transcript
Speaker 1:
[00:01] This episode is sponsored by 20th Century Studios, The Devil Wears Prada 2. Gird your loins as the iconic cast is back for this highly anticipated sequel. Miranda Priestly is dealing with a major scandal that threatens the entire magazine. And now, award-winning journalist, Andy Sachs is brought back to Runway to try and save the publication, and Miranda's credibility. With Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci all reprising their roles, this is a reunion you won't want to miss. Make sure to get your tickets for The Devil Wears Prada 2 only in theaters May 1st.
Speaker 2:
[00:54] Welcome to The Who What Wear Podcast. I'm Who What Wear Senior Fashion and Social Editor, Tara Gonzalez, stepping in for Hillary this week. Today, I'm speaking with the costume designer of The Devil Wears Prada 2, Molly Rogers. Molly worked on the original film, as well as on Sex and the City and Just Like That. Today, we're talking all things The Devil Wears Prada 2 fashion, including looking back at how the most iconic looks from the original, like the Chanel boots, came to be, and what viewers can expect from the Andy and Miranda style evolution in the sequel. Plus, some really exciting fashion Easter eggs to look out for in the film. It's all coming up on Who What Wear. Hi, Molly.
Speaker 3:
[01:39] Hello.
Speaker 2:
[01:40] Thank you so much for joining me today.
Speaker 3:
[01:42] I'm so happy we could be in this beautiful environment of the closet.
Speaker 2:
[01:47] Absolutely. And obviously, you are the costume designer for The Devil Wears Prada 2.
Speaker 3:
[01:51] Yes.
Speaker 2:
[01:52] Which I feel like is one of the most highly anticipated sequels ever, especially in terms of fashion films as well.
Speaker 3:
[01:58] It certainly feels that way. I keep telling people, and I've spoken about this with the actors, you know, I'm a big fan of the first movie, and I worked on it with Pat. It's a cult movie for me too. I quote it. I've seen it 40 times. So my goal and my department's goal was to just try and deliver something that met the expectation.
Speaker 2:
[02:21] Yes.
Speaker 3:
[02:22] It's high.
Speaker 2:
[02:22] How did you kind of grapple with that pressure of knowing that the expectations were so high, but then also you did work on the first film. So going into this, how was that?
Speaker 3:
[02:30] I'm so fortunate that I did work on the first one because I had a history with the director and the screenwriter and the cast. So it's really good to know the roots. I promised myself that I would just stay in my own bubble because I cannot deliver the best outfit if I am concerned about outside judgments, or thinking outside what my role is, which is part of the crew and I'm expected to deliver. And if I thought about recrimination or anything that was happening, I think it would have really stunted me. In fitting rooms, and it's particularly that one, I always like to create a beautiful fitting room so that the actor comes in and I'm in there with my team and everybody feels like we can create and collaborate. And it's just a pretty place to be. So it's not a typical wardrobe fitting room. It's kind of glamorous and we feel like we're really going for something.
Speaker 2:
[03:38] You've obviously had an incredible career and you're no stranger to fashion, films, and TV shows.
Speaker 3:
[03:45] I would like to know how many closet scenes I've done and also shoe shots. That is really a staple of any project. When I get to that page, I'm like, okay, closet scene.
Speaker 2:
[04:01] Of course, you've worked on as well and just like that. Obviously, you run the department for the Sex and the City series as we discussed as well.
Speaker 3:
[04:08] Ugly Betty, Confessions of a Shopaholic. I worked on with Pat as well, like really typecast Pat and I.
Speaker 2:
[04:16] Exactly. I was going to say, how did you create this niche for yourself as a go-to costume designer for the fashion, TV shows, and movies of our time?
Speaker 3:
[04:26] I think that Pat and I just built up an incredible contact list. I wanted to say Rolodex. A contact list. I think when you have an outreach like that, as quickly as everyone changes jobs in the fashion community, when you have a contact list like that, producers know that you can pretty much talk to anybody in the world if you need a hat or a bag. And I think that's a big plus.
Speaker 2:
[04:57] And now back to The Devil Wears Prada 2. Yes. Where did you kind of start the costume design process? And did you immediately start to think about where you would pay homage to the original?
Speaker 3:
[05:09] I loved the first movie. And when I read the second script, I was very excited that there were nods and mentions to the first one, because that's always fun to look out for or catch. I was fortunate enough to be in my little apartment in Miami Beach, and the director was in Florida. He had been immersed in it much longer than me. And we were just talking generally about things and the state of the business and what the movie was really about. And I just wanted to talk close. But no. So that really helped to have that one-on-one time with David Frankel. And then when I got to New York and started doing, I like to do presentations decks for the actors to say, this is what I'm thinking. Does it connect to you? And so I started working on the images and I got to speak a lot with the screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna who is delightful. That's why it's a process, which is why it's called pre-production. You're not shooting anything yet and you get to marinate and think about things. But before I left Florida, there were pieces. It's funny how things jump out at you and you don't know what scene they would be in or if they will even make it into the movie. But I saw the pastel jacket, Dries, way early and I thought to myself, that's a little heightened, but it reminded me of the gold-beaded Bolero, gold coins I think it was that Miranda Priestly wears in the Cerulean siliqui scene. It kind of was a sister or connection to that jacket for me, because that was kind of an ornate office jacket with how all these, I don't know if you remember it, gold coins. I was attracted to it and it was on the slideshow and Meryl was like, what's that?
