Michael Kelcourse is the true gem of the show. Such a devoted and lovely man and, arguably, the person on the show in possession of charm.
8
This is another reason we need to have inheritance taxes
12
This article, this person and her house are all rather jarring compared to the Times' coverage of the anniversary of slavery (1619).
10
@Jennifer
Clutch your pearls any harder and you'll rip them right off
1
I've watched the show Southern Charm and was struck by the loveliness of the historic Charleston. Unlike the city, the people on the show are a group of mostly wealthy men and women who spend their time bed hopping and drinking. With the exception of a few people, most of them seem to be supported by wealthy parents like the subject of your article. They seem to be an indolent group of people who spend most of their time in bed or hanging out at local watering holes. They seem to live in insular, uncaring world. They could be doing a lot of good with their money but they choose not to.
11
@maya None of them are from Charleston except Thomas Ravenel, who has left the show, and new cast member Eliza Limehouse. Kathryn Dennis is from Moncks Corner, up the road about 45 minutes’ drive from Charleston. The rest of them are “from off.”
I happened upon this article by 'accident'. I don't watch TV but read about it occasionally to reassure myself that it's still the wasteland that it was when I gave up my last TV set. Mission accomplished.
10
These women could do a lot more by helping the poor in Charleston which would be a better legacy that the UDC. A real Southerner does not draw undue attention to oneself.
15
Her son is 51
6
Diana Vreeland would have called her lifestyle "in-depth luxury." (I love her southern take on Barbara Cartland.) But that spread is awesome!
3
Lovely article about a lovely woman who is a part of an entertainment show called "Southern Charm." Sometimes you just need to read something. My guilty pleasure is BravoTV. I spend my life analyzing the real world. When I want to be entertained, I watch BravoTV or maybe a rerun of Friends and on Friday, I'll go to one of the first showings of Angel Has Fallen.
3
I wonder who she'll support in the 2020 election? Most likely Warren or Sanders.. :)
There's tremendous value in fluff entertainment, isn't there? As much value as Kardashians bring to the planet.
10
This article is sickening! Why should we care about this person?? What has she done to make other's lives better, or for that matter, her own life? She appears to expect others to cater to her every desire when, with her millions, she could be out making a real difference (i.e., think East Park). This is 2019 -- I think the world has moved on from those lost in their self-importance -- so should the NYTimes.
29
Kind of ironic in the same week as your brilliant 1619 package, no?
24
The myths of southern charm, gentility, and history perpetuated in this article needed to be treated in a more clear-eyed manner or else we are back to business as usual -- the sort of business the Times turned its back on in this past Sunday's 1619 issue.
12
@Observer
Cry more. Southern charm is real, and chivalry is all but dead in NY.
2
NYT should be ashamed for not forcing the proper balance of critique for the linkages between this nobody woman and the evils of slavery. It’s time to live in the now and be accountable. Every time. Even in the style section.
9
I love reading about eccentric heiresses and those who creatively spend their money as much as the next person. But this lady seems vapid and eccentric in a very studied way. Feel sorry for the writer who was tasked with making her her sound interesting.
16
My family has 400 years of Southern lineage: ship sailors, farmers, tradesman, slave owners, sheriffs, school teachers, lawyers, doctors, lay-abouts, and scallywags. This woman is not charming. She is mean spirited, vain, showy, and as a Daughter of the Confederacy, when she could choose the more illustrious, Daughter of the American Revolution, probably pretty racist. Oh, and she reeks of new money. I can’t watch the show, unless I want to subject 12 generations of forefathers to spinning in their graves!
24
Southern? Maybe....
Charm? Hardly!
16
Ms. Altschul seems to have no problem living in a home built with slave labor money...
13
@Skip Descant Judging by some of what she says, she would still have slaves if she could. I wonder how much she pays her BFF, the butler.
6
Northern money goes so much farther in the South!
13
Why is this news? It is worth objecting to this kind of "human interest." Just whose interest is it serving?
