Writing

Work on a screenplay started promptly, before Weisberger had even finished her work. When it became a bestseller upon publication, elements of the plot were incorporated into the screenplay in progress. Most took their inspiration from the 2001 Ben Stiller film Zoolander and primarily satirized the fashion industry. But it was still not ready to film. Elizabeth Gabler, later head of production at Fox, noted that the finished novel did not have a complete narrative. "Since there wasn't a strong third act in the book," she said later, "we needed to invent that."^[8]

In the meantime, the studio and producer Wendy Finerman sought a director. Out of many candidates with experience in comedy, David Frankel was hired despite his limited experience, having only made one feature, Miami Rhapsody, along with some episodes of Sex and the City and Entourage. He was unsure about the property, calling it "undirectable ... a satire rather than a love story".^[10] Later, he cited Unzipped, the 1995 documentary about designer Isaac Mizrahi, as his model for the film's attitude towards fashion: "[It] revels in some of the silliness of the fashion world, but is also very serious."^[11]

At a meeting with Finerman, Frankel told her that he thought the story unnecessarily punished Miranda. "My view was that we should be grateful for excellence. Why do the excellent people have to be nice?"^[8] He prepared to move on and consider more scripts. Two days later his manager persuaded him to reconsider and look for something he liked that he could shape the film into. He took the job, giving Finerman extensive notes on the script and laying out a detailed vision for the film.^[10]

Four screenwriters worked on the property. Peter Hedges wrote the first draft, but did not think he could do more; another writer passed. Paul Rudnick did some work on Miranda's scenes, followed by a Don Roos rewrite.^[10] After that, Aline Brosh McKenna, who was able to relate her own youthful experiences attempting to launch a journalism career in New York to the story,^[10][12] produced a draft after a month's work that struck the right balance for Finerman and Frankel, whose notes were incorporated into a final version,^[8] rearranging the plot significantly, following the book less closely^[8] and focusing the story on the conflict between Andy and Miranda.^[13] She found the experience of writing a story with female protagonists that did not center around a relationship "very liberating ... I felt I was allowed to do what the movie wanted to be, a Faust story, a Wall Street for ladies."^[10]

McKenna also initially toned down Miranda's meanness at the request of Finerman and Frankel, only to restore it later for Streep.^[7] She later cited Don Rickles as her main influence for the insults in the dialogue; before even starting work on the screenplay she had come up with Miranda's "Take a chance. Hire the smart fat girl" line, which she felt summed up the disparity between Andy and the world she found herself in.^[14] Weisberger recalled in 2021, on the film's 15th anniversary, that McKenna's draft took it away from the "typical chick flick" direction it was going in.^[9]

In a 2017 interview with Entertainment Weekly, McKenna revealed that the character she and Frankel had the most discussions about was Andrea's boyfriend Nate. She likened his role in the story to that usually played by a male protagonist's girlfriend or wife who regularly reminds him of responsibilities at home that he has neglected. "[W]e wanted to make sure he wasn't a pain in the ass, but he is the person who is trying to say, 'Is this who you want to be morally?'"^[15]

McKenna consulted with acquaintances who worked in fashion to make her screenplay more realistic, a task she said later was difficult since many of them did not want to risk offending Wintour.^[9] In a 2010 British Academy of Film and Television Arts lecture, she told of a scene that was changed after one of these reviews, where Nigel told Andy not to complain so much about her job. Originally, she had made his speech more of a supportive pep talk, but one of those acquaintances said that would not happen: "[N]o-one in that world is nice to each other ... There's no reason to be, and they don't have time." she quoted him as saying.^[16]

Cerulean sweater speech

The "cerulean speech",^[17] where Miranda draws the connection between the designer fashion in Runway's pages and Andy's cerulean blue sweater, criticizing Andy's snobbishness about fashion and explaining the trickle-down effect, had its origins in a scene cut from earlier drafts that Streep had asked to have restored. It slowly grew from a few lines where the editor disparaged her assistant's fashion sense to a speech about "why she thought fashion was important ... She is so aware that she is affecting billions of people, and what they pick off the floor and what they are putting on their bodies in the morning."^[14] Streep said in 2016 she was interested in "the responsibility lying on the shoulders of a woman who was the head of a global brand ... That scene wasn't about the fun of fashion, it was about marketing and business."^{[2][lower-alpha 1]}

