Cup of Tea and a Chocolate Biscuit

Saw The September Issue last night.

Pretty interesting documentary about the making of the September 2007 issue of US Vogue, their biggest issue ever clocking in at 840 pages (727 of those were advertising) and nearly five pounds.

The main attraction of the film is, of course, finally getting a tiny glimpse into the life of the inscrutable Anna Wintour (you know, the Ice Queen who pretty much singlehandedly drives worldwide fashion and inspired the book/movie spin-off The Devil Wears Prada).

The real Anna's not quite Meryl Streep's Miranda Priestly, but the chill did occasionally leap from the screen into the theatre. And wow, that is one woman who knows her job and does it better (and works harder) than anyone else ever could. Vogue is her life, fashion is her oxygen.

You know you've made it when:

• A quiet 'excuse me' causes underlings to leap backwards in fright.
• Prada reworks their fall line with a different fabric because you happened to mention it was 'a little heavy' (from wool and mohair to silk and mohair. 'To fur or not to fur' isn't really a question Anna quibbles with. The answer is always 'to fur').

Was I perhaps all-too-easily manipulated by the film's format? I found myself feeling a tad sorry for Ms Wintour towards the end. It can be heartbreaking when the things you think are important – what you've built a career, a name, a life out of – are met with derision and amusement by the people you love.

I think the fashion world is nuts most of the time, but even in my jeans I can appreciate the fact that couture is living, breathing art. Nobody laughed at Da Vinci's contribution to the world, so why do they laugh at De La Renta's?