Speaker 2:
[07:17] You're like, that's the tassel jacket.
Speaker 3:
[07:19] Yeah, let's find a scene for it. I thought it was very appropriate that she wears it going to the cafeteria when she meets this entire table of suits, because it really shows she is an Edatrix tassel. She's not in pinstripes.
Speaker 2:
[07:36] Absolutely.
Speaker 3:
[07:36] I like that.
Speaker 2:
[07:37] That's so amazing that you mentioned that, because that was one of the pieces that I immediately walked out, and I kept thinking about it.
Speaker 3:
[07:43] I'm always a big fan of fringe and tassels, and there was something about that jacket that felt under the radar. I wasn't seeing it on people, and I hadn't seen it in a store. Maybe it hadn't shipped yet, but I was like, that's a sneaky one.
Speaker 2:
[08:00] It was always meant for Miranda Priestly, perhaps.
Speaker 3:
[08:01] I hope so.
Speaker 2:
[08:02] Yeah, I think so. You had mentioned a little bit the first Devil Wears Prada. So I would love to discuss maybe some of the original iconic looks and a little bit of an insight on how you decided on certain items.
Speaker 3:
[08:17] Sure.
Speaker 2:
[08:18] Like, for example, Andy's Cerulean sweater, which is also behind us in the closet, and I gasped when I saw it.
Speaker 3:
[08:24] I wish I could rewrite history. Pat and I were stuck in a fitting on Leroy Street, and for some reason, and I don't remember why, we needed this outfit immediately. I don't know if Andy was coming in for a fitting, or if they wanted to do a publicity. Like, it had to be decided immediately. And this is before you were shopping and you could send pictures to the costume designer, and you could help guide a shopper. We sent Super Shopper, is her nickname, Wendy, out. She ran down Lower Fifth Avenue, in and out of J.Crew and Banana Republic, and just brought back 12 shopping bags, and was so stressed out and freaked out, because that's a pivotal moment. Like, you're being made an example of. You fish out of water. Yeah. And it was chosen by Pat like nothing. I don't think there were a lot of sweaters. I think it was more about what dumpy shoe or what skirt. Sometimes those things are good when you have a time deadline, because you can't spin out of control. It's either this or nothing.
Speaker 2:
[09:31] And that just felt right.
Speaker 3:
[09:32] That still has the corn chowder stain on the front from the cafeteria scene. And it is actually the first phone call I made when I was hired. I called the studio and said, is there anything left in storage from the first movie? Because I really wanted that in the second. I thought it was an appropriate one to pull out.
Speaker 2:
[09:55] And they were like, the corn chowder is on it. It's an artifact.
Speaker 3:
[09:57] No problem. But I was so happy to hear that. It's funny because immediately when I read the script, I spoke to David, the director, and said, we have to get the Cerulean sweater in this movie. And he was like, wow, great idea. Because there was a couple of places we could have put it, I feel. But it wound up in the right scene. A lot of people were asking me, are you gonna reuse the Chanel thigh-high boots? Are you gonna bring them back? And for me, those were untouchable. Well, how am I gonna beat that scene when she comes out and Gisele and Emily are like, I didn't want to recycle those.
Speaker 2:
[10:35] Do you remember the decision process of those iconic boots?
Speaker 3:
[10:39] I should make up a fantasy story. Honestly, sometimes it's whatever's in the room. It wasn't, show me all the thigh-high boots in the world. You're fitting someone, you have a limited amount of time, you've called in everything you possibly could that you might use, and they happen to be there.
Speaker 2:
[11:01] But I feel like that's amazing too because there's some kind of fate in that. I feel like she was always meant to wear those Chanel boots.
Speaker 3:
[11:07] It is very witchy when that happens, I have to say you get like, oh.
Speaker 2:
[11:11] Exactly.
Speaker 3:
[11:12] I remember I called Chanel when we were in pre-production, and I said, Annie has been cast as the assistant, and Chanel said, we want her. They were like, we will back the truck up for you, and how can we help?
Speaker 2:
[11:31] Amazing.
Speaker 3:
[11:32] Mr. Valentino also said that to Meryl. How can I help your closet?
Speaker 2:
[11:38] Yeah. To speak of Meryl as Miranda, her iconic glasses obviously became such an important part of her character.
Speaker 3:
[11:45] They did.