McKenna recalls that she kept expanding it to suit Streep and Frankel, but even a few days before it was scheduled to be filmed she was unsure if it would be used or even shot. She was revising it at a nearby Starbucks when she realized that Miranda would describe something not as just blue—chosen as the color for Andy's sweater since it would work best on screen^[14]—but would instead use an exact shade. From a list of shades McKenna sent, Streep picked cerulean; the final speech takes up almost a page of the script,^[19] long for a mainstream film. "I was like, it'd be cool if half of that ended up in the movie," the writer says. "Every word is in the movie."^[20] The references to past designer collections are entirely fictional, McKenna explains, since the speech was written around the sweater's color^[14] (however, the Huffington Post later pointed out, designers often take their fashion inspiration from the streets^[21]).

The speech has become one of the film's most memorable moments; "Miranda's signature monologue" to The Ringer.^[17] "'Cerulean' [has never] sounded more sinister," the Huffington Post wrote in 2016,^[21] In 2018 New York Times chief fashion critic Vanessa Friedman invoked the speech in her defense of the importance of covering haute couture:

And it's not the "Devil Wears Prada" argument, though that does hold true: In a world where everything goes into the Instagram soup and from there seeps into the cultural digestive system, what might appear on a runway in the Musée Rodin (where Dior holds its shows) in July will affect what H&M does in August.^[22]

Morwenna Ferrier, a fashion reporter for The Guardian agreed, despite the speech's references to fictional collections. "As a fashion journalist I can vouch for its gist: that regardless of how immune you think you are to fashion, if you buy clothes, you are indebted to someone else's choice", she wrote in an article about how the fashion industry continues to embrace the speech's argument. "Arguing that you are oblivious to trends is a fashion choice in itself." As an example of how that had happened in reality since the film, she cited the yellow Guo Pei dress Rihanna wore to the 2015 Met Gala, greatly popularizing that color for clothing over the next two years.^[23] But a 2021 Study Breaks piece argues that the idea it promotes that fashion always trickles down from a cultural elite is contradicted by brands such as Vetements, which takes its inspiration from everyday streetwear, and Champion, the sportswear brand whose popularity with low-income customers helped make an elite brand those customers can no longer afford.^[24]

In 2016, on the film's 10th anniversary, Mic wrote that the speech's logic also functioned as a critique of cultural appropriation. "In many ways, Priestley's monologue nailed the real problem with cultural appropriation: people not understanding the history or meaning behind something like cornrows or headdresses, but treating it like a new trend or accessory anyway."^[25]

Six years later, in a Slate article discussing the appeal of female characters in movies and TV who deliver incisive insults and other commentary with no apparent affect, such as those played by Aubrey Plaza, Nadira Goffe recalled Streep's "epic, unfeeling monologue" about the sweater as a "perfect example" of the archetype. "In a moment where a character would usually be showing a hint of frustration, anger, or even annoyance, Streep schools Anne Hathaway's character in a manner that feels as though she barely even thought about the words she was saying", she writes. "It gives her an air of removal, and therefore control—being straight-faced and even-toned in an emotional situation shows how little she cares, or that she's lying about caring at all."^[26]

Casting

Once the screenplay was completed, the filmmakers and Fox focused on getting Meryl Streep to play Miranda; Carla Hacken recalled she was seen as so perfect for the part that no one had discussed any alternatives (although McKenna recalls writing provisional dialogue should the producers have had to settle for another actress).^[20] Finerman revealed Streep was almost passed over for the role because some people thought “she has never been funny a day in her life.”^[27] Another source has claimed that Michelle Pfeiffer, Glenn Close, and Catherine Zeta-Jones had also been considered for the part.^[9] "Weisberger, who initially could not imagine Streep playing the part, recalled that after seeing her on set it was "crystal clear" that she was perfect for the role.^[28] Her casting helped offset some of the difficulties Wintour's resistance to the film had created.^[9]

