Anna Wintour Recommends Getting Fired, Says She Turned Down British Vogue Because "London Felt Smalltime"

>> Over the weekend, Teen Vogue held its annual Fashion University in New York for budding fashion industry followers, and Anna Wintour gave a seminar in which she was surprisingly frank. A few highlights, relayed from the Twitterverse:

When previewing the cover of the "Vogue's Best Dressed" bookazine, which is out in November and features Blake Lively in a gold dress, she shed some light on why Vogue cover subjects tend to repeat: "We pick girls we can go back to. It was hard to ignore Blake when she came on the scene . . . I told Tonne [Goodman, Vogue fashion director] to 'Vogue her.' We did her hair, gave her glamorous clothes . . ."

On the controversial Lebron James and Gisele Bundchen April 2008 Vogue cover: "It got me in a lot of trouble. Uh, that was an interesting experience."

On working with Andre Leon Talley: "[He] used to write me color-coded letters. If they were blue, he was depressed. If they were gold, I was golden"

On casting models: "Gisele Bundchen, along with Kate Moss, is a phenomenon. I wish models knew they have to have a personality."

On turning down jobs: "I was offered the editorship at British Vogue. But London felt small-time."

And, on losing jobs: "I worked for American Harper's Bazaar . . . they fired me. I recommend that you all get fired, it's a great learning experience."