You’ve heard the hype, read the hate on the message boards, now see The Eldridge for yourself when it opens later this week for Fashion Week. What, you didn’t get your laser-engraved membership card? Then it’s to the back of the line for you, plebian! Behind a faux used bookstore façade, a 13-table lounge is ready to pamper all of your self-indulgent needs, should you be recession-proof and in need of a $32 drink. We’ve taken a quick glance inside and can confidently say this is the best $650,000 wall of Armand de Brignac among the tenements of the Lower East Side. The gold-speckled floors and Chesterfield leather banquettes are just crying out for an endurance test by new Prada spike heels. The first bar opened by 26-year-old Matt Levine, the designer behind menswear label Steelo and a reality TV contestant (VH1’s Glam Gods), he’s banking on self-promotion and some A-list connections (Lydia Hearst, Kate Moss) to keep the lines long. He’s been called a douchebag by just about everyone on the blogosphere (except for Steve Lewis, who butters him up by saying he is “respectful, honest, and … enthusiastic.”) In his defense, Levine says he’s been misquoted and misrepresented—he just wants to offer a new experience in NYC nightlife, one where “hipster meets Vogue.” Whether actual hipsters will get past the rope remains to be seen.