The news that Streep would meet with Frankel was celebrated at Fox. But while Streep, for her part, knew the film could be very successful, she felt the pay she was being offered for playing Miranda was "slightly, if not insulting, not perhaps reflective of my actual value to the project". The producers doubled it to around $4 million,^[2] and she signed on, allowing Fox to greenlight the film.^[8] According to Frankel, Streep saw the film as a chance to "skewer the doyennes of the fashion world". She has three daughters and, as an ardent feminist, felt that fashion magazines "twisted the minds of young women around the world and their priorities. This was an interesting way to get back at them." Also, she said, the film passed the Bechdel test.^[2]

She insisted on the cerulean sweater speech,^[20] and the scene where Miranda briefly opens up to Andy, without makeup, about her divorce. "I wanted", she explained, "to see that face without its protective glaze, to glimpse the woman in the businesswoman."^[8]

Casting Andy was more difficult. Fox wanted a young A-list actress, and felt Rachel McAdams, then coming off successes in Mean Girls and The Notebook, would help the film's commercial prospects. McAdams turned down several offers to play Andy, telling the studio she was trying to avoid mainstream Hollywood projects for a while.^[8] Kirsten Dunst, Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, and Kate Hudson were other actresses considered for the role.^[9]

Anne Hathaway, by contrast, actively sought the part, tracing "Hire me" in the sand of the zen garden on Hacken's desk when she talked about the project with the executive. While Frankel liked her enough to not require her to audition, she knew she was not the studio's first choice and he would have to be patient^[8] (other accounts say that she was the only actress considered for the role).^[7] Fox production chief Elizabeth Gabler says the studio had not realized how strong her audience was after the Princess Diaries films.^[2] In one of their meetings, Gabler recalls Hathaway sitting on her couch giving her notes on the third act. While the studio did not use those notes, "her sensibilities were completely aligned with what we ended up doing."^[9] Hathaway took the part to work with Streep, but also due to some personal aspects.^[29] She celebrated when she learned she had gotten the part.^[8]

Over 100 actresses had been considered for Emily before one of the casting agents taped Emily Blunt reading some of the lines elsewhere on the Fox lot as she was leaving for her flight to London following her audition for Eragon. Although she read them in her own British accent despite the character being written as American like in the novel, Frankel was interested;^[8] Finerman liked her for her sense of humor.^[13] After the makers of Eragon cast Sienna Guillory, Frankel called her in the bathroom of "some dive club" in London, where she was consoling herself with her sister. He told her that while he would have cast her just from the tape, the studio wanted to see another audition with her dressed more in character.^[8] She insisted on continuing to play the character as British.^[30] Both Hathaway and Blunt lost weight for their roles, with Hathaway later recounting that they "would clutch at each other and cry because we were so hungry."^[31] Blunt later denied rumors she did this at the filmmakers' request.^[32][33]

Colleen and Suzanne Dengel, the twins who played Miranda's daughters, were cast two weeks after auditioning for Frankel and Finerman. The director and producer laughed, which the sisters believed help them get the part. They recalled in 2017 that they were excited both by being able to work together on camera for the first time, as well as the chance to act opposite Hathaway since they were big fans of the Princess Diaries films as well.^[34]

Tucci was one of the last actors cast; he agreed to play Nigel only three days before shooting started.^[8] "It was just such a beautiful piece of writing, and there's no way that you could ever say no to such a thing", he recalled.^[9] The filmmakers reportedly had auditioned Barney's creative director Simon Doonan and E!'s Robert Verdi, both openly gay men highly visible as media fashion commentators, for the part; the BBC's Graham Norton also auditioned^[35] from among 150 actors considered for the part.^[9] Verdi would later say there was no intention to actually hire him and the producers had just used him and Doonan to give whoever they ultimately did cast some filmed research to use in playing a gay character (he would end up with a walk-on part as a fashion journalist in Paris). Tucci says he was unaware of this: "All I know is that someone called me and I realized this was a great part." He based the character on various people he was acquainted with, insisting on the glasses he ultimately wore.^[36]

Daniel Sunjata had originally read for Tucci's part, rather unenthusiastically since he had just finished playing a similar character, but then read the Holt part and asked if he could audition for it. Simon Baker auditioned by sending a video of himself, wearing the same self-designed green jacket he has on when he and Andy meet for the first time.^[37]