Speaker 2:
[11:46] The way that she gestures. Yes. Do you remember that process of what kind of glasses?
Speaker 3:
[11:51] Another tragic story. Pat and I were walking down, I think, West Broadway and Salima Opticals was there. We went in because for some reason they had a friend of theirs hats in the window and we're hat crazy and we went in and Pat saw those glasses and Pat tried them on and said, I think these would look really good with white hair and that was it. Luckily, they looked good on Meryl's face because you know how sunglasses are, they're like jeans, you got to try a lot. We weren't making a documentary about Anna. Meryl and Pat were creating an editor, a top editor of a magazine in New York and the white hair and non-Anna dark glasses helped to make that person unidentifiable. You couldn't say, they've just done a version of Anna. It was about creating someone that didn't exist.
Speaker 2:
[12:52] Absolutely. You really brought her once to life.
Speaker 3:
[12:55] It had a lot to do with the choice of hair. That color hair, that beautiful white smoke goes with so many colors.
Speaker 2:
[13:05] You guys are like, great.
Speaker 3:
[13:06] Yeah.
Speaker 2:
[13:06] It makes your job easier.
Speaker 3:
[13:07] It's a neutral.
Speaker 2:
[13:08] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[13:08] Of course, I'm familiar with the first movie, and I really studied it again and saw how Miranda wore a lot of pencil skirts and cropped jackets and like a certain silhouette. Yes, she was in pants and she had a trench coat on the run-through, and there were variations, but for me, that's what it was. I saw a company in Bergdorf that I thought it was the best jacket I had ever seen made. It had a strong shoulder. It had a cuff that you pushed up and it stayed up, and you still had the cuff part showing. You didn't have to roll. It was such a clean silhouette. It was such beautiful fabric that I just was like, I think this is going to be it for Miranda Priestly. It was modern and it moved, and I needed her clothes to just create a frame that said power, authority. It didn't need to have bells and whistles. Meryl put that jacket on in the fitting and was like, wow, this is sharp and clean and just lovely silhouette. It was really a winner. That led us down that path of we're going to go with duster coats and blazers and a skirt that moves down the sidewalk towards the Dior meeting, and pockets in skirts, which I don't know about you, but I love. I'm wearing that company now. It's Saucu Fee and they're Italian. I can't say enough about how it's a great line. I don't want to do a commercial for them, but for women, working women, it's fantastic. So wearable. Yeah.
Speaker 2:
[15:03] Then what about Andy?
Speaker 3:
[15:05] From the very beginning, the director and I and the writer, she was going to need the most layered clothing. In the first movie, very, very easy, fish out of water at Runway Magazine, goes to the closet with Nigel, comes out in a thigh-high boot. She's drunk the Kool-Aid, let's say. This movie, she's been a reporter, so she's traveled around the world. She obviously learned from her time at Runway about fashion, so she doesn't ignore it. I think that gave us license to add vintage pieces that she found around the world when she was reporting or found a designer bag that she was like, I know this is a quality bag and I know I'll have this forever, so I'm going to buy it from the second-hand store and put the money where it matters. We had to have many, many fittings with her, and I was really interested in giving her a feminine menswear reporter room, just an inspiration of a vest and a tie, not the cigar, but like a newsroom. That didn't come like Meryl trying on a jacket.
Speaker 2:
[16:20] Absolutely.
Speaker 3:
[16:20] No, that was a bit of a process. Luckily, I got very generous time with everyone.
Speaker 2:
[16:27] Then what about Emily?
Speaker 3:
[16:28] Well, Emily was the shoppers favorite. I mean, of course, they loved shopping for everyone. This was the thrill of a lifetime in a million girls and gays and boys and everyone would kill to be in this department. But everyone loved to shop for Emily because she's the edgier character, and you just got to go and play in Rick Owens and Margella and see what combinations you could put together with the Dior pieces that we had access to, which Jonathan made custom for us. Every time I would go in her trailer to dress her, she would say, this is my favorite outfit. And then the next day, I think this one is like she, she is so lovely and such a treasure. And there was one outfit that we did in a fitting. We called it the Swamp Elf because of the color of it. We nicknamed it, we loved it so much. And it didn't get in the movie. We just did not have a scene for it. And she was, Swamp Elf. Swamp Elf lives in, we have the fitting photo of it. We all fell in love with it. It was too out there.
Speaker 2:
[17:39] Okay, maybe too iconic.
Speaker 3:
[17:43] Tucci, Mr. Stan. I just wanna say something about Nigel.
Speaker 2:
[17:46] Let's talk about Nigel.
Speaker 3:
[17:47] I like to classify him in the category of divas too. Okay, let's not leave him out. He is very knowledgeable, Mr. Tucci, of clothing, as you can imagine. He looks spectacular in his personal life. But he, I feel like, is the character who changed the least, you know? He still has his silhouette of... It's kind of a nod to British dandy, in a way. He has his hanky, he has a vest, you know? It kind of didn't change that much, just came up with the times. We did a custom Richard James, which is a Savile Row tailor. He had a three-piece suit from them. Yeah, he kind of is the rock, I guess, in the office.
