I was randomly cruising through the web portal of ‘Vogue’ India when I stumbled into a post written by a blogger (a renowned fashionista) who had inferred that when she mixed and matched the various pieces of couture, haute or not, with a pair of sandals bought from local brands, they could put Jimmy Choo to shame.
If it wasn’t for the last seven words, I would have moved from the current page of the portal to another that discussed new lip colours for the season. But it was exactly these seven words – They Could Put Jimmy Choo to Shame – that brought out the Miranda Priestly alive in me. An impersonator of Michael Jackson can only impersonate him. He cannot become Michael Jackson himself. It’s the same with the local footwear too. Their designs were shamelessly stolen from Jimmy Choo itself which made them look like hopeless impersonators. Just when I thought of writing back to this lady (blogger) and reprimand her for the drab of a taste that she had in couture, I shot myself back to reality. I was not Miranda Priestly and she was not my assistant.
I was not a mere reader when I started from the very first page of The Devil Wears Prada but a part of an entity of the world of fashion that functioned as if a mere 24 hours would be insufficient to put across the best and the most worthwhile effort that would translate itself effortlessly into the most desirable piece d’art of haute couture – The Runway Magazine.
I had watched the movie earlier hence I knew what to expect but was taken aback by the book as it shed more light on Miranda Priestly, the editor in chief of The Runway. Be it the Coco Chanel evening gowns that costs $40000 or the numerous Herme’s silk scarves that got abandoned, lost, forgot or just left behind, everything in the life of Miranda Priestly is high fashion that one could only dream of living. Lauren Weisberger has wonderfully sketched Priestley’s character. A combination of elegance and autocracy, her very arrival is enough to send a jittery staff at The Runway into palpitations to last for a lifetime. Once at her desk she could demand to see a fashion assistants body parts neatly assembled on a tray (she’d want it to like a Michelangelo creation) and shown to her within 30 seconds of her arrival. The poor assistants had no choice but to do so. In short, Miranda Priestley is an unpredictable woman who is hard to please not only because she sets high standards but partly due to her cranky nature and an ego that does not let her respect anybody around her except herself. The shudder that runs through people’s spine when they hear her name has been brilliantly brought out by Weisberger. Little things of her character rubs off on some readers of course (refer to my lament on Jimmy Choo above).
And the balance to a character so ruthless is created by the presence of another with whom most readers I am sure would identify, Andrea Sachs. A lovely girl of 23 who has never had the nerve to make people run errands finds herself in a job at The Runway for which ‘A million girls would die for’ – Miranda Priestley’s assistant. Adding to her misery is a fact that Andrea unlike the other girls at Runway is an aspiring writer who dreams of working for the New Yorker and is not not completely fascinated by the world of fashion at all. Neck deep in the work that she signed up for right after college, she finds herself fetching Miranda’s latte, her Pellegrino, Miranda’s clothes to and from the dry cleaners, locating unpublished copies of the latest Harry Potter series for Miranda’s twins and whole lot of other errands that sometimes were doled out to her without adequate information. The Runway eats up all of Andrea’s time and she discovers that her best friend and her boyfriend are distancing themselves from her as she has no time for them. A year passes by and finally she decides to walk out on Miranda even at the cost of being fired, just to be by her ailing best friend Lily
The Devil Wears Prada is not just another book that oozes of labels that one might have heard but cannot afford. It’s a story of a girl who gets entangled between a tyrannical boss and her personal life which threatens to slip away from her hands. It’s a story of tolerance exercised by Andrea towards a slave driver that finally vanishes when she discovers that it’s better to put her life first and be rude and intolerant to Miranda than having to smile and suffer the auguries of being her assistant.
Four things the book shares with us (something that I’ve lived by from the start of my career) are as follows
- a) You can be a perfectionist like Miranda Priestly in anything that you do. It only takes a few compromises from your end but it does not mean that in the wake of achieving success you turn yourself into a Miranda Priestley. Cold and ruthless.
- b) Engrave one word into your dictionary – RESPECT – which would not only take you places but would also earn you enough goodwill. It can be RESPECT towards an assistant, a co worker, and a piece of art or just anything good and genuine. Miranda respected haute couture only, which made her intolerable and disgusting.
- c) We can choose to be what we want to be. An autocratic boss or an inspiring leader. But remember, meaningless vendetta would only create fear in others. So if your boss had been cruel to you, it’s not necessary that you have to repeat history.
- d) There’s a great learning from Andrea Sachs character. A lot of us forsake personal obligations to fulfil commitments from an over demanding authority. But not always do we realise that in the process we could see an entire life pass by without living it. So when in dilemma, know your priorities, even if it makes you say something obscene to your boss, just like what Andy did to MP.
I immensely loved the book and would recommend it to one and all. It’s engaging and of course has shades of sarcasm and dry humour that makes it more interesting to read. Pick it up. I am sure you’ll like it.
PS: Jimmy Choo is really a piece of art. For heaven sake don’t you dare compare it to any other sad looking foot wear.
