Julie Fredrickson, the young lady who founded the fashion blog Coutorture after learning via a Glamour internship that fashion ladies are bitches, has discovered another hard truth about that world: Sometimes, it's a tough place to be the new kid on the block. In a post today, she takes issue with the fact that reporters from large, deep-pocketed news organizations paid for their tickets to the Council of Fashion Designers of America awards ceremony on Monday—even though they would've been comped anyway—while bloggers like herself, who 'couldn't afford' to buy a ticket, were shut out. It's not fair! What is interesting, though, is the email explaining the situation that Julie received from publicist Bonnie Morrison (pictured). As documents of sheer snotty bitchery go, it belongs in a hall of fame alongside... umm... Socrates'rebuke of Alcibiades in the Symposium!

I am a bit perplexed by this. [Redacted] did not attend the CFDA cocktail this year, but his colleague [Redacted] was extended an invitation by Executive Director Steven Kolb himself to be guest of our organization. This segment of the evening is primarily for dinner guests and a VERY limited number of cocktail-only guests. Put simply, no money would or did exchange hands, so this must be a misunderstanding that I hope this email has now clarified for you.

Like many events run by not-for-profit organizations, I manage an EXTREMELY limited number of press comps that I administer after reviewing a host of factors, which include but are not by any means limited to audience and number of impressions - I cannot stress this enough. I regret that was not able to secure one for [Redacted], but she did volunteer that if the ticket for "Upstairs at the Library" was under $250, she would be happy to purchase one. I never communicated with any one at "Publisher's News Site.com" on this matter, so I am still unsure as what the genesis of this belief was, but, naturally, I would have done my best to clear it up immediately.

Though it may surprise you, I would also like to take this opportunity to point out that the majority of publications who devote extensive, multi-page coverage to this event opt to purchase their own tickets (including some you have referenced in previous emails as inferior in scope to yours), or buy at least one ticket for the one comp ticket (maximum) they receive. They do this to support the event and the CFDA, which is but one of the reasons both the dinner and viewing party sell out almost instantly.

To repeat, if people who intended to cover any portion of the last night's event for a blog, website, paper or magazine paid to attend, that decision cannot have been based on a directive from me, this office or anyone at the CFDA, because no such directive was issued, ever.

We have discussed it a few times, but please allow me to restate that The New York Public Library is, as you probably know, an historical landmark that begs strict adherence to city regulations, so respect for its rules and limitations must be paramount for us. We are bound to monitor strictly the number of guests in Astor Hall (which, incidentally, does not boast central air conditioning - no insignificant consideration for an event that is always held in June in New York City) for this event. Celeste Bartos Forum, where dinner is held, seats 450 for dinner - no more. To generate this list, we are principally obligated to: CFDA board members, nominees, honorees, presenters, table buyers, backers and supporters. If one knows even a little bit about this organization, he or she could imagine how quickly we may even exceed capacity by addressing the needs of those constituents alone.

I hope this gives you more insight into the Awards, its protocols and demands, as well as why so many of these decisions can not be regarded as personal. Thank you for taking the time to clarify the facts of this matter - I really appreciate it.

Sincerely,

Bonnie Morrison


Pay For Play At The CFDA Awards [Coutorture]