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?