Anna Wintour was ride-or-die for Barack and Michelle Obama, and then she was a full-throated supporter of Hillary Clinton. Wintour hosted several fundraisers for Democrats over the years, and she used her clout to bring fashion designers, buyers, models, celebrities and industry professionals in line behind the Obamas and the Clintons. Then it all went to hell. After Donald Trump won, Anna Wintour made the trek – along with other media figures – to Trump Tower to meet with Baby Fists. And now it seems like Wintour is going to treat the Trumps like they’re not unhinged fascists and white nationalists. Shock.
Despite many designers refusing to dress her, Melania Trump may still make an appearance on the cover of Vogue.
“We have a tradition of always covering whoever is the first lady at Vogue,” editor-in-chief Anna Wintour told the Wall Street Journal on Thursday. “I can’t imagine that this time would be any different.”
The move is somewhat surprising, because the magazine, as well as Wintour herself, endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race.
“Obviously we felt it was a moment in history for women,” Wintour, 67, said of the fashion mag getting political. “At times like that you need to take a leadership position … To me, it was in support of women.”
Wintour also saw a silver lining to the political climate, even though her candidate of choice lost.
“[Designers will] be inspired by what they see and that will come out in their work,” she said. “The next few years are going to be incredibly creative.”
Part of me feels like Wintour is just going through the motions and saying whatever she needs to say to keep her job. But then again, why does Wintour have to suck up to Easy D while her Conde Nast compatriot Graydon Carter (editor of Vanity Fair) gets to say whatever he wants? Is it possible – or more than possible – that Wintour is less than a ride-or-die Democrat and more of a sycophant to power, regardless of who or what is powerful? If Wintour was editing a magazine in the 1940s, would she have done a feature on Eva Braun’s makeup tips and casual style?
Interestingly enough, Wintour is getting a ton of pushback online and elsewhere. Women are threatening to cancel their Vogue subscriptions if she features Melania Trump or her baby-fingered husband. You know which fashion magazine has been getting it SO right though? Teen Vogue. Teen Vogue’s editors have been amazing. Too bad Anna Wintour would rather treat fascism like this year’s lob or Marc Jacobs purse.
Dear @voguemagazine these are not normal times. Pls don't normalize this admin with magazine coverage. You must stand for something.
— Karla Welch Stylist (@karla_welch) February 11, 2017
@karla_welch @Toure @voguemagazine pic.twitter.com/pVDLyDpjAe
— Francesca Romeo (@fmroak) February 11, 2017
Photos courtesy of WENN, Vogue, Fame/Flynet.
Wow in that cover it doesn’t even have her name, just subjected her as new bride. Sad. But…I don’t have much pity for her. Or Wintour.
Ah, Melania’s old face!
Wow. How demeaning. But it was what she signed up for.
Wow, never realized that before. Sad! indeed.
Oh my — is that “New” Bride as opposed to “Old” Bride? As in former/previous bride(s)? Melania was #3, after all. That made her the new one, at the time. New for him. GROSS. (And how cheeky of Vogue to put it that way!)
If I had a subscription, I’d cancel that, too.
Anne better watch out, #grabyourwallet will be coming for her.
Me too. I used to love Vogue but haven’t subscribed in a number of years.
But I am skeptical about how much a magazine boycott could hurt an already struggling industry. Hitting their advertisers would probably make more sense. But Vanity Fair saw a HUGE (yuge?) increase in subscriptions after the Carter-Trump scuffle, which is awesome. Not sure how much it helps their bottom line, though. I gotta say, though, I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed VF’s print version.
Advertising rates are based on subscription totals (reach), web traffic, etc. Losing readers can reduce ability to charge high ad rates.
Every step counts. You can choose to subscribe to Teen Vogue instead, if the “kids” became more popular and had better sales, Wintour’s head would explode.
If I hadn’t canceled mine 15 years ago, I’d cancel it right now.
I already cancelled mine and wrote a letter of complaint after the Kanye/Kim cover.
I stopped reading Vogue when they put KK on the cover. There.was.just.no.excuse.for.that!
Me too. Haven’t bought it or looked at it since that. That was just ugh.
I cancelled when they did a fawning feature on Assad’s wife. Wintour is not new to normalising questionable politicians (to put it mildly)
Agreed. Anna Wintour would be right at home in Vichy France. She’s nothing but an opportunist, always has been. Did she have to go to Trump Tower? No. She wanted to.
One thing about these people; they have no moral fibre. When Trump goes, so will their careers. #grabyourwallet and boycott Vogue. That will take the pout off Wintour’s face.
Thank you. Vogue has a history of normalizing questionable politicians. Can’t forget the time they made a profile on Assad’s wife right as the Syrian civil was exploding.
Canceled when she put Kim and Kanye on the cover. That was just insulting to my intelligence. Putting any baby fist family member would be insulting to all women, even the ones who don’t realize it.
comparing vogue to teen vogue, i would’ve never thought they were from the same company. i can’t stand anna wintour, but this…bleeck.
