an ever-growing ladder and every move we make now or made in the past helps determine whether we will ever be able to cash in on any winnings. It's only natural that burning bridges breeds bad karma.
Bridges are built and burned every day at Dartmouth -- where 4000 college students vie for social stardom -- as well as in the Fashion Industry, where nothing is ever what it seems and industry hotshots and rising stars swap companies and positions faster than a term at Dartmouth flies by.
In just the past week, while Rush was taking place in Hanover and girls were wheeling and dealing their way into being one of the Chosen, the Fashion Industry performed a ritual gymnastics routine and fashionista employees were shuffled and redistributed like hotcakes.
Phoebe Philo announced her plan to resign from her position as Creative Director of Chloe. Another Project Runway hopeful was canned. A new president (Daniella Vitale) has been named at Gucci America.
After working several seasons alongside Diane von Furstenberg, DVF creative director Nathan Jenden will be showing both with DVF and on his own at this February's New York Fashion Week.
Staff shakeups have gone down at Michael Kors, KCD (publicists for Marc Jacobs, Versace and the like), Prada, Saks Fifth Avenue, The New York Times, Ralph Lauren, Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche and Bottega Venetta, to name a few.
And that's just scratching the surface.
I get morning updates from fashionweekdaily.com that inform me of up-to-the-minute changes in the Fashion Industry mating game. One change in the PR Department at Calvin Klein can spur an industry-wide chain reaction of promotions and employee rearrangements.
If you left that internship at Glamour on a sour note two years ago by telling Bitchy Boss how you really feel, you'll be sorry when you're trying to get a job at Vogue and find out that Bitchy Boss has conveniently taken reign with the ranks of fashion magazine royalty -- and unfortunately remembers that you burned a bridge or two back in the day.
Oh, and by the way, you're blacklisted ... everywhere.
The same goes for sorority rush, it seems. Everyone has their moments Freshman year, but some ignorant youngins seem to be better than others at pissing off upper-class ladies; and it unfortunately comes back to haunt them come Sophomore Fall or Winter when rush roles around.
It turns out that unabashedly flirting with someone's boyfriend and trying to make out with him while someone is still in the room is a no-no(ding). As is throwing beer on older girls (ding). Or underhandedly groveling for a grade on a group project (ding). Or ignoring an upper-class girl until that moment of clarity when you realize that Previously Ignorable Upper-Class Girl is in that really cool sorority you've decided you want to be in to in order to increase your coolness quotient and land dudes that are in cool frats (ding).
It seems that Dartmouth and the Real World really aren't all that different, after all. Skeletons in the closet always seem to have a way of rearing their ugly heads at the least opportune times. And burned bridges are hard to rebuild.
I guess there are always new bridges to be constructed; but I'd rather not be stranded on an island with no way of crossing the treacherous waters. Some say nice guys finish last. But slow and steady wins the race.
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
The b*tch will see her day.