Speaker 2:
[18:33] He is.
Speaker 3:
[18:33] He's the foundation, so he didn't go off on a fashion tangent, and all of a sudden show up in Tom Brown. You know what I mean?
Speaker 2:
[18:41] No, exactly. He's kind of the backbone. He keeps things grounded.
Speaker 3:
[18:43] Yeah, he's the foundation.
Speaker 2:
[18:45] He's the person that kind of is getting everybody, the mediator, you know, kind of between everything.
Speaker 3:
[18:50] Yeah. It's still going, that magazine, because he's there.
Speaker 2:
[18:54] Exactly. And without him?
Speaker 3:
[18:55] Yeah. He's Miranda's cornerstone, let's say.
Speaker 2:
[19:00] And he looked amazing. So there's a new assistance and there's a new office. I was just interested, are these assistance on TikTok? Are they dressing in a Gen Z fashion?
Speaker 3:
[19:10] Well, the one thing I do feel about the first movie is when I watch it, and I watch it over and over and over again, I still enjoy it, is that the clothes, I can't really point to something and say, well, that was shot in 2006. Everything just looks a little suspended for me, and I really wanted to do that with the characters and especially the assistance. I didn't really want to see anything that wasn't going to age well. Simone Ashley's character was written head to toe Tom Brown, and I just spoke with the director and the screenwriter, Aline, and said, I think it'll appear too flat. We need to mix in things like Montse. I think that's how you say it. It is. Yeah. She's young. She has access to things. I don't think she would be so in a uniform. It's appealing, and she did wear it. But like I said, hopefully, it can stand up to the test of time.
Speaker 2:
[20:13] I think you did a great job in terms of they were wearing timeless pieces that you can watch in 10 years. I do feel like it doesn't feel super trendy, but it still does feel very.
Speaker 3:
[20:22] I didn't want it to be like lackluster.
Speaker 2:
[20:25] Exactly.
Speaker 3:
[20:26] But I didn't want look number 17 on anyone. Absolutely. Andy has a runway look from Chanel. I know it's recognizable as Chanel, but I don't think it permeated the culture and everybody was buying it. That boucle that she runs around Milano in, I think that's a timeless pattern, no matter what show it was from. Fingers crossed.
Speaker 2:
[20:50] Yes, and to go back to Andy a little bit too, I love how you said that she has gone out in the world, she's become a serious reporter, and she still dresses really well, and you can see that runway influence that she always carries with her. How did you want to try to implement that specifically? When you were putting together her looks, how did you do such a good job at making sure that that came across?
Speaker 3:
[21:15] One thing that I think really guided me was the Coach Messenger bag. When Props brought in three bags that they had found, and I was like, wow, that is so soft, that leather, that looks like it's been on the junket somewhere. When Annie put it on her shoulder with whatever jacket I had on her, old Giorgio Armani, it looked like she owned it immediately. It's a coach bag. That's a name, you know? I wanted more loafers on her to really do the feminine menswear. I don't think we ever got there. It's kind of like the Chanel thigh-high boot is the mosaic maxi from Gabrielle Hurst that she goes out to the Hamptons in. Not that the movie is black and white on her until then, but you really see, oh, she's at runway now, she is in color when she's going out to the Hamptons. I thought that was a good place for that maxi. Then a good example of what I think you're asking me is, she adds a bucket hat, which is a piece of her. Do you know what I mean?
Speaker 2:
[22:32] Yeah. Once she kind of starts-
Speaker 3:
[22:34] She could have had a visor on with somebody's name on it, and been very like la-di-da, going to the Hamptons, but it grounded it.
Speaker 2:
[22:41] Absolutely.
Speaker 3:
[22:42] So she got that dress from Nigel.
Speaker 2:
[22:44] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[22:44] She can't afford that.
Speaker 2:
[22:46] When she's at runway, she does start to turn it on a little bit, and obviously you see Nigel help her get there as well.
Speaker 3:
[22:52] That helped the story. He helped her pack for Italy, because in Italy, she's up in the designer's world. But I remember the first meeting with Annie, and I told her, I've broken down your changes. I think you changed something like 40-something times in the movie. Wow. But you don't get access to the runway closet until like change 27. And she was like, what? That can't happen.
Speaker 2:
[23:23] Wait a minute.
Speaker 3:
[23:26] So I think they introduced it a little more in dialogue. Like, this is Margiela jacket I got. Nigel asked her early in the movie, I think, what's that jacket? It's good on you.
Speaker 2:
[23:37] That was a really fun detail.