The old Vogue cover makes it clear Melania has had tons of work done.
I couldn’t even tell it was her – I thought it was just some random model in a wedding dress. Now I feel less bad about my not-so-generous assessment of her features.
She looks very pretty there. Shame what some women do to themselves because of low self-esteem.
That wedding dress looks like a really ugly bedspread.
+100
It’s horrible. Proves that expensive doesn’t always mean beautiful
Yes and yes. So tacky.
It rarely means beautiful in Trumpland.
The dress is so ugly ! It looks difficult to walk while wearing it
Wonder if the maid of honor wore Scarlett’s velvet curtain dress?
That would make it a theme wedding, since the groom appears to wear a rug.
🙂
to me it looks like the inside of a fancy coffin. Which could be a euphemism of Melania’s life.
You mean the same Anna Wintour who just put out an issue with yellow-faced Karlie Kloss as an diversity issue? Vogue needs to learn from it’s little sister, Teen Vogue, and get woke fast!
Teen Vogue is really slaying it. I never thought they’d be one of the highlights of my Twitter feed. I say it’s time for the Teens to take over the house at Vogue.
We should support this takeover.
You can’t expect everyone to be a political activist. Her world is fashion, Melania is a gorgeous woman and the first lady. Not terribly complicated.
Not promoting the Fascist in Chief’s trophy wife is not political activism. It’s the decision to not promote something.
Having said that, if Vogue wants to participate, let them. They let us know what’s up when they put Kim K. on the cover before Victoria Beckham. Vogue is not that relevant anymore and that trend will continue if they keep this up.
‘Not promoting the Fascist in Chief’s trophy wife is not political activism. It’s the decision to not promote something.’
this this this. the not being political comments scare me. no, we cannot afford to not be political at this time, no one can. the moment you stop talking you normalise it, so it’s everyone’s problem and everyone should be talking.
i’ve never ever been into politics or political activism all my life, then brexit, trump and the current wave of white nationalism happened. now it’s not the time to bury your head.
No she is NOT the First Lady. The election was tampered with by Russia; ergo, he is not a legitimate POTUS, so she is NOT FLOTUS.
I’ll renew my subscription when we see Mrs. Pence(Ryan, Tillerson, Mattis’ bulldog ?) *featured on the cover, in the name of that grand old(and I mean old) Vogue tradition.
Vogue needs new blood.
*President Clinton would be preferable
Having standards and principles is now being political? Really?
Yes, normally i would agree that if the regularly feature the First Lady regardless of the political affiliation, they should continue doing that, BUT
this is a women’s magazine and the new administration is as misogynistic as they come. The magazine has to stand for something.
Where are the covers of Laura Bush? Are there any? What about Barbara Bush? If they didn’t get covers, then Melania can be skipped.
LOL Precedent!
She doesn’t HAVE to put every First Lady on the cover. She never put Laura Bush on the cover. Just gave her a little editorial. Of course, Laura was one of the most boring first ladies…
Ahh true, I never realized that she just got an editorial. I feel like that would be a decent compromise. Vogue has a primarily liberal/dem readership, if Anna put her on the cover that would be extremely stupid of her. People would be upset if it was just an editorial but it wouldnt cause nearly as much damage – a cover though? Idk if Vogue could recover from that…
well, she said the same about Kim K… so, we shall see…
This might be irrelevant soon anyway. Meliaria won’t be FLOTUS for much longer. Impeachment looms.
(I have to believe that, it’s the only thing keeping me sane.)
Omg clinton was impeached and continued serving. Shaking my head at all the doomsayers because Melania might get a vogue cover.
Please with the trying to equate Clinton’s impeachment with the case that’s building against Trump.
That’s like taking action for thinking an ant is in the cupboard versus someone walking out with your TV and (thus far) doing nothing.
Clinton was impeached, on party lines, for lying about a sex act with a very willing partner. If Congress ever decides to do its job, Trump will be facing charges of treason. Very unlikely the Senate would handle both the same way – if they decide to do their actual job.
There is a ginormous difference between lying about sex or flushing our country down the toilet! Clinton didn’t want to admit he cheated on his wife and it was really none of our business. Trump needs to be impeached before he completely destoys us
Engaging in an inappropriate, but private, sex act is hardly equitable to possible TREASON!! If he is impeached for treason he will have to also be removed or else our laws and Constitution mean nothing, and our country is lost. Jeezuz, the false equations nonsense from Trumptards……
I hate her hair so much.
I looked at Ivankas clothes out of curiosity— NOTHING SPECIAL. I mean, its clean cut, modern– but this is exactly what makes it NOT deserving of any particular attention. I like that she priced her clothes to reflect this mid-line style. BUT…… I see just another off the rack designer who by no stretch of the imagination, should ever be on the cover of any fashion magazine.
