Diana Vreeland Spins in Her Grave

Former Vogue icon-editor Diana Vreeland is, no doubt, spinning, rather gracefully, in her grave -- a pirouette en dedans, perhaps? -- at the WWD report (link via gawker) that Donald Trump's latest-in-a-string-of Eastern European whorelets will grace the cover (Pity the poor Sir Edmund Hillary-of-social-climbers, Elizabeth Hurley, for all her thwarted ambitions, only got a job scribbling for Citizen K):



"It looks like Hilary Swank's loss will be Melania Knauss? gain. According to a source at Cond� Nast, Swank was all set to appear on the cover of the February issue of Vogue for her new Clint Eastwood-directed film, 'Million Dollar Baby,' when the decision was made to bump her in favor of Knauss, whose wedding to Donald Trump is set for Jan. 22."

No word, yet, on when the divorce will be, no doubt it will coincide with a legalistic prenup on the eve of a "lump sum" payout.

"A feature in the issue tells the story of Knauss? trip to the Paris couture shows, where she shopped for a wedding gown with help from Andr� Leon Talley, Vogue?s editor at large. Of his erstwhile shopping buddy, Talley told WWD, 'I love her. We?ve become good friends because (a) she?s beautiful, and (b) she?s marrying one of the smartest men in the business.' A Vogue spokesman, meanwhile, declined to comment on the cover, saying only that the issue hadn?t closed yet."

The Corsair too loves Melania because (a) she's kind of cute in a "gotta-hurry-up-and-marry-a-short-fingered-vulgarian-before-the-looks-go-sideways-and-I-have-nothing-else-to-fall-back-on-but-my*snicker*intelligence" kind of way, and (b) Trump's hotels have declared plans to file for bankruptcy, and Apprentice ratings are down.

"As for pictures of the wedding itself, Getty Images is handling the sale of the rights, negotiating exclusives for TV, weekly and monthly outlets. A Getty spokeswoman said the couple is expecting any magazine that buys the photos to give the story cover play. 'I would think the event would be large enough to grant that.'"

Nice capitalization of the wedding sacrament, re: cover play, Trumpies, ya gotta hardball those Getty dudes, but-- quick 3AM on C-Span journo ethics question -- should the words "exclusive" be used in referring to a Trump wedding? Doesn't that devalue the Platonic eidos of "exclusiveness"? (And, yes, calling in Plato to snark Trump is like using a galactic force to swat a gnat) Do we want to live in a world where exclusiveness is measured in Trump marriages?

We didn't think so.