I had watched this movie several times. But yesterday this movie "Devil wears Prada" got me thinking about fashion in my life and in the lives of mere mortals like me. All of us, I take the liberty of assumption here, like to look good and if fashion is "good", I would say most of us would love to look fashionable. All other aspects remaining the same like comfort, cost and acceptability, in that case, all those who look at the mirror and wish they were fashionable would actually be fashionable. But it is so often not the case.
As we see in the movie, Anne Hathaway (Andrea), the girl hired by the queen of fashion as a P.A. has to use the company wardrobe to dress herself in fashionable clothes. Immediately she ditches her sensible flats for high heeled shoes. Now, even if we consent to all torture in the name of high fashion, access to such free extensive wardrobes is beyond imagination for people like you and me. This closes the gates of one road to being fashionable.
Even if we were actually able to get cheaper versions of Chanel or Prada, there is this larger question of acceptability. All through the movie, there is this underlying distinction being spoken of between "Us" and "Them". This is true not only in movie but also in lives of normal people like us. Will we be accepted by our friends, family and colleagues, if one fine day we go wearing the latest fashion on the Paris street. The rich and the famous who go strutting in haute couture have been so portrayed by the media that they comprise "The other side" in our minds while all such people and their lives may not be so different. And thus has grown this stigma in the eyes of the common people for high fashion. It takes a brave lady to risk her position among friends and acquaintances.
However, the third factor is what I feel is the most important. Invariably high fashion comprises clothes that are all for the looks and none for comfort. For a common woman working eight to ten hours a day, what is important is comfort and clothes that make her feel confident. It is difficult to imagine that clothes in which the wearer is uncomfortable could boost her confidence. And so these women steer a mile clear of high fashion. I am sure that unless Louis Vuitton, Chanel and the like do not improve on the comfort factor in their clothing line they will find few takers among common women. But... isn't that what they want ?
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