Speaker 3:
[23:38] Yeah. I don't think you have to over explain, but you know, you needed a little like, I don't know that who would notice that that was Margiela. I thought it was a good.
Speaker 2:
[23:50] I'm sure.
Speaker 3:
[23:51] What are we kidding ourselves?
Speaker 2:
[23:52] Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3:
[23:53] I think it was a good dialogue change.
Speaker 2:
[23:56] I like that little nod of, oh, it's nice. And she was like, oh, I thrifted it. And it goes to what you were saying, where she's out in the world in a different career path, but still remembers her runway times. And so she's able to pick out those pieces.
Speaker 3:
[24:08] Another really appropriate self-purchased outfit was when she goes to Dior store, I think, to do a story on Emily. She has a pinstripe vest and a pinstripe pant that are conjoined. It was Gautier. And talk about newsroom look. That one, and she didn't have anything on under it, which is much more relaxed styling. You know, she wasn't in a dress shirt, and maybe someone really entrenched in the fashion world would have heightened it somewhat.
Speaker 2:
[24:45] Layered it in a way.
Speaker 3:
[24:46] It was easy wearing, and I thought that was a really good one for her.
Speaker 2:
[24:52] That is really smart. Just the small details.
Speaker 3:
[24:56] It set it all in that one thing with her messenger bag.
Speaker 2:
[25:01] And for Miranda's dress at the Meg Gala-esque event at the beginning, the first look we see her in, it's this very red, gorgeous gown, and that felt very intentional, and perhaps a nod to the name of the film, The Devil Wears Prada. And I would love if you could talk about how you decided on that dress and that moment, because it felt like such a big reveal to all these fans who had been wanting to see Miranda again.
Speaker 3:
[25:27] Well, I mean, speaking with Meryl about that specific scene, it was almost like we said at the same time, it can only be red. The Devil does not come back in cerulean or metallic. The Devil comes back in a red. And assistant designers, Danny and I think Jake and Jessica had three, were doing research for me and creating mood boards because we wanted to build it, of course. And a dress in archival Balenciaga with a plume, a feather plume on the head, a black and white photo was on one of the mood boards and Meryl was like, what is that? She loved the shape of it. It's a version of the gown, but archival inspired. And we called Balenciaga and Pierre Paolo from Valentino, talk about it, famous Reds, he had just landed at that house in Paris yesterday, hired. And they said, we'll put it into our workroom schedule. Absolutely, you can count on us. So they sent swatches. And I, the beauty of these crimson's because Meryl said, I want to be able to manipulate that collar to frame the white. I mean, it was really great. And she has beautiful shoulders and a neck. And it's just accentuates the best part of her. They came over twice, I think, to glamorous queens to fit her. And she, in the mirror, thought that it would be really great to have long sleeve and sleeveless on, you know, to make it just that little, that a fashion person would do. And I love that little detail. When you're right, you're right. Doesn't have to be my idea, for sure.
Speaker 2:
[27:29] And that's so true. She kind of has that fashion person sensibility of something that's a little offbeat, but still looks incredible.
Speaker 3:
[27:35] It's got a little twist to it. And I think that's what she would do with an editorial shoot, you know? It had pockets. She likes to touch and manipulate her clothes, at least in this role. That's the only time I've worked with her. And she loves a pocket and she loves to pop a collar. And she, you know, it's very tactile, I guess I want to say. So pockets and it's just the volume of it. You've seen it in there.
Speaker 2:
[28:03] It's great.
Speaker 3:
[28:04] It's such a winner.
Speaker 2:
[28:06] It has such a personality.
Speaker 3:
[28:08] Now the shoe. Talk about a shoe shot.
Speaker 2:
[28:13] Yeah, like got to get the shoe shot.
Speaker 3:
[28:14] I could not convince her to wear anything but what they sent. She said they intended this low heel. And she was like, this is their intention. So I don't want to substitute, you know, I don't want to mix and match.
Speaker 2:
[28:29] Absolutely.
Speaker 3:
[28:30] But I was like, okay, it should be a high heel shot.
Speaker 2:
[28:37] But it looked so good. And I feel like as we see Miranda in this new era, it's a new age of fashion media. And Runway isn't exactly the all-powerful Bible it once was. In the same way, it still is very powerful, but it's different and things have shifted. And I was just interested with her style. Do we see her reconciling with that flailing influence at all?
Speaker 3:
[29:04] You know, going from... Seriously, I think a lot of pencil skirts or A-line skirts in the first movie, these skirts that had movement and pockets, for me, that was an example or an illustration of starting to try to pivot or be flexible. It's like, how do I navigate this new landscape? What's my next chess move?
Speaker 2:
[29:31] Emily, as you were saying, she has also had quite an interesting journey since leaving Runway.
Speaker 3:
[29:36] She's very ambitious, that one.
Speaker 2:
[29:39] And she's no longer working on the publishing side of things. So when you were thinking about what this new era of Emily would dress like, what was the biggest thing that went into those looks?