Wintour reportedly warned major fashion designers who had been invited to make cameo appearances as themselves in the film that they would be banished from the magazine's pages if they did so;^[38] Frankel said in 2021 the most any were willing to do was help the production with background information, like allowing visits to their showrooms or giving notes on the authenticity of the script.^[9] Vogue and other major women's and fashion magazines have avoided reviewing or even mentioning the book in their pages. Wintour's spokespeople deny the claim,^[38] but costume designer Patricia Field says many designers told her they did not want to risk Wintour's wrath.^[4]

Only Valentino Garavani, who designed the black evening gown Miranda wears during the museum benefit scene, chose to make an appearance.^[38] Coincidentally, he was in New York City during production and Finerman dared Field, an acquaintance, to ask him personally. Much to her surprise, he accepted.^[39] Other cameos of note include Heidi Klum as herself and Weisberger as the twins' nanny.^[40] Streep's daughter's film debut as a barista at Starbucks was cut.^[41] Gisele Bündchen agreed to appear in the film only if she did not play a model.^[37]

Acting

Several weeks after all the major parts had been cast, the actors gathered in New York for a table read. Hathaway was nervous and goofy, she recalls, since she still had not developed her idea of the part; she described her performance at that point as "[nothing] particularly impressive". Blunt, by contrast, found Streep's laugh relaxed her enough to keep her focused on playing a nervous, distracted Emily. The highlight of the session was Streep's first line as Miranda. Instead of the "strident, bossy, barking voice" everyone expected, Hathaway says, Streep silenced the room by speaking in a near whisper. "It was so unexpected and brilliant." At the reading Streep also changed Miranda's last line to "everybody wants to be us" from the original "me".^[8]

Devil was the only film of Streep's where she took a Method approach, staying in character between takes. She also purposely kept to herself and did not socialize with the rest of the cast and crew when shooting was done. In her trailer, "I could hear them all rocking and laughing. I was so depressed! I said, 'Well, it's the price you pay for being boss!'" As a result, she has not taken the Method approach again.^[9]

Streep made a conscious decision not to play the part as a direct impression of Wintour,^[42] right down to not using an accent and making the character American rather than English ("I felt it was too restricting").^[30] "I think she wanted people not to confuse the character of Miranda Priestly with Anna Wintour at all," said Frankel. "And that's why early on in the process she decided on a very different look for her and a different approach to the character."^[7] The "that's all,"^[43] "please bore someone else  ..."^[44] catchphrases; her coat-tossing on Andrea's desk^[45] and discarded steak lunch^[46] are retained from the novel. Streep prepared by reading a book by Wintour protégé Liz Tilberis and the memoirs of Vogue editor Diana Vreeland. She lost so much weight during shooting that the clothes had to be taken in.^[42]

During the movie's press tour, Streep also said her performance as Miranda was inspired by different men she knew, but did not say which ones. In 2016, she disclosed to Variety that she took Miranda's soft speaking style from Clint Eastwood: "He never, ever, ever raises his voice and everyone has to lean in to listen, and he is automatically the most powerful person in the room." However, she said, Eastwood does not make jokes, so instead she modeled that aspect of the character on theatrical and film director Mike Nichols, whose delivery of a cutting remark, she said, made everyone laugh, including the target. "The walk, I'm afraid, is mine," Streep added.^[8]

Inspirations for Miranda's hair

Carmen Dell'Orefice

Christine Lagarde

For Miranda's actual look, Streep looked to two women. The bouffant hairstyle was inspired by model and actress Carmen Dell'Orefice,^{[lower-alpha 2]} which Streep said she wanted to blend with "the unassailable elegance and authority of [French politician] Christine Lagarde".^[8][14] She wanted Miranda's hair to be white, which the producers feared would make her look too old, but the studio trusted her and she worked with makeup artist and stylist J. Roy Helland, a longtime associate, to create the look.^[9]

The costumes Field designed to go with that look resulted in numerous blown takes during the montage where Miranda repeatedly throws her overcoat on Andrea's desk when she arrives in the morning.^[8] When McKenna saw Streep as Miranda for the first time on set, she recalls being so terrified she threw her arm in front of Frankel "like we were in a car wreck".^[14]

