Anna Wintour Is Expensive!

Filed Under: Anna Wintour

Anna Wintour is one stubborn broad.

Despite a 36% plummet in ad sales in Vogue's September issue, normally the most prosperous issue of all, Wintour and her staff at Vogue intend to continue their lavish ways while abroad for the London, Milan, and Paris Fashion weeks.

While several other Conde Nasty publications are trimming the fat off of their usual expensive junkets, booking cheaper hotels and reserving less expensive restaurants, Vogue staffers will continue to stay in 5 star hotels and dine at the finest eateries.

Sources say that Wintour normally rolls about ten people deep, with an entourage including her creative director, fashion director, stylists, market directors, beauty editor, and publisher, among others.

A Vogue spokesperson said, "regarding the fall collections, our plans are precisely as they have always been." These plans, according to an insider, include "amazing dinners planned every night. All important Condés have a driver for the week, usually a new, black Mercedes."

The total cost of the travel averages $250,000.

Considering Vogue ad sales dropped more than any other major magazine, perhaps it's time to start tightening the belt!

What's more, the disparity between the Vogue travel arrangements and those elsewhere only serves to highlight the ludicrous luxuries that Wintour and her crew plan to indulge in.

Apparently, Wintour stays at the Ritz in Paris, where rooms can cost thousands of Euros a night and a side of pommes frites is a whopping $30.00. By contrast, Glenda Bailey, editor of Harper's Bazaar, stays in the Hotel Montelambert, a far less expensive artsy hotel on the Left Bank. InStyle Magazine's editor, the dreamy Ariel Foxman, and publisher, Connie Anne Phillips, stay at the Park Hyatt in Paris, a much more affordable hotel, and the publication cut the number of travelers from six to four.

And, highlighting the wastefulness even further, others within the Conde Nast family are also conserving cash by staying at lower-priced establishments. A source says, "It's a little bit of a two-tier system over there. There's Vogue, and then there's everyone else, Glamour and Allure, and all the rest."

But more important than the irritating imbalance in priorities is the message that Wintour and co.'s escapades will send to the McKinsey & Co. consultants who have been evaluating Condé Nast for weeks now. Apparently, the Vogue staff is twice the size of any rival magazine and has been in hot water with the consultants for refusing to cooperate with corporate cost-cutting measures.

A source said, "It does seem strange when you're that far down in ad pages that you don't at least say you're cutting back. For God's sake, give it lip service!"

Anna, don't cut off your nose to spite your face!

[Image via AP Images.]

Posted: August 21, 2009 at 2:58 pm