Art by Happy Hinds
On March 21, 2006 The Real Housewives of Orange County premiered on Bravo. Born out of the success of scripted shows like Peyton Place and Desperate Housewives, TRHOC set out to document the lives of upper-class women who living in one of Southern Californias most exclusive gated communities. What followed was the creation of an empire few saw coming. From Orange County the Housewives moved to New York, Atlanta, New Jersey, D.C., Beverly Hills, Miami, Dallas, Potomac, Salt Lake City, and The Real Housewives of Dubai, set to air in 2022.
Art by Happy Hinds
Art by Happy Hinds
Over the past 16 years, the army of the Housewives grew, changed, and still continue to gift us some of pop cultures most iconic reality TV moments. From their opening and often parodied introductions, lavish vacations, and cinematically theatrical dinner fights – the Housewives managed to slip into the pop culture sphere at the perfect moment. While daytime soaps slowly but surely began to fade from public popularity viewers began to turn to real drama to get their fix. The franchise understood what its viewers wanted out of the series. From the Kim and Kyle sibling rivalry, to Teresa Giudice’s table flip and ex-husband being deported back to Italy, and Erika’s husband Tom’s house being broken into… even non watchers know what’s happening with our girls.
Art by Happy Hinds
Art by Happy Hinds
When thinking of “It Girls” and cultural trend setters one might normally look towards the younger generations – the club kids and the social media mavens – the Housewives changed that. Whether it be Bethanny Frankel’s Low Calorie Alcohol, Skinnygirl, the namesake of the Skinny Margarita, Lisa Vanderpump’s slew of hot Los Angeles restaurants and successful spinoff – Vanderpump Rules – or Cynthia Bailey’s agency, The Bailey Agency, these women are taking their respective cities by storm and allow us a front row seat. You can literally buy a front row seat to Countess Luann de Lesseps’ cabaret shows and hear the hit song “Money Can’t Buy You Class,” live. Kandi Buress even went so far as to bless our bedrooms with her line of sex toys, aptly named Bedroom Kandi.
While mostly fun and games, not taking the infamous Amsterdam dinner fight into account – although it did give us some excellent quotes and still shots – the Housewives are never afraid to dive into more personal and touchy subjects. Recently Leah McSweeny released her book “Chaos Theory: Finding Meaning in the Madness, One Bad Decision at a Time,” which documents her early life and struggles with sobriety. These women understand that they are being watch, monitored, and mimicked but older and younger women alike. They love a good cocktail party and reason to dress up, but they also understand the platform that they have.
