The Cost of Social Climbing

Charity begins at the Pierre, the Met, Saks...

Vanities

COME say the only way to Oscale Manhattan’s moneybased social pyramid is to attend charity benefits. At these balls, opening-night galas, and department-store dinner dances, the hopefully ascending can see and be seen with the securely established, the perpetual honorary chairpersons like Mrs. Astor, Mrs. Onassis, and Mrs. Rockefeller. This partial list of charity events held between Labor Day and early December, the so-called season, gives the price of tickets for a couple.

Grand total: $145,210*

September

7: “Newport in New York” dinner at the Plaza hotel for the Tennis Hall of Fame: $600

10: Julio Iglesias concert at Radio City and supper dance at the Plaza for Casita Maria: $700 11: “SFA/USA” fashion show and dinner at Saks Fifth Avenue for six charities: $300

12: Japan Society benefit at Bloomingdale’s: $400

17: reopening of the Starlight Roof at the Waldorf-Astoria for the New York City Partnership, Inc.: $300

17: premiere of Amadeus, and dinner at Tavern on the Green, for Columbia University School of the Arts: $700

17: Sotheby’s “100 Years of Collecting in America” dinner dance for the Metropolitan Museum of Art: $500

18: benefit at the Hotel Pierre for the Department of Pediatrics at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center: $500

20: Hanae Mori fashion show and cocktail party for the School of American Ballet: $200

24: Coty American Fashion Critics Awards at and for the Fashion Institute of Technology: $500

24: opening of the 101 st Metropolitan Opera season, and dinner at the Grand Tier: $700

24: “Day and Night” fashion show and dinner at the Pierre for the Girls Town of Italy : $300

25: opening of Giselle by the Dance Theatre of Harlem and party at the Waldorf for the Doll League, Inc.: $200

25: opening of the New York Philharmonic’s season, and supper: $500

October

1: Sense of Smell Awards luncheon at the Waldorf for the Fragrance Foundation Philanthropic Fund: $300

1: Hans J. Morgenthau Award dinner honoring Jeane Kirkpatrick at the Waldorf for the National Committee on American Foreign Policy: $500

1: The Masked Ball at the Pierre for the Musicians Emergency Fund: $400

1: concert and dinner at Carnegie Hall for the Andrew Carnegie Society: $100,000

2: Rainbow Room fiftieth-anniversary dinner dance for the Museum of the City of New York: $500

2: opening of ‘ ‘ Photography and ABT” at Dyansen 57 and supper at Cafe Seiyoken for the American Ballet Theatre: $300 2: opening of Horst show, and Cointreau reception, at and for the International Center of Photography: $150

3: opening of “Fifty Years on Fifth” at Steuben Glass and gala at Lever House for the Municipal Art Society: $2,000

4: twenty-course dinner at Fortune Garden for the China Institute in America: $300

9: “Superstar Dinner” honoring Archbishop John J. O’Connor at the Waldorf for the Police Athletic League: $650

11: premiere of Sweeney Todd by the New York City Opera, and dinner dance: $2,000

12: Black and White Ball at the Waldorf for the World Mercy Fund: $1,000

14: opening of Evyan House, and dinner dance for HAPPI (Help Autistic People Please, Inc.): $500

14: “Listen for Those Who Can’t” benefit at the Pierre for the Deafness Research Foundation: $600

15: private viewing of the Te Maori exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum and dinner dance at the Pierre for the American Federation of Arts: $600

15: International Center for the Disabled dinner at the Waldorf:

$600

16: dinner at Tiffany & Co. honoring the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk for the College of Arms Foundation: $1,000

17: “Art for the Table” dinner, sale, and auction at Windows on the World for the American Craft Museum: $350

17: private showing of Russian art at Christie’s for the Friends of St. Sergius High School and the American Society for the Preservation of Russian Monuments and Culture: $110

18: Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation, Inc., dinner at the Waldorf: $600

19: performance of Much Ado About Nothing by the Royal Shakespeare Company in the presence of H.R.H. Princess Michael of Kent and reception at the Tower Suite: $500

19: April in Paris Ball at the Waldorf for the American French Foundation: $800

20: “You’ve Got to Have Style” fashion show and luncheon salute to George Gershwin at the Pierre for the Brooklyn Catholic Charities: $100

24: All Sports Hall of Fame dinner at the Waldorf for the Boys’ Club of New York: $600

25: U. J. A. Inaugural Gala at the Sheraton Centre: $18,500

25: dinner at the Metropolitan Club for the Hospitality Committee for U.N. Delegations: $350 30: premiere of The Killing Fields and supper at the St. Regis for the International Rescue Committee: $500

30: Human Services Award dinner at the Waldorf for Cancer Care, Inc., and the National Cancer Foundation: $600

31: dinner dance at the Pierre for the Madison Square Boys and Girls Club: $500

November

1: an evening with Sarah Vaughan at the Puck Building for the American Council for the Arts: $600

1: A.S.P.C.A. dinner dance at the Pierre: $400

5; “An Evening with Tony Bennett and Barbara Cook’ ’ at Town Hall and dinner dance at the N.Y.U. Club for the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Foundation: $500

9: “Fashion Affair ’84” fashion show and silent auction at the Tower Gallery for AIDS Medical Foundation: $300

14: “Gold Medal Gala” honoring H.R.H. Don Juan de Borbon Battenberg, Count of Barcelona, at the Waldorf for the Spanish Institute: $600

December

3: preview of “Man and the Horse,” and dinner dance at the Metropolitan Museum for the Costume Institute: $1,500

Bob Colacello

* Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.