Speaker 3:
[29:50] Well, because our partnership with Dior, and that's where her character was going to work, I started harvesting all the pictures I could of Dior history and the different designers and what they did and achieved at Dior. And because Emily, we dressed edgy, Rick Owen or Margiela, I was like, how does Dior interpret edge? Because when I think of Dior, I think of bows a lot of times and definitely a beret, which we did in the funeral scene on her. That's just like a hallmark, a signature to me. And I just started looking at one-shouldered blouses and Dior does corsets and harnesses. They do a lot of really cool harnesses, which I didn't get into the movie. I did an interpretation of one when I did a belt across her with a gown, a Rick Owen gown. But I just wanted to kind of explore what's a more mature person who's still an edgy woman.
Speaker 2:
[31:00] Yeah. I love that edge she really came across.
Speaker 3:
[31:02] It's like it's a double corset in that first scene in her office. And I thought that was a good idea. Like, oh, I'm corporate now, so I'm laced up and connected. But in three fittings, we tried to make that blouse so she could wear it backwards. So when she turns in the hallway to lead all of them to her office, the Dior is on the back. But we just never, it was too much of a puzzle. The collar never, she felt like she was wearing it backwards, even though we twisted everything in the sleeves. And so she wore it front with the Dior right under her.
Speaker 2:
[31:45] Which still I feel like is fun, because it's right in your face.
Speaker 3:
[31:48] I thought it was such a good, couldn't make it work.
Speaker 2:
[31:52] And I also did think that her funeral outfit was very, very funny, because it was quite kind of sexy, grungy, a little definitely an interesting choice.
Speaker 3:
[32:02] It's really funny, because in the fitting room, we were like, this is fabulous. And we showed it to the director and everyone, and they were like, that's hilarious. And I was like, oh, I think it's high fashion. And they were like, it's really over the top. And I was like, what is a veil and gloves? Like she's in mourning, but height and height and height.
Speaker 2:
[32:29] Exactly. She's a fashion girl.
Speaker 3:
[32:30] Yeah. They thought it was so funny.
Speaker 2:
[32:33] I thought it looked great.
Speaker 3:
[32:35] It can be funny and look great, can't it?
Speaker 2:
[32:38] Exactly. It did a lot.
Speaker 3:
[32:39] But I didn't expect them to pull. Yeah.
Speaker 2:
[32:43] And then something that you had mentioned a little bit earlier as well is that Andy does wear a lot of ties. And I feel like it's fun because we saw her wear ties that felt a little bit more of what you'd expect from the accessory. And then at the end, she's kind of wearing this dress with like a fabulous, those like little tie details, I think.
Speaker 3:
[32:59] At the Last Supper, where they're all the... Oh yeah, that's a high-waisted velvet pant. It's suspenders.
Speaker 2:
[33:05] Oh, suspenders.
Speaker 3:
[33:06] Yes. It's out there on the mannequin.
Speaker 2:
[33:08] Yes. So that kind of men's wear inspired ties, suspenders, that felt like a through line.
Speaker 3:
[33:13] I was getting nervous about the tie situation. I accidentally read a review of us being out on the street and a reporter said, what's up with all the vests? I was like, am I doubling down on this men's wear? Pat's Annie Hall reference from the original movie, like Pat really liked that silhouette of Annie Hall in the Woody Allen movie. I started really second-guessing myself a little bit because I really wanted to cut ties and style them differently, but I didn't want her to have anything that was too self-conscious. She's writing features. She scored the big interview that no one could get. She bagged the elephant. We really had a lot of discussions about that. I absolutely insisted on that Armani suspended velvet look. Armani, yes, Emily had a beret on, but Armani is famous for them as well, and it looked empty to me. And Armani had sent five berets, jeweled. And we put it on her head that day and did a hairdo all around it, and it was killed. And I felt like the outfit looked empty. And that is why the beret is on the mannequin out in the other room. That is how it was intended. But that's the case of everyone discussing and saying, that might be a little too high fashion for her. But Nigel would have done that.
Speaker 2:
[34:56] That's true. If Nigel was involved, maybe he would have.
Speaker 3:
[34:58] He would have said, this called, you need a little cherry on top here.
Speaker 2:
[35:02] And to kind of talk a little bit about when she's in Milan, I feel like that whole runway event was so fun and all of the looks were incredible. At this point, is Andy fully in her runway era again, and kind of trying to impress a little bit, or is she also just feeling influenced by being kind of really immersed in that fashion world again?
Speaker 3:
[35:21] I'm going to tell you a story that I haven't told anyone.
Speaker 2:
[35:24] Ooh.
Speaker 3:
[35:24] Exciting. Okay. Exclusive.
