Feature: Ready for Their Close-Ups: Behind-the-Scenes With Philly’s Socialites

Led by Sabrina Tamburino Thorne, a new breed of attention-loving, camera-hungry partygoers are making themselves “Philly-famous” — and turning Philadelphia society upside down

Another party fixture, Arthur Kade, is floating around. You can’t talk about Philly fame and not bring up Kade. Nobody has worked harder to achieve it, sidling up to local well-knowns at events, posting videos and photos on his solipsistic website, writing cringe-worthy musings on fame, women and famous women, and recapping his (mis)adventures. The payoff for his idiot’s quest has been a startling amount of recognition. Readers from around the world regularly abuse him in his blog’s comments section; he plunges on, unblinkingly. New York media blog Gawker has called him a “Philly fameball” and a “phenomenon of online self-humiliation.” He’s impervious.

Kade’s a party regular, but he defines himself as a celebrity rather than a socialite. (He recently tweeted to the world: “If u r at every party + want 2b in every picture, u shouldn’t be upset if I only call u a partygirl or a fame whore.”)

“He’s just sort of doing his own thing now,” Foote says. While she knows him, he stands outside her circle, Philly-famous in a different way, what with his crude t-shirts and unabashed celebrity idolatry. Still, she praises his ambition. “Good for him,” she says, “for promoting himself so well.”

IF YOU WANT to observe socialites in their natural habitat, your best bet is probably Parc, the busy, buzzing bistro on 18th Street where if you’re anybody, you’ll run into at least two people you know. “Between that and Rouge,” Foote says, “everyone’s out there, where you can see them, all the time.” Around Rittenhouse, “Even our dogs are sort of famous,” she adds, with a little laugh.

Eighty percent of success may be showing up, but Philly socialites do more than just RSVP yes. “They help raise money — they really support the places and charities they’re asked to,” Foote insists. “They’re on boards. They’re not just showing up to free parties.” She attends eight or nine events a week, fresh-faced and hair done and sparkling at each.

Still, “It’s much easier to master the social scene here than it is in New York,” says Beth Dunn, a Mays Landing resident and Main Line expat who recently published a novel about Philadelphia society called Social Climbers. (Her blog offers advice to would-be socialites: “Identify a charity you would like to support”; “Wear large sunglasses.”) Mostly, it’s a matter of scale. “In Philadelphia, you can count the museums on one hand,” Dunn says. “It’s just not as difficult to network. And you always see the same people once you start going to things.”

Sabrina Tamburino Thorne agrees that size has everything to do with how readily one can make a social impact here. “It’s such a small city,” she says. “I never aspired to be Philly-famous, whatever that means. I never aspired to be famous at all. But after a while, when you’re going to the same events with the same people, they know who you are. Being on Philly Chit Chat isn’t like something I registered for. But … it’s fun. I don’t think it’s a bad thing.”