The Devil Wears Prada and its parallels to my life…

I first fell in love with the Devil Wears Prada when I read Lauren Weisberger’s novel last year. I picked it up at my favorite three-story Barnes and Noble at Fisherman’s Warf in San Francisco and once I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down. It was funny, wicked and evil and I related to the character of Andy trying to survive in unfamiliar territory with an unrelenting boss.

Needless to say, I was looking forward to the movie the Devil Wears Prada very much. I mean Meryl Streep was playing the evil boss! She’s only the most Oscar nominated actor in history and a two-time Oscar winner. In fact, she’s never been bad in a role she’s played.

From the first scene to the very last the Devil Wears Prada is the most modern day, stylistically beautiful movie I’ve ever seen. It’s a great glimpse into the mysterious world of Fashion. And the designers! Never before have you seen that many designers together in a movie. Costume Designer Patricia Field dressed the actors with such style and flair reminding me of her work on my favorite HBO series Sex and the City. She has a brave, bold and original approach to fashion that is fabulously showcased in this film.

I would kill for the chance to raid the Runway (Vogue) closet (which exists in real life) for designer clothes, shoes and handbags. Although I’d have to go on a starvation diet since a size 6 in the movie is considered fat and the sample designer clothes in the closet are all sizes 2 and 4.

The Devil Wears Prada has great music and energy! It literally makes you want to be part of the exciting, glamorous world of fashion. If my life had such a soundtrack like this movie, I’d be hip, cool, and living my dreams… life would be as it should be.

Meryl Streep is the perfect evil boss demanding the impossible from someone without ever raising her voice. Delivering her disappointment in an employee’s performance with quiet insults, even when she praises her employee’s efforts: “I see myself in you…” it’s delivered as an insult. Meryl Streep nails Runway’s evil Editor in Chief, Miranda Priestly. Her performance is priceless!


The wickedly evil Miranda Priestly...

Stanley Tucci’s character Nigel is a gem. He’s the perfect fashion guru gay best friend that every girl needs and he performs a miracle makeover on Andy’s style and in turn their relationship. And he wears some of the coolest suits! I wish I had my very own Nigel and I wish he’d make me over into a fashionable woman about town.


Nigel looking dapper...

Ann Hathaway’s character Andy flounders to survive in the fashion world that she knows nothing about while jumping through hoops for the world’s most demanding boss. Not only does her look get a makeover, so does her career. She begins to ‘get it’ to do things right and you feel like she’s on the verge of making a break through to the journalism career that she’s always wanted. She’s endearing and you find yourself rooting for her to succeed.


Andy's makeover & the Runway (Vogue) closet...


The new fashionable Andy...

British actress Emily Blunt’s character Emily is the perfect bitchy, catty girl that lives for fashion. She’s shallow and sometimes cruel, but nevertheless a creature of the fashion/beauty Industry. A perfect counter part to Andy’s endearing character.


The cruel, catty Emily...

No chick flick would be complete without a conflict involving men. My favorite Entourage boy Adrian Grenier is Andy’s faithful boyfriend whom she neglects for work and a flirtation with a sophisticated writer played by Simon Baker. If only I had this kind of ‘male’ problem.


Male problem #1, the boyfriend...


Male problem #2, the writer...

While the movie’s ending veers from the book’s, I enjoyed both equally very much. I’ve already seen the movie twice and will watch it again. Definitely one I will have to own. It's already one of my favorite movies of the year.

But how does my simple Bakersfield life in the engineering/construction industry and post knee surgery flat shoes parallel the Devil Wears Prada?

For 10 years I lived on the edge of the fashion world in the cosmetic industry. Owning and managing a Merle Norman Cosmetics store with my parents where I dressed in fashionable skirts and 4-inch heels.

I enjoyed the glamour of the beauty industry. I scoured Vogue and other fashion magazines for the latest makeup looks and loved the seasons when my favorite Smokey eyes makeup look was fashionable.

I found reward in helping people look their best and met my best girlfriend when she walked in as a crying customer and walked out a dear friend.

Near the end of the 10 years, I had begun to grow tired of the superficiality of the beauty industry, of always being judged by what you look like instead of who you were on the inside or for having a ‘voice’. Outer beauty was more important than inner beauty…

This superficial theory was never more prevalent to me than when Lancôme fired my favorite model (actress, author and filmmaker) Isabella Rossellini because she turned 40. I couldn’t believe it. Her beauty hadn’t faded one bit. She was still one of the most beautiful women in the world; she just wasn’t 15-25 any more. Only women in their 30’s and 40’s could afford Lancôme products and yet they were replacing the face of Lancôme with a teenager. I didn’t understand the beauty industry’s need for eternal youth, it wasn’t honest.




My favorite model, Isabella Rossellini...

I pondered my observations of the beauty industry while sitting in my cosmetic store surrounded by mirrors and wrote a poem about reflections and images and how the world viewed me in those various reflections, all to no avail as I still didn't understand the beauty industry.

While I’ve never had a ‘Nigel’ in my life, I’d still kill for that Runway/Vogue closet full of designer clothes.

I have, however, had my share of ‘Emily’s’ in my cosmetic years. The beauty industry is brutal and full of catty, bitchy women. I tolerated several that worked for me. Try attending cosmetic conventions with hundreds of Emily’s and stay true to yourself and your dreams. A difficult task to say the least.

In the end, when a decision was made to sell the cosmetic store, I found I was ready for a change of career and I landed in an entirely different world. In the engineering/construction field my skirts and 4-inch heels became a thing of the past. And after my knee surgeries I was bound to unglamorous flat shoes.

I now work for Miranda Priestley’s male counterpart only without her sense of fashion or calmness. While Miranda referred to herself as the Dragon Lady in the movie, mine refers to himself as a Bear, giving the phrase “Beware of the Bear” a whole new meaning. Watching the movie, I thought I’d much rather work for the Dragon Lady in this electric, energetic, beautiful and fashionable world than for the Bear in a world without beauty.


The fashionable Dragon Lady...

And lastly there is the dream of being a writer… In the movie Andy is on the verge of making her writing career happen and while I may not be there yet, I’m working on it, I’m writing...

Watch the trailer for the Devil Wears Prada and get a taste of the fashion world and the Dragon Lady...

  posted by Matildakay at 11:37 PM