Rich b*tch ... a woman smokes a cigar while checking out the wares at Moscow's annual Millionaire's Fair.
Miriam Elder, Moscow
May 5, 2008
THEY sit at nearly every table in Moscow's smartest restaurants, wearing designer jewellery and smiles that show they know they are the envy of every girl in Russia.
But for the wives and girlfriends of Russia's super-rich oligarchs, the good life has just got a little bit harder — thanks to a slew of books telling other women how to follow in their footsteps.
With 110 billionaires and 130,000 millionaires, oil-rich Russia now ranks behind only the United States in terms of sheer numbers of wealthy bachelors.
But competition to catch the eye of the man who already has everything is fierce, and an entire publishing industry has sprung up to teach the fairer s*x how to snare an oligarch.
They are being tutored in everything from clothes to handy strategies in the bedroom — and the divorce court.
First, and most important it seems, is not to look too tarty. In Marry a Millionaire, socialites Oksana Robski and Ksenia Sobchak warn women against wearing jeans with sequins, Dolce&Gabbana leopard-print tops, fake tans, dark glasses at night and high-heeled boots, "even if it is July".
"Without a doubt, this is the battle gear of the Ukrainian prostitute," they declare.
The mood is captured by tomes such as the groundbreaking Bitches' Table Book, published by Svetlana Kronna, which took the Russian obscenity "sterva", or b*tch, and turned it into a badge of honour.
A trend was born, and Russia's bookshops are now lined with dozens of texts with such titles as b*tch Seeks Man and The b*tch's Beginner's Course.
The reason for the sharp-elbowed approach, according to one former oligarch hunter, is that decent men in Russia are generally thin on the ground, especially those who are both solvent and sober.
"Take 100 Russian men," explained Oksana Grussova, who spent 15 years hunting rich men, and was married to a wealthy construction magnate. "Ten of them will be gay, 30% alcoholics, 10% drug addicts, 20% impotent, leaving a paltry 30 men.
"Now take 100 Russian women, 90 of whom will be beautiful — the race simply isn't fair."
