Reading to Reels: The Devil Wears Prada

I realized I haven’t done a Reading to Reels post in quite a while so I decided to revisit the 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada, which was based on the novel of the same name by author Lauren Weisberger.

I read The Devil Wears Prada when it was released in 2003, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was an entertaining tale of the world of both fashion and media, and I wondered if the movie would due the book justice. Did it? Read on.

Meat Andrea “Andy” Sachs (Ann Hathaway). She has just graduated from Northwestern and wants a job in journalism. Andy wants to get hired by a serious magazine but is finding these type of magazines aren’t beating a path to her door, Andy gets an interview with the premier fashion magazine Runway. Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) is Runway’s intimidating and exacting editor-in-chief who isn’t impressed by Andy but decides to hire her as a junior personal assistant.

Andy takes the job even though she finds fashion to be shallow and beneath her. Miranda wastes no time telling Andy a million girls would kill to have her job, and she better be grateful for her position.

Andy’s early days at Runway are hardly impressive. She makes a lot of mistakes and Miranda is icily exasperated by Andy’s stumbles as she navigates her job duties. Plus, Andy is surrounded by shallow, sniping colleagues for whom the length of hemlines is of utmost importance. Once such colleague is Emily (Emily Blunt), who is Miranda’s senior assistant. Emily looks at the lowly, un-stylish Andy with withering contempt.

Andy soon realizes she better step up her fashion game. She reaches out to art director Nigel (Stanley Tucci) who schools her on fashion dos and don’ts and gives her make-over to help her impress her colleagues and especially, Miranda.

Now decked out in a much more stylish wardrobe, Andy also puts more effort into her job and is fulfilling Miranda’s every wish no matter how outrageous. Andy is getting more and more immersed in the schemes of Runway and proves to be a better employee than Emily. Emily isn’t thrilled by this.

Andy’s job at Runway also doesn’t sit well with her boyfriend, Nate, and their friends. They feel Andy’s responsibilities at Runway have taken precedence over everything else. Interestingly enough, they don’t complain about some of the freebies thrown their way.

Through various twists and turns, Andy ends up going to Paris with Miranda for Paris Fashion Week. What should be the pinnacle of her career at Runway causes Andy to question her role as Miranda’s assistant and her future at Runway. She finds a lot of the underhanded treachery and backstabbing quite bothersome, and has to make a very critical choice. Does she stay with Runway or does she leave?

I found the movie version of The Devil Wears Prada very enjoyable and entertaining, almost more than the novel (and remember, I really loved the novel). Meryl Streep is terrific as the icy and imperious Miranda, but at times, she also shows to be vulnerable and fallible. Emily Blunt is deliciously bitchy as Andy’s nemesis and Stanley Tucci’s Nigel is a worthy mentor to our novice Andy as she finds her fashion voice. And Ann Hathaway is at turns stubborn, clueless, hard-working, and ambitious just like a lot of young people starting out their careers.

The high stakes of both media and fashion is cleverly drawn and the fashions are to die for. Andy’s transformation from frump to fabulous is inspiring, and when Nigel opens the inner sanctum of the fashion closet at Runway, I nearly fell out of my seat at the theater. Designer frocks, handbags, accessories, and high-heeled stilettoes, what more could a follower of fashion want?

Whether you’re a fashion fanatic or wouldn’t know an “It” bag if it slapped you in the face, The Devil Wears Prada is tremendous tale of one young woman navigating the world of fashion, media, and learning more about herself and her values.

Book Review: Copygirl by Anna Mitchael and Michelle Sassa

I’m not usually the biggest fan standard-issue chick lit featuring hapless, yet hopeful heroines working in “glamour” industries like fashion, PR, show business or advertising usually in New York City. The cover is usually some shade of pink and features one of the holy trinity of chick lit graphics—statement handbag, high-heeled shoe, or fancy cocktail.

Copygirl, authored by Anna Mitchael and Michelle Sassa, features a pink cover the shade of a rather attention grabbing shade of fuchsia. However, there was no handbag, shoe or cocktail to be found on Copygirl’s cover. Furthermore, Copygirl was described as a hybrid of The Devil Wears Prada and Mad Men. I actually liked The Devil Wears Prada, who hasn’t had a nightmare boss? And I just finished binge-watching Mad Men and related only too well to copywriter Peggy Olson, so I decided to give Copygirl a whirl.

Meet Copygirl’s protagonist Kay, after finishing college where she studies advertising, she follows her crush Ben to NYC where they both get jobs one of the city’s hottest agencies with the unfortunate of initials of STD. While in ad school, Kay thought she would write memorable copy like “Think Different” and “Just Do It.” She also thought she’d get romantic with Ben. Sadly, none of those dreams seem to be coming true for our heroine. Instead, Kay is dealing with the STD’s overlords who make Pol Pot look like Mr. Rogers and is writing hapless copy for accounts her much cooler hipster co-workers reject outright. As for Ben? Right now he’s sleeping on Kay’s couch, not her bed.

STD is riddled with egotistical tyrants, high fashion hotties, pretentious creatives and one Diet Coke-obsessed intern with the last name of Bouffa. Bouffa may not have the schooling or experience for this particular internship, but she does have something deemed more important—family connections.

Kay feels completely out of it at STD with her family connections from the Midwest, her wardrobe of sneakers, jeans and hoodies and her low-key, modest and easily intimidated personality. Will she ever measure up and find success? And will she find love with Ben or will she lose him to the office hot girl?

To appease her battered and bruised sense of self Kay makes wax dolls and films them in absurd situations. The main character of Kay’s magnum opus is a doll named Copygirl who warns everybody “Don’t be a copygirl.” Kay shares her videos with her best friend who is currently studying in France. This best friend starts uploading Kay’s videos for the world to see and they become a huge sensation, making Kay feeling both awkward and proud.

Meanwhile, Ben moves out and Kay is convinced he is having a fling with the office hottie. However, Kay finds this hottie is more than a pair of designer boots and a killer wardrobe, and though Bouffa may have family connections, she is also willing to work hard and is pretty nice kid. And then there is suit-wearing guy who might be more than what he seems.

Kay struggles daily with writing appropriate copy for the latest, hippest soda trying to grab the much-wanted Millennial market only to be treated with contempt by her fellow creative co-workers, clueless clients and tyrannical agency heads. Will she find the secret sauce to come up with the right lines that will be iconic as such classic ad copy she dreamed of writing? Or will she be fired with only her wax dolls to keep her company?

Ultimately, I liked Copygirl. It was a fun and breezy read, and I rooted for Kay throughout the book even though at times I wanted to shake her. Spending time in the copywriting trenches I could totally relate to her daily struggles, pretty much dealing with the same obnoxious behavior she dealt with even though I come from Milwaukee. And I also know how creative “me-time” activities Kay indulged in helped alleviate her stress and gain her both kudos and confidence.

But what I really liked about Copygirl was how it didn’t focus so much on romance, but on Kay’s growth in her career and how she forges strong bonds with her female co-workers rather than seeing them as competition both professionally and personally.

In the end Copygirl is a fun read, both fluffy and profound, and I think most working girls will be able to relate to Kay’s plight even if your Devil wears H & M, and your place of work is a mixture of both Mad Men and Mad Women.