It's one thing for Graydon Carter to deem you worthy of, say, a 7 pm reservation at his 70-seat Waverly Inn. But if you really want an emblem of the Vanity Fair editor's approval, try getting your child admitted to the 45-child freshman class of Carter's other exclusive West Village institution, the forthcoming Greenwich Village High. The school is the brainchild of Carter deputy editor Aimee Bell, as first reported in the Observer, and her neighbor Sara Goodman. But according to the Times it's becoming something so much posher than all that!

So what does Barry Diller have to say about the meltdown on Wall Street? "I think it's great, I think it should happen every day," he told a reporter from the Observer at a party for Graydon Carter's new book on Monday night, before adding that he was just joking. Fran Lebowitz's take: "Just when you think how horrible New York has become in terms of things interfering with the tone of the city, they're finally leaving!" she said. Who is "they" exactly? "The rich people! They're leaving!" Careful, Fran. If all the rich people leave town, you'll have no one to pick up your tab at the Waverly Inn every night. [NYO]

If you're wondering why dozens of stores on Madison Avenue are sporting portraits of famous people in their windows beginning today, there's good reason. The photos are from the new book, Vanity Fair: The Portraits, A Century of Iconic Images, and it's all part of a glitzy marketing promotion to celebrate VF's 25th anniversary. [VF Campaign]

John DeLucie, the chef at the Waverly Inn and now consulting chef at Charles, responds to the suggestion that Ron Perelman may be a backer of the West Village hotspot: "That's not true, but he's a very good customer nonetheless. It’s me, Graydon, Emil Varda, Sean MacPherson, and Eric Goode." [Grub Street]

♦ At Marc Jacobs, there were lots of celebs like Helena Christensen, Elijah Wood, Nicole Richie, Stephanie Seymour, Kelly Osbourne, Sofia Coppola, Winona Ryder, and Jennifer Lopez, and the elaborate, adventurous, world travel-inspired clothes got high marks—but all of the above was entirely eclipsed by the presence of Posh Spice's new gamine haircut. [WWD, Telegraph, Hello]

Graydon Carter is paid a very comfy salary to serve as the editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair (it's reportedly in the neighborhood of $2 million a year) and the perks that come along with the job are priceless. But is it enough to plow your cash into various restaurants around town? Probably not. A couple of weeks ago, we learned that longtime Carter pal Ron Perelman happened to own the building occupied by Carter's Waverly Inn. Over the weekend, Page Six mentioned that Ron Perelman was possibly teaming up with Jon Bon Jovi to reopen the Blue Parrot, the Tex-Mex restaurant in East Hampton, and added that "[Perelman] is said to be a backer of Graydon Carter's Monkey Bar."

• Drama abounded at DKNY's show yesterday: PETA protestors burst onto the runway, shouting and brandishing placards—to the apparent amusement of André Leon Talley—while Petra Nemcova's new bangs rendered her unrecognizable and therefore unmolested by the media. Meanwhile the rather random celebrity trio of Winona Ryder, Christina Ricci, and Nicole Richie were regaled with "combinations of electric blue and black, neon pink and yellow anorak dresses, parachute pants and color-blocked knits" and a finale led by Donna Karan's five-year-old granddaughter Stefania. [The Cut, Fashionologie, NYDN, Telegraph]
  
  

Vanity Fair's annual new establishment rankings—a highly subjective guide to status within editor Graydon Carter's universe—has always been more interesting for the losers more than the winners. The magazine's arbiters are too tactful to dole out many down arrows to the moguls, financiers and stars on the list; but the rankings themselves can't be fudged. Here's a list of last year's and this year's contenders ordered by the number of places they've fallen. (Those who've been dropped entirely are assumed to have been relegated to 101st place.)

Vanity Fair's perplexing list of the "New Establishment," that collection of people who aren't remotely "new" but certainly represent the establishment, is now online! The usual suspects (and Graydon Carter pals) continue to dominate (Barry Diller, Ron Perelman, Steven Spielberg), but there have been a few changes, too. The love affair with private equity moguls and hedge fund titans has clearly subsided: Both Eddie Lampert and Steve Schwarzman have been booted from the list, Henry Kravis went from 51 to 77, and SAC Capital founder Steve Cohen fell from 45th place to next-to-last on the list. And Harvey Weinstein's inability to generate hits at the box office has resulted in a precipitous fall from 41 to 87, which will undoubtedly make for an uncomfortable moment the next time Graydon bumps into Harvey at the Waverly Inn.

