Anna Wintour has always fascinated me and it’s not because she’s from England. We’re talking waaaaay before The Devil Wears Prada. And it’s weird because I’m not even an eager reader of Vogue — their fashion features are so far beyond what I’d ever wear in everyday life.
Perhaps it’s because I’m a freelance writer, although I only occasionally write for the women’s mags and never for the fashion rags. Wintour is legend in the magazine industry. The one time I visited the Conde Nast building to meet with an editor (not Vogue!), I vacillated between terror thinking about having to take an elevator ride up with Wintour and hope that I’d ride down with her. Neither happened. But I did spot a huge bouquet of flowers marked for Anna in the lobby.
I’ve been thinking about Wintour a lot lately. There’s been a bit of snark in the NY papers about her cutting back and making do, what with the economy and Vogue’s ad pages being down, and she’s been spotted wearing the same dresses, one of which I covet from Oscar de la Renta’s Resort 2009 line. Since I can’t afford $3,000 for a silk frock, I’m planning to sew a copy at considerably less cost (thank you Mom for those sewing lessons!) I’ve also been watching some documentaries on Karl Lagerfeld; in “Signe Chanel,” Wintour makes a brief appearance with Andre Leon Talley (Vogue’s editor-at-large) and you can sense the power she wields in the fashion world, even with Kaiser Karl.
So I was happy to discover, then, there’s a new documentary coming out this fall called “The September Issue” where we’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at Wintour putting the famed fall issue of her magazine to bed. Of course I’m going to love watching this as a journalist, but as an Anna groupie? Heaven! Maybe I’ll be able to watch it in my knock-off Oscar de la Renta, that is if I ever get off my duff to start sewing it.
This Sunday is the BAFTA Awards, BAFTA being an acronym for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts … sort of like our Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awards Oscars. If you’re stateside, you can watch the BAFTAs on BBC America this Sunday at 8:00 p.m. ET.
It looks like a bear to put together, and you really have to have the right body type to wear this, but wow, what a unique piece of wearable art to proclaim one’s Anglophilia.
(Marks & Spencer, or M&S, is something of a British shopping institution. It’s something like Macy’s here, but not quite. For instance, M&S has the best knickers. In Yankspeak, that’s underwear. No one really goes to Macy’s for their underwear.)
Personally, I hated the fashions in SATC. Especially near the end of the series, my girlfriends and I would laugh at the ridiculous outfits freelance writer Carrie Bradshaw would wear around New York. As if! Even PR pro Samantha Jones dressed mostly like a cheap ho. My New York-based friends agreed that the two character who dressed appropriately for New Yorkers were lawyer Miranda and art gallery associate/Park Avenue Princess Charlotte.
Although there were lines of shoppers at M&S’s doors on Wednesday, The Daily Mail deems the collection, “cheap, tacky, and ill conceived.” As I look at the pictures on line, I do agree with that assessment. Indeed, they look like perfect choices for this year’s tarts and vicar party, but at these prices, you might be better off shopping the last-chance sale rack at Macy’s. If you want the real thing, you can order online.
How Britain Gets Dressed. Lisa Armstrong, fashion editor of the (London) Times, talks about defining British style.
Dear Mrs. Plath. British poet Ted Hughes letters are now in print, and the New York Times‘ Paper Cuts blog publishes a letter he wrote to Aurelia Plath, mother of American poet (and reputed Anglophile) Sylvia Plath, Hughes’ estranged wife who commit suicide in London in 1963.
I held out for three days before I broke down and wrote about British royalty. But Kate Middleton doesn’t quite count yet, so I’m giving myself a pass here. Let’s see how much longer I can hold out. We can have a contest. Who can I not write about the longest? The Royals or Katie Price a/k/a Jordan?
The November issue of Vanity Fair has a feature on England’s potential future Princess of Wales. I’m off to read the article. The only thing of substance I have to say here is Where can I find the white coat she’s wearing? I love that coat. If anyone knows, please e-mail me.