Hathaway prepared for the part by volunteering for a week as an assistant at an auction house where she was "put through the wringer" according to Weisberger, who adds that Hathaway supplemented that by asking her many questions about working for Wintour.^[28] Frankel recalls that she was nervous through most of the shooting, particularly when working late, since Raffaello Follieri, her boyfriend at that time, preferred strongly that she not do so;^[8] she was also having health issues due to a cyst.^[2] The director said she was "terrified" before starting her first scene with Streep, who had begun her working relationship with Hathaway by saying first "I think you're perfect for the role and I'm so happy we're going to be working on this together" then warning her that was the last nice thing she would say.^[47] Streep applied this philosophy to everyone else on set as well, keeping her distance from the cast and crew members unless it was necessary to discuss something with them.^[37][34]

The scene where Andy delivers the Book, the mockup of the magazine in progress, to Miranda's apartment, was, according to the Dengels, who played Miranda's twin daughters, totally improvised. "That was just something we did with Anne and it made the cut," Colleen Dengel told BuzzFeed in 2017. Nevertheless, it took three more days of filming to get the shot of the girls up in the stairwell the way Frankel wanted it, a look she believes was inspired by a similar scene with twin girls in The Shining.^[34]

Improvisations

Several of the actors contributed dialogue and scenes to the film. Streep suggested the editorial meeting scene, which does not advance the plot but shows Miranda at work without Andy present.^[48] It was also her idea that Miranda not wear makeup in the scene where she opens up to Andy and worries about the effect on her daughters of her divorce becoming public knowledge.^[7]

Hathaway suggested taking the kiss between Andy and Nate out of the scene where he makes her a grilled cheese sandwich. "I just don't think it's right…just doesn't feel like we're at that point in our relationship", Grenier recalls her saying. "There's too much history."^[9]

Blunt, for her part, contributed the line where she tells Andy "I'm hearing this", while opening and closing her hand, "and I want to hear this" keeping the other one closed. In 2015 she told Howard Stern that she had overheard a mother saying that to a child in a supermarket during production.^[49] Bündchen's "She looks good" upon seeing Andy following her makeover is likewise her improvised addition to the script; she thought it balanced Emily's meanness to Andy.^[9]

Costuming

Frankel, who had worked with Patricia Field on his feature-film debut Miami Rhapsody as well as Sex and the City, knew that what the cast wore would be of utmost importance in a movie set in the fashion industry. "My approach was to hire her and then leave the room," he joked later.^[50] While only Valentino Garavani appeared onscreen, many other designers were helpful to Field.^[51] Frankel recalls that Prada's decision to assist Field "helped her break the ice".^[9]

The $100,000 budget for the film's costumes was supplemented by help from Field's friends throughout the industry. Ultimately, she believes, at least $1 million worth of clothing was used in the film, making it one of the most expensively costumed movies in cinema history.^[4] The single priciest item was a $100,000 Fred Leighton necklace on Streep,^[51] who likened Field's success in putting the movie's wardrobe together to the special effects in the Mission: Impossible films.^[9]

When Hathaway enters the office after Nigel gives her access to Runway's closet, she is dressed entirely in Chanel. Field explained in 2016 that "I felt Annie Hathaway was a Chanel girl organically, as opposed to let's say a Versace [or Roberto Cavalli] girl." When she called the company to ask for assistance, they were delighted because "they wanted to see Chanel on a young girl to give it another point of view," showing it as a brand for "not just middle-aged women in suits, but youthful and funky."^[52] Calvin Klein rounds out Andrea's wardrobe.^[53] Most of the garments seen onscreen were borrowed; Streep recalls not being able to eat spaghetti at lunch while wearing one dress because if it got soiled the production could not return it.^[9]

Dolce & Gabbana and Calvin Klein helped Field as well, with some contributions from Lebanese designer Georges Chakra.^[54] Although Field avoids making Streep look like Wintour, she dresses her in generous helpings of Prada (By Field's own estimate, 40 percent of the shoes on Streep's feet are Prada). "I know her character was originally based on Anna Wintour," Field said, "but I didn't want to copy someone's style."^[55] But, like Wintour and her Vogue predecessor Diana Vreeland, the two realized that Miranda needed a signature look, which was provided primarily by the white wig and forelock she wore as well as the clothes the two spent much time poring over look-books for.^[7] "[I]n choosing her wardrobe my idea was that she's a chief fashion editor, she has her own style," Field told Women's Wear Daily in 2016. "We're creating an original character."^[56]

