The Wages of Sin: Recalculating Vogue’s 1970 “Cost of an Affair” for 2015

Imagine, if you will, a vivacious Texan who reports on the truth-is-stranger-than-fiction antics of the jet set, fantasizing a torrid extramarital romp between two Noel Coward characters—the sort that swells with “champagne wishes and caviar dreams.” Whatever could the result be? Suzy Knickerbocker’s (Aileen Mehle’s) brilliant 1970 story for Vogue: “The Cost of Conducting an Affair for Two Noel Coward Characters.”

So delighted were we with this priced-out list of “pared-to-the-bone necessities,” which includes Dom Pérignon 1962, “devastating negligees,” and Porthault sheets, that, in honor of Valentine’s Day, we were inspired to update it for 2015’s secret lovers. Our conclusion: This kind of love is not for cowards, as the wages of sin are, frankly, exorbitant.

Edited by Chelsea Zalopany, Jenna Rennert, Rebecca Stadlen, and Alex Frank

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