catboy55

I have seen many a fashion doc: September Issue, Valentino: The Last Emperor, Seamless, Scrath the Surface...and Picture me is by far the best. In addition to getting amazing backstage access (Most of the footage behind the scenes are filmed by the films protagonist, Sara Ziff, and her comrade/friend Caitriona Balfe...) it also boasts very honest assessments of the industry by actual top models. The narrative is set up to give you a lay of the land as to what it is to be a top model. The term "supermodel" is a misnomer given to anyone from Hooters waitresses, Hawaiian Tropics bimbos to Low Rider magazine cover models. The only true supermodels are the fab five from the early nineties: Cindy, Naomi, Christie, Linda and Claudia. Being a successful model does not give you instant name recognition. If you are stomping the catwalks of Lagerfeld, Valentino, Prada or Gucci (just to name a few)and snapped in the pages of Vogue, then you are a top model. Sara Ziff made a stellar, memorable and extremely fast rise to the top of the heap. It is astounding how down to earth and realistic she is in the midst of all this reverie. The other models she hangs with also seem in tune with reality and are bright, self aware young entrepreneurs: using beauty and charm as their product. In addition to the fun glamorous side of the business, they also delve into the dark side of modeling: the creepy photogs who exploit these girls with scary advances, incredibly challenging work/travel schedules and constant scrutiny by people who seem programmed to offend though they have no right to judge perfection. This film ends on such a high, pleasant and endearing note: you'll forget that these girls are mannequins on display...and perhaps come away from this humanizing them instead of objectifying them. Aust see for fashion-philes.

I am not sure why this only received a 6.7 out of 10 average rating? other than the fact that people are so harsh about fashion, and usually have no fashion sense of their own: This was AWESOME!!!!! Not only do you get a glimpse of the Shakespearean in magnitude hierarchy of the world's foremost fashion bible: VOGUE. We start off with the controlled, almost apologetic musings of the "Pope" of the fashion world, Anna Wintour. She is Donald Trump, Margaret Thatcher and Hitler all rolled into one. Every aspect of the fashion world is controlled by this English thorny rose. The thrust of the film is watching the development and ultimate fruition of producing the most purchased single issue of the entire magazine world (Yup, not even the SI Swimsuit edition matches up...) Anna Wintour's measured musings turn from quizzical to brash to straight up pompous. And you will love the absolutely predatory way in which she does it. Along the way we meet the supporting players, who are presented like the cast of "Friends" in their completely cartoonish predictability: Andre Leon Talley...trying to give credibility to his skim the surface role as one who creates a "Fashion dialog" (?!) with the editors...in a 5,000.00 moo moo. Grace Coddington with her "second fiddle to Anna" disdain. And many other "yes" men and women who make up this staff of fashion overachievers. The narrative is very straight forward: you see the evolution of editorial fashion spreads and jostling of elements to such an incredibly serious detail, editors and staff seemingly on the edge of a nervous breakdown on a daily basis and a lot of creativity along the way. It's true: this is art as commerce, and I loved it! Along with 2007's Picture Me, The September Issue is one of the best, most insightful and candid looks at the ONLY magazine that matters in the fashion world: VOGUE, honey! *SNAP*!