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Anna Wintour explained why she wears her iconic sunglasses, and her reasoning is surprisingly relatable

anna wintour lfw feb 2019
Anna Wintour is known her her sunglasses. Edward Berthelot/Getty Images
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Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour is rarely seen without her iconic sunglasses.

One of the most famous people in the world of fashion, Wintour, who has been editor since 1988 and artistic director for Condé Nast, Vogue's publisher, since 2013, is seen sporting her heavy black frames to most runway shows and events.

She even kept the glasses on when she sat beside Her Majesty the Queen at Richard Quinn's London Fashion Week runway show in February 2018.

Read more: You'll love these pictures of the Queen sitting next to Anna Wintour at a fashion show

Queen Elizabeth II sits next to Anna Wintour
Yui Mok - Pool/Getty Images

However, it turns out her reason for wearing them is less glamorous than you might think.

In a recent interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Wintour, who wore her sunglasses throughout the entire meeting, said she finds the eyewear "incredibly useful because you avoid people knowing what you're thinking about."

"They help me when I'm feeling a bit tired or sleepy," she went on. "And maybe they've just become a crutch in part of who I am. But today I really did need them."

She added: "I'll be brutally frank: I have been unbelievably ill all week. And, plus, I just had eye surgery, so those are the real reasons I'm wearing them today."

Read more: An Instagram star says she leaves her husband and kids in economy while she flies first class because she needs 'time to focus' and doesn't want to catch a cold

It's not the first time Wintour has commented on the reason behind her emblematic sunglasses.

In a 60 Minutes interview in 2009, she reportedly said: "They are seriously useful. I can sit in a show and if I am bored out of my mind, nobody will notice … At this point, they have become, really, armor."

She's still spotted without them sometimes, though — and when she was made a Dame by the Queen in 2017, they didn't make an appearance.

anna wintour
Eric Thayer / REUTERS
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Ali is Deputy Editor of Life Insider. Based in the London office, she oversees and often personally contributes to Insider's lifestyle, entertainment, digital culture, health, and royals coverage, working with a team of reporters who cover travel, food, fashion, beauty, fitness, nutrition, relationships, film, TV, celebrities, and influencers, just to name a few topics. While in the UK Ali has previously been editor of The Daily Muse by Fenwick and sports, food, and drink reporter at Marketing Week. She graduated from the MA International Journalism course at City University London and is proud to be Canadian. You can follow her on Twitter at @AL_osaurus. Selected stories: I've visited the Greek island of Santorini twice — and if you think it's just a tourist trap, you're going to all the wrong places What it's like to have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, a misunderstood illness that leaves people in wheelchairs and derails entire careers I moved from Canada to the UK 7 years ago, and while I love London, I can see why Meghan Markle prefers my home country I compared economy and premium economy on British Airways one week apart, and for less than $200, I'd upgrade every time I've lived in London for 6 years — here are the places where you should actually eat