Now would be a good time to fight the tradition Anna!
Your readership is women?
Remember that Melania, for all intents and purposes, when on TV and defended “locker room talk”
How about that?
It’s not just about “oh look, it’s the first lady!”. What about the values she stands for?
No one is asking all the first ladies to have a political opinion or be as involved and passionate as Michelle Obama was, but at one point, you should just look at the message they put forth.
Also, I forgot how beautiful Melania used to be! She looks a bit like Molly Sims on the cover where they decided she was Voldemort and should not be named.
Please. Wintour put Kim and Kanye on the cover. She’s not that principled or fine-minded.
This!!!
That was for publicity though…this is an entirely different situation. Kim and Kanye are famewhores but they arent a threat to democracy or the safety of the nation!!! hahahha
Um, putting the first lady on the cover of Vogue is not some cosmic obligation one has to fulfill to appease some sort of angry god. Just don’t put the woman on the cover. If the past four months have taught us anything it’s that, other than death, there are no guarantees in life — not even taxes.
Exactly.
Anna Wintour is doing it for the publicity and money – no other reason.
I bet it blows up in her face too. How many people will not buy the issue off the stands or cancel their subscriptions behind that?
It’s because the well-heeled wives of the rich old white men who control the Far Right, who also still support 45, are Winour’s audience too. She has to cater. If you’re anything less than 5%, Anna doesn’t even want to acknowledge you :).
“I can’t imagine not doing it” Anna has always struck me as someone too strait-laced, rigid and tightly wound to even have an imagination.
Hahahaha…HA
She’s always struck me as a nasty, ruthless bully.
Ahahaha! I remember that wedding dress. They even made a whole tv special for that outrageous dress on ET. The original headpiece was heavier than the one Celine Dion wore on her wedding to Rene Angelil. She would later ditch that one to a lighter but even fuglier veil. Even little gay me could tell that was a tacky gown and I was a pageant loving kid back then.
Nor sure how creative designers can be when living in constant state of horror about the shit white house pulls each and every day.
(Personally, I am never not anxious anymore when I open my news paper in the morning.)
Fashion has never really been principled.
From Coco Chanel and Hugo Boss’ Nazi dalliances to Prada commisioning Polanski to the all sorts of questionable Vogue Italia decisions. etc. I think it’s fair to say that the fashion world has always been a sh-tshow in terms of principle.
She sounds like a fashion magazine editor doing her job and staying in her own lane. Novel concept. (Shrug)
Yep. And seriously, after they put Kardashians on the cover… I can’t believe anyone even pays attention anymore. It’s like the award shows… Why get so upset when they are all so irrelevant?
Does Anna ever take off her sunglasses? She needs a new hairdo
Is good that I don’t Buy this Claptrap so as to cancel it But Ya’ll better remember today when it comes to Covering Vogue covers, giving it traffic or giving it country to Fake Talk about women’s issues, since they always have OUR best interest at racist ass Yellow Face Covers Hearts… #GrabYourWallets
I used to like the fact that an older woman was actually still working in such a visible role. Now?
GO AWAY ANNA. I don’t even feel like trying to be eloquent. Maybe I’ll get a Teen Vogue subscription.
To be very honest, I think Anna Wintour might just cover Melania just because of the publicity it will bring from a certain audience.
Besides, we should NOT FORGET that 53% of all White American women in America voted for our current POTUS. And to be honest, it is White women that Vogue content caters too. I figured that after years of subscribing and rarely seeing any young black girls like me.
Canceled my subsricption a few years ago as I turned 30 – started reading my Mom’s Essence and Ebony mags which she always said I should read instead. #IsVogueEvenRelevantAnymore
No she doesn’t have to give Melania a cover but let’s face it, if Kim K can get a cover so can Melania. What I would love to see though, is Vogue give Melania a cover and virtually no one buys the issue making it their worst selling issue to date. Now that would make me happy.
Melania would buy the all edition herself, just to prevent this…
My thing is–it seems like Melania is getting to pick and choose when she is the First Lady. Either she is and she does the job i.e. her stand against “bullying” (ROFLMAO)…………or someone takes that over, and does everything that is required. I don’t think she should just get to randomly show up when there is a Queen to be photographed with. Know what I mean? She should also have to do the grunt work. But define what her role is going to be, instead of randomly showing up and getting praised.
Is that such a bad decision? Don’t get me wrong: Melania is a racist, greedy, plagiarizing asshole but Vogue caters to white women and 53% of them voted for Minute Maid Mussolini
So those who are not part of that specific demographic should state their reasons and stop buying the freaking magazine. Like what is happening, right? people vote with their wallet too.
oh I agree completely with the boycott.
It’s dementia, right? I just can’t figure out another tattoo so reason for Wintour to have completely lost the plot these past five years.
If there has to be a Trump on the cover, make it Tiffany.