party lines

André Leon Talley Against Palin’s Splurge, Shops at Wal-Mart

Even Vogue editor-at-large André Leon Talley found Sarah Palin’s $150k clothing splurge a little too exuberant. At a party celebrating Sean “Diddy” Combs’s L’Uomo Vogue cover at 1Oak, Talley told us the purchase creates a rift between her and what she represents. “I think that every woman should put her best foot forward in her career and she’s a professional. I think there’s a bit of a double standard because when you hear her talking, they call her the Wal-Mart hockey mom. And Wal-Mart hockey moms would never spend $150,000 on clothing. Most people in our country don’t make $150,000 a year and she spent it on a clothing splurge,” Talley said. “But I’m happy to say that I’ve seen her when she looks really incredible. The debate — I thought that she was totally pro-Jackie in that knit suit. But even if she was a governor and needed a wardrobe, there should’ve been some thought behind it.”

Speaking of Wal-Mart, has Talley himself ever shopped there? “I’ve shopped everywhere! I go to Kmart, I go to Wal-Mart, I go to Sam’s Club, I go to Target. I love those stores. One of the most therapeutic things you can do is go to Target with a basket and a trolley. I love Target!” But it’s not like he’s going every other weekend; he said he hasn’t been since January of this year, which we pointed out was ages ago. “I don’t shop, darling! It’s a crisis!” he replied. “Everything I have on is nothing new, all old clothes, not one new thing. Nothing new.” And he’s not buying any new clothes this season either. Some recession we’re in, huh?

André Leon Talley Against Palin’s Splurge, Shops at Wal-Mart