Rumor Mill: Style.com is Developing a Reality Series

We’ve heard through the grapevine from trusted sources that Style.com is shopping around/developing a reality television series.

Unlike The City–the MTV reality series starring Whitney Port–Style.com is promising potential cast members that they’ll actually work/write for the online fashion site. (In case you’ve been living under a rock without a cable box, Elle magazine “employee” Olivia Palermo doesn’t actually work at the magazine, despite the fact that she’s billed as an “online editor” on The City.)

Whether or not this show will actually get produced, we can’t say. Television is nutty when it comes to pilots and such. A friend who works in the industry explains that “usually, a show gets the go ahead to make a pilot. The pilot is the test episode, and if it does well or is well-received in-house, it gets the go ahead to get made into more episodes (min: 6). Some go straight to series, based on 10 minute ‘treatments.’”

Regardless, we think this is a smart move on Style.com’s part. With the arrival of a new Vogue.com–and other Conde Nast titles like W and Glamour beefing up their online presence–it’s important for Style to reach more readers. And fast. Elle‘s participation in Project Runway, and now The City, has helped the glossy to reach over 1 million unique users in August 2010. Style.com has roughly a third of the audience of Elle.com.

Whether or not Derek Blasberg, Style.com’s most socially visible contributor, will be starring on the show is unclear. We’re told that they’re hiring a party reporter….