ST. LOUIS • Among the campaign donations reported Friday by Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster was a $1,000 check from Houston communications millionaire J. Shelby Bryan.

Bryan is not well-known around Jefferson City, but he is a regular in the gossip columns of New York, where trendy Gothamites recognize him as the beau of the High Priestess of Fashion herself, Vogue editor Anna Wintour.

Wintour and Bryan have been an item for over a decade, when the affair between the married Texan and the also married "Devil Wears Prada" inspiration was discovered, and, of course, devoured by the tabloids.

The check from Bryan to Koster comes as the converted Democrat is attempting to up his national profile, recently pursuing a criminal indictment against a troubled mortgage services firm based in Florida.

Missouri wags are still wondering how that the story appeared first under the byline of New York Times financial writer Gretchen Morgenson before local reporters were given the scoop.

So what's the connection between Bryan and Koster?

Maybe it's the shoes: A photo of Wintour at Fashion Week shows her sitting with the natty Bryan, who is wearing a pair of cowboy boots — which also happens to be the preferred footwear of General Koster.