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
