Anna Wintour is not Cozy but the movie is!

Snuck off yesterday and treated myself to an afternoon showing of The September Issue, the documentary by R.J. Cutler about putting out Vogue’s largest issue to date back in September 2007.

This is a real insider movie and I think if you don’t know who these people are you are not going to enjoy the movie that much. Unless that is, you really love the fashion industry!

Anna Wintour is pretty much the cool cucumber/bitch you always think she is although she did warm up in the scenes shown with her daughter Bea (who pretty much pooh pooh’s fashion in favor of studying law). And was that one scene really shot inside Anna’s townhome? Not at all how I would imagine her house would look (more folksy than elegant?)…

You get to see superstar photographers Mario Testino, Patrick DeMarchalier, editor Andre Leon Talley (love the LV tennis towel!) and assorted models but the star of the movie is Grace Coddington, Vogue’s Creative Director. A cloud of red hair and always dressed in black, she is the stylist of all stylists and creates the most gorgeous shoots. A lot of the movie is her frustration as her pages are criticized or omitted by Anna who always has the ultimate say in what stays or goes.

BTW, Grace is also a huge cat lover and had a great book out called The Catwalk Cats which she illustrates and her partner Didier Malige photographs. I am happy to say that this book has been by my bedside for about 2 years now and I love it (thanks emb!)

I have to say I loved this movie but I still don’t love Vogue that much. Guess I’m showing my age when I can say that many years ago it used to inspire me and now it’s just like a palate for photographers and artists to create fantasies not known to real women. Thing is, it doesn’t even make me dream anymore and I thought that’s what fashion magazines were supposed to do!