Poorly Ranked Socialite Hires P.I.

DANCING QUEENS Nouveau society doyenne Tinsley Mortimer with Derek Blasberg The identity of the writer or writers behind Upper East Side slambook SocialiteRank.com is a closely guarded secret, but it might not remain so if a certain miffed party princess has her way. The woman—who asked to be anonymous, but is one of several dozen young things whose every fake smile is chronicled on the site—has hired a private investigator to unmask its authors in hopes of forcing them to play fair.

According to its mission statement, SocialiteRank draws its judgments from a council of connected style mavens. Aficionados frequent the site less for its posts, which are mostly unreadable, than for its message boards, where nightcrawlers and publicists eviscerate each other with creepy glee.

There's been no shortage of speculation as to which underemployed dyslexic might possess the stamina and motivation to write detailed analyses of Tinsley Mortimer's tennis serve at 4 a.m. or design a Photoshop collage featuring dozens of miniature Genevieve Joneses. Names frequently mentioned include Proenza Schouler breaker-upper Derek Blasberg, man-about-town Lyle Maltz, KCD publicist Bonnie Morrison, writer Claire Bernard, and anyone who has anything to do with R. Couri Hay. All have denied involvement, though sources say at least one of the above regularly feeds the site tips.