9
I could have sworn I just read her obituary recently. And voila, she's still alive. I love the commenter who said "I've never heard of these people...is this a reality tv show?" Yes, for these folks it is reality. Just like the one being broadcast daily out of the White House. An alternate universe the rich and famous give we minions glimpses of from time to time. And then there's the minions who actually think that such people as she or Trump care about them. Indeed a reality TV show.
32
Perhaps there should be a link in this Style piece to the article [also in today's digital Times] called "A Brief History of Slavery That You Didn't Learn in School". It might help with the preservation of Confederate History.
69
Yech. And, weirdest timing coming on the heels of 1619.
68
I've never heard of any of these people -- is this a kind of reality show?
27
I find her life sad, pitiful, and self centered. I don't need to read daily equilitarian articles but maybe an article about the upper middle class mothers in Greenwich might show what the 'real' people of America live like, you know just the mom's who have a live in Nanny and a chef who visits once a week, those types, rather than old women (my age) who live in gilded cages.
14
@KT B
Wait, wait....this is satire, right? Yes, the "real" people of America, in the most expensive cities, large enough for only one live in servant,....
1
I find it interesting how you discuss certain features of this woman's life and gloss over the history of horrors that is South Carolina. For example, you state that the Charleston home was built for a "cotton planter" in the mid-19th century. I think what you meant to write was "slave-owner". Or how about the United Daughters of the Confederacy who "preserve Confederate history and honor Confederate soldiers". What you must have meant was "preserve the history of white supremacy and honor slave owners and other racists who refused to give up slavery". Just because it's in the Style section doesn't mean the journalist should just play pretend. These are real things, and they certainly aren't glamorous or stylish no matter how you chose to depict them.
181
The United Daughters of the Confederacy is organization born out of racism. From their founding, they have done more to promote misinformation and myths about the Civil War and the Confederacy, all cloaked under the mystique of preserving the "southern way of life" and honoring their heritage. They do not represent a noble cause, but rather materialistic values.
125
@Richard
"The past is never dead. It's not even past."
William Faulkner
13
This group was responsible, in the Jim Crow terrorism era, for erecting many of those Confederate military-based monuments celebrating the slave-owning South, over which there has been and still continues to be such controversy dividing the country. Thanks ladies!
14
We get quite a few of these types of programmes on NZ TV, including one called housewives of New York. I don't watch that one because of all the abusive screaming at each other that just goes on and on. I think that show is fabricated and making the characters big money and doesn't really reflect NY housewives at all.
I occasionally watch Southern Charm and find it quite amusing and funny and not as offensive as the screaming match between woman on Housewives of New York. People go on about men abusing woman but that show is about woman abusing woman.
6
One area where her views need to evolve is her support of Donald Trump. Why watch a show that features personalities like Altschul who support politicians who would like to take away my rights? No thanks, hard pass.
51
Despite its trappings of civility, how can we ignore the inequality and exploitation Southern 'charm' is built upon? This column runs parallel to the NYT's excellent 1619 Project, and when contrasted against the fact that modern day America is built on the blood of black slaves, it seems a little tone-deaf. Reading a little further down, we find that this woman is unashamedly proud of Confederate history, and Confederate soldiers without an ounce of introspection or consideration into what these 'heroes' stood for. This article is not in the least bit critical of its own hypocrisy, instead focusing on the eccentricities and indulgences this woman gets away with. Maybe that would have been sufficient in the 90s, but let's get real, this is 2019 and we all should be capable of a little self-reflection.
81
was her mansion in charleston built for a 19th century cotton planter, or for a slave labor camp owner. lovely building, but please be clear and don't whitewash history.
112
Attempted to watch this faux reality show lasted roughly 20 minutes, fake, phony situations and embarrassing and more importantly who cares about these vacuous people?
29
I am starting to appreciate the French Revolution.
119
It amazes me how some people can attack a following with nothing but a facade and really bad style and decorating. Do thinking people really waste their time on stuff like this?
Her style is almost as bad as Trump's, but almost as much gold. Birds of a feather?
23
i love her so much. she looks like an exotic bloom in that caftan.
