As any hostess worth her Rolodex knows, there is one rule to remember when throwing a party: avoid inviting someone who will hijack the spotlight from the guest of honor.

That principle fell by the wayside when the ballet, anxious to generate buzz, flew in Paris Hilton—celebutante, reality TV star, party girl, and most frequently fired employee—for its opening night gala. By all accounts, the spotlight should have been fixed solely on Helgi Tomasson, the Balanchine-trained director who arrived in San Francisco 20 years ago and transformed the once-provincial ballet company into a nationally ranked touring one. At the performance, a short film interviewing prominent patrons such as Evelyn Cisneros and Jim Herbert and ballet figures around the world played before Tomasson was introduced to great applause onstage.

Even so, it was undeniable that Tomasson, along with Will & Grace actor Sean Hayes and Hollywood producer Garry Marshall, had to share the social stage with Ms. Hilton. All eyes followed the spectacle of Hilton's entourage (handlers were outfitted with discreet communications devices), complete with an Entertainment Tonight television crew trailing her throughout the night. She was seated at the performance in the War Memorial's prime box. This is, after all, a woman who sucks so much air out of a room that when her Chihuahua, Tinkerbell, went missing for days or, more recently, when her mobile phone was hacked into (leaving a list of her celebrity friends' phone numbers—including Gavin Newsom's—in the hands of the hackers), newspapers around the globe reported on it. Said one society grande dame, "People like her lower everything they touch." Word also had it that the powers that be in the ballet auxiliary, which put on the gala, were nervous about the hotel heiress's attendance but couldn't exactly disinvite her once the invitation had been extended through Rosalina Lydster, a jewelry designer friend of ballet auxiliary PR chair Claudia Castillo Ross.

But buzz Hilton's attendance certainly generated for the ballet—and no complaints here. The Socialist, like many others, no doubt, found the scene entertaining. Over the years, I've witnessed her at countless parties in New York, and only days before the ballet, I'd experienced another Paris moment at lensman David LaChapelle's party at the Sundance Film Festival, where she sported short hair and a downtown look, comfortable in her milieu. Clearly, in San Francisco, at the ballet, she was not. The heiress is always in such a whirlwind that when she sat down at the dinner, she asked the guest next to her, "Where are we again?"

She got her answers straight by the time the Socialist had a chat with her and parents Kathy and Rick Hilton. With her guard up and her demure persona in place for a formal event, Paris stuck to safe topics like how she comes up to the city to shop. What happened to the sass? Later, Paris had to leave the ballet after the first act to make an appearance in L.A.

Paris, of

course, was a mere sideshow. The real sizing up of jewelry and couture took place among the large turnout of the city's social set, who showed up, masks in hand (on account of a masquerade theme). This included auxiliary president Lis Petkevich, patrons Fritz and Lucy Jewett, and Cheryl Baxter (wife of legal ace and Orrick chairman Ralph), who announced with much enthusiasm that she was helming the Opera Guild this year. (Expect to see a little makeover at the Guild, Baxter said.) Denise Hale turned up in a Ralph Rucci creation. All in all, it was a successful affair.

Three weeks later, fashion enthusiast Sally Debenham and Neiman Marcus GM John Capizzi summoned a coterie of the ladies who lunch for a Valentine's Day luncheon for Boaz Mazor, fashion designer Oscar de la Renta's right-hand man and a notorious Park Avenue fixture and gossip. "San Francisco's one of my favorite places, since I really like the friends I have here," Mazor said. (Of course, these friends also make for good customers!) Among those seated at one long table at the Rotunda and treated to a presentation of de la Renta's spring line were fashion plates Vanessa Getty, Yurie Pascarella, and Urannia Ristow, as well as a mix of old-guard San Francisco types such as Emmy Andrews and Diane Chapman. Real estate guru Carole McNeil was also there, excitedly talking about her daughter Denise Ivory's upcoming wedding in June, which will no doubt prove a lavish affair, since party planner extraordinaire Stanlee Gatti has been brought aboard.

Over at Cartier, the younger set turned out for the book party for Karen McCullah Lutz's The Bachelorette Party. Vanessa Getty and Legally Blonde author Amanda Brown Chang cohosted the affair and dinner for 40 afterward at the St. Francis. Dropping by Cartier to meet the author were Kim Karp, Nicola Miner and hubby Robert Mailer Anderson, Victoire Reynal, and Phil Bronstein. The refresh­ingly candid Summer Tompkins Walker, never one to mince words, caught up with the Socialist and asked about a previous mention of her annual Christmas-time fund-raiser Jingle & Mingle. "So was that line about almost wishing that there could be some out-of-towners present a dig at the party?" she asked. Well, yes and no. No, it wasn't specifically referring to that event. But yes, it would be nice, indeed, if some new people cycled in and out of this scene...Paris, come back!