The highly anticipated real world version of the Devil Wears Prada, The September Issue, lived up to expectations. If fashion is a religion, Anna Wintour is definitely the Pope but hardly seems as Icy as some have portrayed her to be.


The documentary started out with a montage of daily activities at Vogue and and led into what seemed to be a recreation of the scene in The Devil Wears Prada, where Meryl Streep was in her car and on her way to Vogue. Heading up the elevator Wintour makes her way to her hauntingly familiar office and surprisingly no one ran the other way. 


Photo shoots, layout editing, and fashion meetings are all critical to the success of Vogue’s pages. Wintour makes sure these aspects of the process are flawless but she is not alone. Among the editors is highly eccentric Andre Leon Talley (Editor-at-large) and Grace Coddington (Creative Director). 


Coddington and Wintour started at American Vogue on the same day over two decades ago. The relationship between them in the documentary is a very interesting one – almost like family. You love your family and sometimes you hate or disagree with them. 


Wintour credited Coddington with her exceptional styling ability and Coddington, while very upfront about her disagreements with Wintour, credited her with being a visionary and propelling Vogue forward. The 68 year old former model is definitely yin to Wintour’s yang. The feisty red head is the only one willing to battle Wintour when necessary in the name of fashion and art.


Talley was shown in a few clips in the documentary and lived up to his fashionable persona. Encouraged by Wintour to lose weight, Talley took up tennis. But Mr. Talley is not anything less than fashionable on the courts and makes sure he carries plenty of Louis Vuitton with him. Fashionistas get ready! Being glamourous is a lifestyle and doesn’t stop just because you want to play sports. Grab your LV monogram tennis racquet cover and make your workout work for you!  


The documentary also featured a segment featuring Wintour’s daughter. While she is explicit about not being an editor at Vogue she is humored by her mom’s (Wintour) job, and does respect Wintour’s contribution to the industry. 


Wintour remained particular about the fashion and photography that graced the pages of the 2007 September issue and while upfront about her opinions, she was not as cold as people say. Her keen eye for detail and experience in the fashion industry has given her the repertoire that designers and insiders respect and are needed to push her staff and the pages of Vogue to the next level. As one editor put it, she is only accessible to who she needs to be – and there is nothing wrong with that. 


If there is one criticism it is that the audience needs more of Wintour’s outside life (if she has one outside of Vogue.) What is she like at home with her daughter and dog? At Starbucks? With her brothers and sisters? Does she feel lonely at the top? 


While she is the “pope” of fashion she is but a mere person.


XOXOXO,
The Diva