It’s no secret that The Devil Wears Prada has become a standard to be held to when it comes to fashion movies. The stylization of their main characters has been praised repeatedly, making this movie a classic for many. This iconic film takes us through the journey of the main character Andrea while she survives her new job working for her devilish designer boss, Miranda. 

It has been said that what you wear is a reflection of your personality and mentality, which this movie uses to the highest potential. It would be criminal not to start with the stylish icon of this movie, Miranda, whom both Anna Wintour and Liz Tilberis inspire. Overall, Miranda’s style can be described as effortless yet expensive. The first glimpse we catch of her is of her red Prada pumps. which is a way to show Miranda’s dominance and power as the color red is associated with strong emotions. She also often sports many purple pieces as this color is associated with royalty and wealth, which again, symbolizes power. The only time we see Miranda not dressed to the nines is when she dealing with a divorce, signifying how when she is not stylized, it is due to something severe. Without all of the boldness that she usually wears, she looks more fragile and down to earth, matching her emotions at that moment. 

Onto our main character, we first see Andy in a frumpy blazier, a wrinkled white shirt, a lilac sweater vest, and ill-fitting black trousers. This signifies her underqualification for this job. As both Miranda and Andy wear purple in their first meeting, though Andy’s shade is much lighter, it hints at Andy’s potential to become Miranda. As the movie progresses we don’t see her style changing at all. This reflects how little she cares about her job; that she’s just doing what she needs to without learning anything. When Andy finally realizes the treatment from Miranda isn’t changing because she isn’t either, she seeks out a makeover. She ditches her old sweaters in exchange for Chanel and Prada. When she realizes how she is becoming more like Miranda, her outfits become disorganized, showing the inner battle between her past and current self. When she decides to quit, we last see her in a turtleneck, bootcut jeans, a leather jacket, and boots. This is the perfect outfit for her as it is a great representation that even though she learned from that job, she’s still the Andy she was before, just with better outfits. 

Overall, this movie understands personal style and the ambiance it can give off to such a perfect level. The way each character has their own unique style that accurately shows the audience their personality without them having to utter a word is something movies have been trying to achieve ever since. Of course, most movies equip their characters with their own unique style, Clueless for example, but I can’t recall one using that fashion to tell a story of its own. The one movie I would say even comes remotely close is Mean Girls, and even then it’s just one character’s style we see reflecting the plot. With saying that, The Devil Wears Prada is leaps and bounds above the rest, making every viewer even the tiniest bit more interested in the fashion scene.