Sofia Richie married Elliot Grainge at Hotel Du Cap last weekend. The Cut published an extensive It Girl edit, featuring 151 NYC it girls from the past and present. They also asked what makes an it girl? We’re in a recession, inflation is an issue, the timing doesn’t feel quite right, but we always love to look at- gossip about- a pretty young thing. The it girl is back.
Being an it girl is not the same as being cool. (And being popular is not the same as being an it girl or being cool.) And today, I am more interested in discussing cool. Olivia Palermo is (was?) an it girl, but she is uncool. (Uncool is different from not cool. Most people are not cool which is just the absence of the elusive and rare coolness. A few people are actively cool or actively uncool. It is not bad to be not cool, it’s normal.) Victoria Paris is cool, the Olsen Twins are cool, Lauren Santo Domingo is cool. Michael Jordan is not cool. Lionel Richie is extremely cool. Anna Wintour is (hot take) not cool. Nolita is cool, the Upper East Side is not cool, the Upper West Side is uncool. Round diamond rings in a Tiffany setting are too classic to be cool. Most (but certainly not all!) influencers exist on the not cool to uncool spectrum because not being cool is relatable and we love to follow a girl next door.