On Friday I attended a screening of The September Issue, a docudrama about the making of Vogue’s biggest annual issue, and the magazine’s notorious editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour. She’s the one with the bob and sunglasses and fur draped around her cold shoulders at every major fashion show. An older, less humorous version of Rachel Zoe, if you will (who, BTW, returns to Bravo tonight for the second season of her fantastically entertaining reality show). Truth be told, I am not obsessed with Anna, nor do I read Vogue very often. It’s gotten too long, too lofty, and it’s fashion is so unwearable that I’d prefer to get my fix from Harper’s Bazaar or Marie Claire (esp now that Nina Garcia is directing). My point is that despite my ambivalence, I loved, LOVED this film. I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. And at times—like when Ms. Wintour was tearing stylist extraordinaire Grace Coddington’s most exquisite work to shreds, I could hardly breathe. I may be a magazine editor, and I may feature fashion on MNMO’s pages, but I do not live in this strange, glamourous, and terrifying world. Every pop cultural connoisseur will appreciate this raw look at the eccentric microcosm that is Vogue. And Wintour fans may be surprised to discover that this diva isn’t, in fact, the fashion force behind the magazine.
The September Issue opens in Minnesota on September 11.