Speaker 2:
[35:26] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[35:28] The Milan clothing and the montages and everything. Meryl had given me a good little piece of advice and said, you know, she needs to have a little misstep. You know, it was just a piece of advice. She's not, the clothes aren't, they may be laid out or tagged by Nigel to get her through this fashion week or whatever, but she takes a little liberty and, you know, inserts herself in. So don't make it too pristine and always right. So for me, an outfit came together where it looks a bit odd, you know, like it's a burgundy coat and a tie. One of Nigel's that was just in the room and a newsboy leather cap and, you know, a beautiful Armani top and pant. And it's cool, but it's got a lot of elements.
Speaker 2:
[36:31] It's got a lot going on. I think it was very clever because it really did come across the way that you said where she's wearing something and there's a lot of fabulous elements, but you're getting a sense of, okay, maybe she...
Speaker 3:
[36:40] Does she really know what she's doing? Like she got into the closet by herself, but that kind of is the only one I feel like.
Speaker 2:
[36:47] But I feel like that's...
Speaker 3:
[36:48] Unless you saw another one.
Speaker 2:
[36:49] No, I think it was that one, but I think it was fun and it made a lot of sense and she's also trying to be a little sneaky, so you get the sense that she... The hat maybe didn't make sense, but she's like, I don't want people to see me doing this.
Speaker 3:
[36:59] Yeah, I'm incognito.
Speaker 2:
[37:00] Exactly.
Speaker 3:
[37:01] Yeah, super spy.
Speaker 2:
[37:02] Exactly.
Speaker 3:
[37:02] Yeah.
Speaker 2:
[37:03] I thought it was fun. And then the biggest wink to the original was, as we had originally kind of discussed, the Cerulean sweater that Andy wears at the end.
Speaker 3:
[37:13] Had to be there.
Speaker 2:
[37:14] Had to be there. It was that feel-good moment.
Speaker 3:
[37:17] Totally.
Speaker 2:
[37:17] That I think everyone needed.
Speaker 3:
[37:20] Totally.
Speaker 2:
[37:21] And how did you decide what that was going to, that Cerulean sweater was going to be?
Speaker 3:
[37:26] There were three scenes that I thought it could pop into. I thought it was too on the nose to center into the interview. It was a little obvious. It was some other one we were considering, but then it was just, it's got to pull back out that window and she has to have come back to her back home in her beloved. Now, of course, that came with the corn chowder stain on it. And we ran around on the Internet and pulled some exactly like it. Maybe a little off in the color, but maybe they color corrected it. I don't know, that's all technical. But in the fitting, Annie took it off the hanger, took scissors and chopped the sleeves off. And we screamed and gasped because we did want to do something to it. I had wanted to fray it like it had fallen apart and she had tumbled it in the dryer and it was just shreddy. But that would have been a little too fashion-y, I think. It would have been a little too self-conscious and perfect. And she just, I had my back turned and I heard snip, snip. And what did you do? Not that there wasn't another one. I don't know if you see this, it's jagged a little bit. It just looks like your favorite T-shirt that has so many holes in it, but you are not going to give it up.
Speaker 2:
[38:56] Has that little bit of worn in sensibility.
Speaker 3:
[38:59] It should be out of your drawer, but you know, you had too many memories, you're too emotionally attached to that garment. And I love that it was a vest now.
Speaker 2:
[39:13] Yeah, kind of speaking to her style journey as well.
Speaker 3:
[39:16] She has such good instincts, and we could have chopped another one if something, you know, she had missed or...
Speaker 2:
[39:24] Love that you're just hearing the snipping and being like, well, hope it works. And maybe on that note, did you have any personal favorite looks from this that you'd love to...
Speaker 3:
[39:37] Swamp Elf.
Speaker 2:
[39:38] Oh, Swamp Elf, the loss of Swamp Elf.
Speaker 3:
[39:41] It will rear its head in a book or something. We're going to make that thing famous. There was a couple that didn't make the film, you know, that are on the floor.
Speaker 2:
[39:53] Can you share a little bit about what they were?
Speaker 3:
[39:56] I mean, one was a beautiful Dior, and another one was a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Dior. And, heartbroken. That happens in every department, and it's always for the better of the film, always. It's like, you know, there was a famous director many, many years ago, I believe, that said, if you're attached to something in your film, you have to get it out of the film because there's something sick happening if you're so attached to it. It only meaningful for you, nobody else. Yeah. But there was a gown that my assistants were like, it's got to be in the movie. It's got to be in the movie. And it was fishnet gown with an Eiffel Tower on it. I think it's a very rare piece that Gautier sent us. And it didn't get in the movie. It just wasn't appropriate for anybody. It was too long for Emily. It was too edgy fishnet for, you know, it just, they weren't at, Andy wasn't at the runway ball. And it just didn't make it. So we wanted it in the movie so bad, it ended up on a mannequin in the closet scene. So I think you can see it in the movie. So it's still there. And see what people were obsessing on.