Blunt recalls that she and Streep generally wore the shoes that came with their outfits only when they were shown in full. Whenever only their upper bodies needed to be visible, they put on more comfortable footwear like Uggs. Hathaway, by contrast, always wore whatever shoes she had been given. "[She was running] over cobblestone streets like a sure-footed little mountain goat", Blunt recalls.^[9]

Field said she avoided prevailing fashion trends for Miranda during production in favor of a more timeless look based on Donna Karan archives and pieces by Michaele Vollbracht for Bill Blass.^[4] She did not want people to easily recognize what Miranda was wearing.^[53]

Emily Blunt in the look Field created for her character

She contrasted Andy and Emily by giving Andy a sense of style, without much risk-taking, that would suggest clothing a fashion magazine would have on hand for shoots, clothing a recent college graduate with little sense of style would feel comfortable wearing in a fashion-conscious workplace.^[4] Blunt, on the other hand was "so on the edge she's almost falling off".^[57] For her, Field chose pieces by Vivienne Westwood and Rick Owens to suggest a taste for funkier, more "underground" clothing.^[53] After the film's release, some of the looks Field chose became popular, to the filmmakers' amusement.^[40][48]

Tucci praised Field's skill in putting ensembles together that were not only stylish but helped him develop his character:

She just sort of sits there with her cigarette and her hair, and she would pull stuff—these very disparate elements—and put them together into this ensemble, and you'd go, "Come on, Pat, you can't wear that with that." She'd say, "Eh, just try it on." So you'd put it on, and not only did it work, but it works on so many different levels—and it allows you to figure out who the guy is. Those outfits achieve exactly what I was trying to achieve. There's flamboyance, there's real risk-taking, but when I walk into the room, it's not flashy. It's actually very subtle. You look at it and you go, "That shirt, that tie, that jacket, that vest? What?" But it works.^[36]

He found one Dries van Noten tie he wore during the film to his liking and kept it.^[36]

Production design

After touring some offices of real fashion magazines, Jess Gonchor gave the Runway offices a clean, white look meant to suggest a makeup compact^[37] ("the chaste beiges and whites of impervious authority," Denby called it^[58]). Miranda's office bears some strong similarities to the real office of Anna Wintour, down to an octagonal mirror on the wall, photographs and a floral arrangement on the desk.^[59] Gonchor later told Women's Wear Daily that he had based the set on a photo of Wintour's office he found online; the similarity led Wintour to have her office redecorated after the movie's release.^[60] In 2021, Frankel said Gonchor had actually managed to sneak into Vogue's offices to get a look at Wintour's. "They got it really, really close", Weisberger said.^[9]

Gonchor even chose separate computer wallpaper to highlight different aspects of Blunt's and Hathaway's character: Paris's Arc de Triomphe on Blunt's suggests her aspirations to accompany Miranda to the shows there, while the floral image on Andy's suggests the natural, unassuming qualities she displays at the outset of her tenure with the magazine. For the photo of Andy with her parents, Hathaway posed with her own mother and David Marshall Grant.^[37] The Dengel twins recalled being asked every day for three years straight if the Harry Potter advance copies were real; to their great disappointment they were not and in fact were "all gibberish". They eventually auctioned them for $586 on eBay, along with various clothing used in the film, to benefit Dress for Success, a charity which provides business clothing to help women transition into the workforce.^[34][61]

The 1221 Avenue of the Americas, home to Elias-Clarke in the film

Locations

Editing

Mark Livolsi realized, as McKenna had on the other end, that the film worked best when it focused on the Andrea-Miranda storyline. Accordingly, he cut a number of primarily transitional scenes, such as Andrea's job interview and the Runway staff's trip to Holt's studio. He also took out a scene early on where Miranda complimented Andrea. Upon reviewing them for the DVD, Frankel admitted he had not even seen them before, since Livolsi did not include them in any prints he sent to the director.^[41]

Frankel praised Livolsi for making the film's four key montages—the opening credits, Miranda's coat-tossing, Andrea's makeover and the Paris introduction—work. The third was particularly challenging as it uses passing cars and other obstructions to cover Hathaway's changes of outfit. Some scenes were also created in the editing room, such as the reception at the museum, where Livolsi wove B-roll footage in to keep the action flowing.^[37]

