Notes on: Anna vs. Grace

Last night, the Atticus girls attended a screening of The September Issue. After 88 minutes of watching pin thin models and hearing harsh instructions from Anna Wintour to join a gym, we were more than eager to set down our giant sized Coca-cola Classics and give away our boxes of Sour Patch Kids. (Note: The feeling subsided about 15 minutes after leaving the theatre. So, Stephani and I proceeded to down a couple cocktails and munch on BLTs and leftover pizza until we fell asleep dreaming about Ms. Coddington’s flaming locks and Andre’s LV sweat towel.)

I will admit that while I’ve always preferred British Vogue to American and that I spent the majority of the film rooting for Grace Coddington to win every battle with the Editor in Chief, I woke up this morning with a newfound appreciation for Anna Wintour.

What I realized is that at the end of the day, Anna is just trying to run a business. She doesn’t have the luxury of asking for unlimited budgets or choosing to run an article or photo spread just because it’s beautiful or witty. Even though the documentary was shot in a far off utopia called 2007, it’s probably truer in today’s economy that Anna’s priority has to be selling ad pages and magazines. Sometimes she is forced to do this at the expense of appeasing her contributors and staff.

All I’ve been thinking about all day is Anna. I’ve even been secretly comparing myself to her. Granted in my world, fur, Mario Testino and Fiji water are more like denim, Jeff Monday and Ice Mountain. That being said, I often find myself having to shoot down all sorts of creativity, ideas and clothing lines because my scary and boring business owner side takes over. Even at my level, it blows being the one that has to bring everyone back down to reality. Although some may think that Anna is on a power trip, I’m going to throw it out there that maybe she’s lonely up there at the top all by herself. I mean, what do you think she’s thinking about as she’s gazing out over the Champs Elysees behind her immense sunglasses? I think she might be wishing that she were at home with Bee relaxing in her aquamarine Lacoste Polo rather than running a fashion empire.

It all comes down to the fact that Anna Wintour does what she was hired to do. It’s not her job to be charismatic or friendly or edgy. It is her job to be decisive, strong willed and successful, and she does it well. So, after much thought, I’ve decided that although Grace is enchanting and incredible at her craft, I’m casting my vote for Anna.

Who’s side are you on?