Not all reporters are created equal at Invesco Field, where Barack Obama is about to close out the Democratic National Convention. John Koblin at the Observer printed a seating chart (left) and gave a rundown on the winners and losers. It looks like the Obama campaign continues to snub the New Yorker for its controversial parody cover, sitting the magazine's correspondents in worse seats than Jezebel/Glamour (team Megan!), the Nation and the New Republic. More delightfully, the campaign totally dissed those conssumate insiders at Vanity Fair, "which is stuck in the back row in Section J" behind basically everyone except the Gotham tabloids. Ha ha, I guess the entire free world is not actually obsessed with getting into the Waverly or your damned Oscar party, Graydon Carter! After the jump, early chatter among reporters, plus a list of seating winners.

The central section of Greenwich Village, near that haven for nostalgic expats called Tea & Sympathy, has always drawn the English. A 1902 New York Times guide to the 'British Quarter' describes rather unflatteringly the neighborhood's inhabitants: "ruddy, grizzled, thick-necked, opinionated and slangy." We owe this vignette to Toby Young, the famously unsuccessful Vanity Fair writer who parlayed his failure in New York into an amusing book, How To Lose Friends And Alienate People, the basis for an upcoming movie starring Simon Pegg and Jeff Bridges.

• Paris Hilton either added implants to "her A-cup" breasts or wants to spread gossip that she did so she can sell her stupid "push-up" bra. (Yes, you can click the thumb if you need a closer look. Yes, you will feel dirty. But don't you kinda feel that way already?) [P6]

• Roseanne Barr is outraged that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt haven't endorsed Barack Obama, so she's taken them to task on her blog for being evil and vacuous, and for "trying to look as if they give a crap about humanity." [P6, RoseanneWorld]
  

Was Leslie Kaufman hoping to land a standing reservation at the Waverly Inn by making today's Times assessment of Graydon Carter's West Village nightspot more glowing than anyone would have thought possible? Most impressive of all: how many friends of the Vanity Fair editor she manages to squeeze into the piece. Did you know that Ron Perelman owns the building it's in and that the quinoa risotto with green curry sauce was added at the request of vegan Russell Simmons? But in case you imagined that mere wealth provided an entrée to this dazzling scene of fabulous movers and shakers, think again.

Leslie Kaufman's feature on Waverly Inn for the Times dining section reads too cutesy and is almost nakedly self-ingratiating. The writer couldn't find one angry chef or would-be patron to slag Graydon Carter's It-restaurant? But the piece is well-researched, on its own puffy terms, and thus useful to those strivers eager to be seen among the restaurant's celebrity diners, no matter how expensive the macaroni or rich the wine list. Here, then, is a quick list of the ways to lose friends and alienate people, and perhaps accomplish the opposite, at the Waverly:

Graydon Carter is in expansion mode: The Vanity Fair editor is teaming up with hotelier Jeff Klein (City Club Hotel, Sunset Tower in LA) and restaurateur Jeremy King (Wolseley in London) to take over the Monkey Bar on East 54th Street. The three have been at it for some time. A year ago, the three had considered taking over the Oak Room at the Plaza, but ended up deciding against it. As did Monkey Bar owner Peter Glazier, who is now turning over the spot over to Carter, Klein, and King. [Page Six]

"The Vanity Fair editor, who already co-owns the Waverly Inn, has bought the lease of East 54th Street's famed Monkey Bar from the Glazier Group with two partners, hotelier Jeff Klein and London- based restaurateur Jeremy King." [Post]

Are you excited that Vanity Fair and American Express' glamorous "Campaign New York" launches in a mere 40 days? The "dazzling two-week series of events," as far as we can tell, offers the following dazzling events: a discount hotel room, a book signing at Barneys, and a "cocktail and shopping night" during which you can swill booze and go spend money on Madison Avenue. That's it. Any AmEx card holder attempting to enter the Waverly Inn at any time during the course of the dazzling two-week series of events will be laughed off the premises by Graydon Carter himself, who disapproves of riff-raff. [Campaign NY via Jossip]

• Tommy Hilfiger and Dee Ocleppo were supposed to have two weddings coming up—one in Mustique and one at The Plaza—but now they're having none because the whole wedding has been called off. The Post's suggestion: "Maybe he should rethink his hairpiece." [Page Six]

The six people above are all offspring of notable New Yorkers. Know who they are? Answers after the jump!