5
@Winnie
Well, luckily, it's for sale! Along with images of pets on caftans, blankets, pillow cases, pajamas, yoga mats and towels.
Incredibly tacky.
9
@Winnie
Flesh-eating orchid perhaps?
2
Patricia is the best !!
4
@sheilafoss Best what? Best at marrying money?
5
How cute is it that she thinks Southerners would pay attention to a New Yorker's advice on being charming.
10
forgive me, mr talley, but as no eye is obscured, her hairstyle is not a la veronica lake.
18
I live outside of a small Georgia town that is stuck...permanently...in the past. Their pores literally ooze what they call "Southern Charm." I call it boring. I get a big laugh at the folks from up North who breeze thru...looking for Tara...Scarlett...Ashley...and, think they have found it here. I'm really tired of the architecture (two story homes built 200 years ago with columns...and seem to have the original colony of termites), the family trees that don't seem to have many branches, and the politics. Unless you are actually from here...I don't know why you would want to emulate this lifestyle. You want to feel "Southern"...go eat a Krispy Kreme doughnut.
44
'Some of Mrs. Altschul’s points of view may seem out of touch, especially when she uses terms like “shameless strumpet” or “whore of Babylon.” '
"Out of touch" with whom - the mass U.S. pop culture? Someone who can't be bothered to familiarize themselves with a bit of secular and biblical history/culture?
This is reportorial opinionating. Does the reporter have a list of words/phrases/allusions which (by what authority?) are deemed "out of touch"?
4
@dwsingrs8
If there's a list, those two phrases are definitely on it.
4
Look, I’m from the South and can appreciate “Southern charm” and culture but Mrs. Altshul seems like a mix between a Julia Sugarbaker wannabe and an elderly Scarlett O’Hara. United Daughters of the Confederacy? An all male party to avoid drama and then a Me Too party because it’s the thing to do? I’ve never seen this show and have never heard of her until this article but she comes across as more vapid and rude than witty. Mrs. Altshul is what my Southern momma would call tacky.
77
One can honor one's roots without glorifying the mistakes of one's ancestors by joining a group like the Daughters of the Confederacy. I too have slave-owning ancestors and I'm not proud of that. We can't do anything about the mistakes of our ancestors but we are obligated to make things better for those living now, especially those who are still suffering from the horrors of the institution of slavery and the segregation that followed it.
99
I *could* be UDC, but never *would* be.
8
@Susanna I am eligible to join the DAR about 20 times over but never would because I think they're anachronistic and kind of just plain weird. Plus I will never forgive them for their racist past.
5
@Susanna My mother could've joined too, but avoided those DOC women like the plague. Instead, she was active in the DAR.
1
A truly elegant life stlye and she seems to know how to handle it. Good on her. Now the question. How do you honor those who fought valiantly, and honorably, for a discredited cause? The answer has always perplexed me and in light of recent events, takes on a greater meaning. Please do not answer this comment regarding anything other than the question posed.
19
@Richard Frauenglass
Perhaps a museum of sorts, many who fought for the South thought they were doing so for a noble cause. Who can blame them? Of course in hindsight we know better they were wrong. We can't judge what was done (wrongly) 200+ odd years ago to todays standards. Just my two cents worth.
10
@Margo Channing Most people knew 200 years ago that the cause of the Confederacy (slavery) was immoral and wrong, and risked or gave their lives to end it. Following the "standards of that time" is no excuse. Mr. Frauenglass, the cause has not just recently been discredited. It was discredited long before the Civil War began. Those who fought for the cause of the Confederacy should not be honored in any way. Forgiven, perhaps, but not honored.
45
@Margo Channing Most people knew 200 years ago that the cause of the Confederacy (slavery) was immoral and wrong, and risked or gave their lives to end it. Following the "standards of that time" is no excuse. Mr. Frauenglass, the cause has not just recently been discredited. It was discredited long before the Civil War began. Those who fought for the cause of the Confederacy should not be honored in any way. Forgiven, perhaps, but not honored.
11