Back in the '70's, when disco was still king, thousands would stand in line and wait hours for admittance to the "hot" nightclubs, of which Studio 54 was the best known exemplar. Of those waiting, only a select few gained admission, chosen in a somewhat arbitrary procedure, according to whether their appearance and clothing tickled the fancy of the doorman and/or bouncer of the club (celebs and privileged regulars entered ahead of the commoners, of course).

After several years of this, it finally began to dawn on the rejectees, that "many are called, but few are chosen", that they would forever be considered unwelcome intruders, that (duhh...) they were being played for suckers. The long lines shrank, and the disco craze imploded.

So is it also with the beautiful people subculture. When an entourage of sycophants and toadies no longer pays homage, when outsiders no longer clamor for admittance to this select circle, when it inevitably becomes "uncool" to belong, then too will this phenomenon become yet another unimportant footnote in the history of mass delusion.