By Colins Marshall, Francesca Roukdin, Graham Reed, Olivier Duff, Ernest Blanchard, Mireille Mitchell Contributors: Rita Howard, Georges Petrakis, Rose Bernardino, Mario Rossi, Richard Goldstein, Irma Leclerc.
Celebrity
socialite Paris Hilton, who shot to infamy after a raunchy sex video of
her flooded the internet, now is teaching girls how to behave and let their
"inner heiress out." The 23-year-old Hilton dishes out her pearls of
party-life wisdom in a 178-page book, "Confessions of an Heiress,"
published by Fireside, which is more scrapbook than memoir, with
pictures outnumbering paragraphs. "It's just a look inside my life," says the
heiress to the hotel fortune, who suggests a weekend in St-Tropez in the south
of France for beating the blues. "It's about my friends and dating tips and
do's and don'ts of dressing. It's kind of like a girls' guide. It's pretty
interesting. It was hard, but it was a really fun project," Hilton said in a
recent interview. Setting herself up as a jet-set role model might strike some
as the height of chutzpah. But America worships a different kind of celebrity
these days. "In the old days, you were a celebrity because you were good at
something," says Robert Thompson, professor of media and popular culture at
Syracuse University, about the society girl who went from gossip-page fodder
to TV stardom with the Fox series "The Simple Life," after her sexcapade. "Now
there is a whole new subset of celebrities who are being created essentially
for the sake of being famous. For someone known for being a beautiful party
girl, a video like that is like a promotional device. I think it did wonders
for that series." PLAYING TO THE HILT: Now one thing is certain - Hilton is a
hot property and she's playing it to the hilt. Besides her book, the former
model has launched a jewellery line, and applied to trademark her name and
copyright a tiara logo. She plans to put the Paris Hilton brand on clothes,
perfumes, makeup and shoes. And that's not all.
The
slender blonde is recording a pop-rock album, spreading her acting wings with
a role in a remake of the horror film classic, "House of Wax," and
filming a National Lampoon movie comedy, "Pledge This!" "It's all about taking
charge and branding yourself," Hilton said. "I think we're living in a moment
when having a career, especially a really glamorous one, is very sexy." Born
with a platinum spoon in her mouth, Hilton reveals titbits about life in the
supersonic lane in her 'memoir' but does not ignore the less fortunate.
"People act differently toward you when you've got jewellery on your head,"
she notes about her fondness for tiaras. "Always act like you're wearing an
invisible crown. I do." COMMON TOUCH: Hilton hopes to pass on some of her
fashion magic to common folk with her jewellery collection. It features belly
chains, earrings, bracelets and anklets - accessories she uses in the skimpy "slutwear"
style she favours - and is available at
Amazon.com, priced from $15 to $95. "With my line I try to use what I like
and make it affordable," she said. "So anyone can look like an heiress."
Despite the book title's promise, it is a bit light in the confessions
department. Among the biggest revelations is what she "desperately" hates
about her body: "I have size 11 feet" she reveals, noting that stilettos make
her feet look smaller. Conspicuously absent is a detailed account of exactly
how her sex romp video made it onto the internet despite Hilton's insistence
it had been made strictly for personal use. "Everyone does crazy stuff when
they're young, but if you're an heiress, you have even more opportunities to
mess up," is about as far as she goes on the subject. Media professor Thompson
says Hilton's success is not entirely a matter of dumb luck, noting she uses a
"naivete which she plays like a finely tuned instrument," and crediting her
with being "as savvy about how celebrity works in modern culture as (pop
artist Andy) Warhol." Like Warhol, Hilton elevates the everyday and
banal to new heights, such as her tips on how to snag a "hot guy." "Guys do
not want girls who are too nice to them, or girls they can walk all over and
get too easily. Every guy wants to be with a woman who thinks like an
heiress," Hilton says. Of course, it helps to actually be an heiress. "It
doesn't hurt to act rich as well as hot. I've found it to be a fairly
unbeatable combination."
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