By Sara Monson
Celebrity siblings like the Hiltons and the Olsen twins aren?t the only duos creating a buzz, BYU has its own sister act, and they?re getting national attention.
Jennifer and Ashley Marriott, from Potomac, Md., were first contacted by internationally sold fashion magazine, Harper?s Bazaar, in November after a friend from high school, Genevieve Leon, who was interning at the magazine, passed along their name.
?I didn?t think they were really serious,? said Jennifer, a senior, majoring in American studies.
The sisters said at first they were told the March article would be about fashion, but it appeared with the title, ?Who Are the Next It Sisters: The Marriotts or the Scarrys?? The story, by Lauren Goldstein Crowe, compares the Marriott?s Mormon lifestyle to the dramatically different Scarry sisters, granddaughters of famous children?s book author Richard Scarry. Reportedly the Scarry sisters spend quiet nights dressing up and attending charity events in London.
?Being Mormon, the Marriotts shun the glam-girl pursuits of drinking, smoking and gambling; when they go to Las Vegas, it?s for the shopping,? according to the article.
When asked if they see themselves as ?it girls,? the sisters agreed their lifestyle doesn?t exactly fit the mold.
?We don?t really live life in the fast track,? said Ashley, a freshman and has not declared a major. ?If people can look up to our morals and values, more power to you, but I don?t see myself going to any big award shows anytime soon.?
Older sister Jennifer agreed that their religion helps them stay focused on what?s important in life.
?Mormons in general get the bigger picture, instead of the now, because they have an eternal perspective,? Jennifer said. ?I don?t think we?re ever going to be ?it sisters? just because we have completely different priorities in life.?
The girls then joked about being able to enter the pearly gates on their ?it girl? status alone.
Greg Stockhoff, a senior from Carson City, Nev., majoring in American studies, who read the article, said he thought the girls represented themselves well because they didn?t try to sound like something they?re not.
?They have this idea that they?re all like Paris and Nicky,? Stockhoff said.
The term ?it girl? was coined with the emergence of socialites like Paris and Nicky Hilton, but the Marriotts said they couldn?t be more different from the sisters.
?We?re not anything like Paris and Nicky,? Ashley said laughing. ?Everybody assumes that we?re best friends.?
Because BYU is home to the Marriott Events Center, donated by their great-grandfather, and the Marriott School of Management, the girls said they get good and bad attention because of their last name.
?If people ask, I don?t really mind because if it was me in the situation, I?d probably ask too,? Ashley said. ?It bothers me when people cross the line, when they?re like, ?So do you live in a huge house or how rich are you???
Although the Marriotts enjoy their laidback college life in Provo, they said fashion is still important to them. Both were voted best dressed their senior year in high school.
?Just because you?re modest doesn?t mean you?re constricted to wearing overalls all the time,? Jennifer said. ?You can still be fashionable or wear cool things and be modest.?