Red Headed Maven

Is there anything better than being completely lazy on a fall Sunday? Just watching football all day and then enjoying fabulous Sunday night TV. NFL then Curb, Dexter, Mad Men. Perfection. Also I am searching out some new music and reading fashion magazines...

Speaking of fashion magazines... yesterday B and I went to see The September Issue - the behind the scenes, 'fly on the wall' documentary of VOGUE and the making of the 2007 September Issue. The movie was a wonderful 90 minutes into Anna Wintour's world. Many people who are interested in and enjoy fashion know of Wintour's reputation. That she is ruthless, icy, unfeeling, cutthroat, etc. And while the movie showed her as being those things, you in no way leave hating her. She does it all for the good of the magazine and for the good of the industry. I actually gained a new found respect for Anna and what she does. She does come off as ruthless but watching her in this documentary you also see her ruthlessness as complete and utter decisiveness. And isn't that what any strong person in charge needs? Her iron fist may be slightly cold and bitter but that is who Anna is. And I think most VOGUE fans would agree that her reign as Editor in Chief has been the most successful run of VOGUE in their history. And like one of her predecessors, Diana Vreeland, she has become an icon in her own right.

But the funny thing about The September Issue is that the star of the film is NOT Wintour. It is VOGUE Creative Director, Grace Coddington. Now while I knew of Grace and know her by seeing her sitting next to Anna at many a runway show, I really knew nothing about her. And WOW! She is an absolute genius! Any photo spread you see in Vogue was completely conceived by Grace. She styles every spread in the magazine. And watching her work in this film you are just in awe of her. And in awe of how her and Anna are able to make it work day in and day out. It is obvious that they respect but do not like each other but put it all aside for the good of the magazine. When the film was conceived, it was meant to be a vehicle to make Wintour more likeable and more human. And she is completely meant to be the star and the focus but when the film concludes Anna still comes off as the villian while Grace is the heroine. Then the film concluded and I turned to Bridget and said I could have watched that for another 4 hours.

Here is a look at the redheaded genius at work in The September Issue.



Seeing this movie reminded me that B and I need to go on our search for good fall hats. We were having a good 10 minute conversation while having lunch outdoors a few weeks back about hats and shoes and next to us were two women who I don't mean to be rude but obviously had no interest in fashion. And B and I continued our some what animated conversation about Bloomingdale's hat selection and then the other women got up and left the restaurant while their drinks were still half full. And I then asked Bridget, "do you think they left because they were tired of listening to us talk about hats?"

And B totally did me a solid this week. She tracked down a navy boyfriend blazer for me!