Speaker 2:
[41:10] We've been ending a lot of our interviews recently with rapid fire questions. They're not tricky.
Speaker 3:
[41:16] Try it.
Speaker 2:
[41:16] So yeah, we'll try it. Which Double Wears Prada character would you swap closets with?
Speaker 3:
[41:25] Miranda.
Speaker 2:
[41:27] Yeah.
Speaker 3:
[41:27] It's so clean and age appropriate for me.
Speaker 2:
[41:31] I can see you really rocking a lot of those looks.
Speaker 3:
[41:33] I do love. I do in my own personal life, wear a lot of Emily designers. I love Margiela. I'd love to wear Margiela to the premiere.
Speaker 2:
[41:42] Amazing. Yeah. How much Prada does Miranda actually wear?
Speaker 3:
[41:47] None, maybe in this movie. And in the first movie, when she gives that speech at the end and denies Nigel the promotion, that top is Prada and the bag when she enters Elias Clarke for the first time. Wow. Only two pieces.
Speaker 2:
[42:07] Wow.
Speaker 3:
[42:07] I could be wrong, but I don't think-
Speaker 2:
[42:10] She's spiritually wearing Prada.
Speaker 3:
[42:11] There were things that we liked from the last show. Just don't formulate into the composite. You can't force that stuff. I don't ever care who made it. Does it look good on you? Is it appropriate for the scene? Meryl came in the first day and she said, look no further, I have found the perfect hoop. Send all this away, we don't need all that. I've found the perfect hoop for the shape of my wig and for the size of the office, and it is from CVS.
Speaker 2:
[42:44] Oh my God.
Speaker 3:
[42:44] Did I? No.
Speaker 2:
[42:46] Good.
Speaker 3:
[42:47] It's perfect. Sign me up.
Speaker 2:
[42:50] What's the biggest difference between 2006 fashion and 2026 fashion?
Speaker 3:
[42:58] I will say, you might not like this answer, but I will say how you procure it. It is a different world. Pat and I went and had showroom appointments. We went to a warehouse in New Jersey and got on ladders and looked at Donna Karen in plastic bags, okay? Kids don't know how nice it is to thumb through a digital lookbook. It's just the world is so accessible.
Speaker 2:
[43:30] What is a fashion do and a fashion don't that you think Miranda would live by?
Speaker 3:
[43:37] I'm sure she wouldn't like anything garish around her. I think she loves to look at beauty and simplicity. Even what was the flower she hated in the first one? The fragrance was too strong.
Speaker 2:
[43:49] Oh, yeah.
Speaker 3:
[43:50] You know what I mean? And a do that you feel confident. You don't want to go out into the world and feel self-conscious. Your skirt is too short or your shoes are so painful that you want to go out ready, not worried about whatever. The ease and the confidence you would get in picking your clothes. Always think of that.
Speaker 2:
[44:15] Well, I want to say thank you so much for joining me.
Speaker 3:
[44:19] I want to say thank you for preparing so well.
Speaker 2:
[44:22] Oh my God.
Speaker 3:
[44:23] Thank you so much. And I'm so glad you got to see it.
Speaker 2:
[44:25] It was so incredible. I think that everybody is going to have the most incredible time seeing it. I feel like people are going to be pleasantly surprised.
Speaker 3:
[44:33] We're so honored to get Tatt to do it, me and my team. And we understood a million girls would have wanted to do it. Girls, gays, whoever. Anybody would have, yeah.
Speaker 2:
[44:44] And a million girls would have wanted to talk to you too. So thank you so much again for taking the time.
Speaker 3:
[44:49] You're welcome.
Speaker 2:
[44:56] A huge thank you to costume designer, Molly Rogers. Make sure to subscribe to our show wherever you listen to podcasts so you don't miss an episode. And while you're there, I'd be so grateful if you'd rate and review us. You can now watch all episodes of the pod on our new Who What Wear Podcast YouTube channel. So please subscribe and check us out there. If you have any guest suggestions or any other feedback, find us on social at Who What Wear. See you next Wednesday on The Who What Wear Podcast.
Speaker 1:
[45:25] This episode was produced by Hilary Kerr, Summer Hamaris, and Natalie Thurman. Our audio engineers are at Glenn Canyon Audio, and our music is by Jonathan Leahy. Thank you again to 20th Century Studios, The Devil Wears Prada 2 for sponsoring this week's episode. Many years ago, we named our conference rooms at the Who What Wear office after Miranda and Andy, and we still quote the Cerulean sweater monologue to each other nearly every week. So you can imagine the level of excitement we're feeling for the second film. I can't wait to step back inside the world of Runway with the iconic original cast, including of course, Meryl Streep and Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci. Expect sharp wit, big fashion moments and workplace tension, the kind that makes you want to gurgle your loins. All dressed up, one place to go. Don't miss The Devil Wears Prada 2 only in theaters May 1st. Get your tickets now. That's all.