You are totally right about Genevieve.
She actually comes pretty much straight from the gutter and is really a glorified prostitute imo. She is the kept mistress of a famous Italian painter (whose wife has more class, beauty and elegance than Genevieve could ever hope for) but unlike the better bred and prettier Olivia, she is an outstanding net worker.
She also had a very good social climbing strategy: she aimed to be part of the artsy crowd not the social crowd, which was a stroke of genius. Art people are more liberal, less likely to care about your origins, and the social girls don't feel threatened by her so she is relatively accepted in this circle too, as a curiosity at least.
Olivia, however, was just plain dumb about it. She arrived on the social scene like a bullet and aimed straight to the top spot. It's equivalent to trying to snatch the crown off the most popular girl in school on the prom night.
She got rejected, of course. And it isn't a question of breeding: Tinsley has none, her family is country as hell and she is the queen bee. Why? Because she kept her eyes on the top prize (her husband) and played the part better than anyone else. It's all about strategy.
Oh, and none of these girls are socialites in the genuine sense of the word (aside from Aerin Lauder and a couple of other). They are party girls. NYC Society is dead.
On Topic: Olivia is gorge but I could not describe a single outfit she's ever worn from memory.
Her style is neither bad nor good, it's just inexistant to the point that she could be running around naked I would not notice the difference.
I wonder if that was part of the backlash?
(I mean I know it's not true but it seems like that when they're in her apartment, eating dinner, etc).