In 2021 McKenna estimated that she had signed off on $10 million in cut scenes. An opening scene in which Andy goes to the wrong building on her way to her interview was taken out to get the story started more quickly. The scene where she misses Nate's birthday was originally more elaborate, with the couple supposed to meet up with their friends at a concert, but that proved to be too expensive, and so the scene with the cupcake was written instead. "We had many versions of that." And an alternate ending for the couple's arc, where they have the same conversation about the future of their relationship while running through the park, was filmed but replaced with the less optimistic scene in the restaurant.^[9]

McKenna had also been willing to cut Miranda's "Florals... for spring. Groundbreaking" line, but Frankel had it kept in.^[9]

Music

Composer Theodore Shapiro relied heavily on guitar and percussion, with the backing of a full orchestra, to capture a contemporary urban sound. He ultimately wrote 35 minutes of music for the film, which were performed and recorded by the Hollywood Studio Symphony, conducted by Pete Anthony.^[63] His work was balanced with songs by U2 ("City of Blinding Lights", Miranda and Andy in Paris), Madonna ("Vogue" & "Jump", Andrea's fashion montage & her first day on the job, respectively), KT Tunstall ("Suddenly I See", female montage during opening credits), Alanis Morissette ("Crazy", Central Park photo shoot), Bitter:Sweet ("Our Remains," Andy picks up James Holt's sketches for Miranda; Bittersweet Faith, Lily's art show), Azure Ray ("Sleep," following the breakdown of her relationship with Nate), Jamiroquai ("Seven Days in Sunny June," Andy and Christian meet at James Holt's party) among others. Frankel had wanted to use "City of Blinding Lights" in the film after he had used it as a soundtrack to a video montage of Paris scenes he had put together after scouting locations there.^[37] Likewise, Field had advocated just as strongly for "Vogue".^[53]

The soundtrack album was released on July 11, 2006, by Warner Music. It includes most of the songs mentioned above, as well as a suite of Shapiro's themes. Among the tracks not included is "Suddenly I See," an omission which disappointed many fans.^[64]

Depiction of fashion industry

Some media outlets allowed their present or former fashion reporters to weigh in on how realistic the movie was. Their responses varied widely. Booth Moore at Los Angeles Times chided Field for creating a "fine fashion fantasy with little to do with reality," a world that reflects what outsiders think fashion is like rather than what the industry actually is. Unlike the movie, in her experience fashionistas were less likely to wear makeup and more likely to value edgier dressing styles (that would not include toe rings).^[76] "If they want a documentary, they can watch the History Channel", retorted Field.^[77] Fashion writer, Hadley Freeman of The Guardian, likewise complained the film was awash in the sexism and clichés that, to her, beset movies about fashion in general.^[78]

But Charla Krupp, the executive editor of SHOP, Inc., wrote, "It's the first film I've seen that got it right ... [It] has the nuances of the politics and the tension better than any film—and the backstabbing and sucking-up."^[51] Joanna Coles, the editor of the U.S. edition of Marie Claire, agreed:

The film brilliantly skewers a particular kind of young woman who lives, breathes, thinks fashion above all else ... those young women who are prepared to die rather than go without the latest Muse bag from Yves Saint Laurent that costs three times their monthly salary. It's also accurate in its understanding of the relationship between the editor-in-chief and the assistant.^[51]

Ginia Bellefante, former fashion reporter for The New York Times, called it "easily the truest portrayal of fashion culture since Unzipped (1995)" and giving it credit for depicting the way fashion had changed in the early 21st century.^[79] Her colleague Ruth La Ferla found a different opinion from industry insiders after a special preview screening. Most found the fashion in the movie too safe and the beauty too overstated, more in tune with the 1980s than the 2000s. "My job is to present an entertainment, a world people can visit and take a little trip," responded Field.^[77]

Antipathy to Nate

Miranda has not been the only character in the film to provoke a negative reaction from viewers over time; Nate has been called the film's "real villain",^[9] described as "not just an insecure boyfriend, he is judgemental, toxic, and repulsive".^[135] "He mocks her for her new interest in fashion, he trivializes the magazine she works at, and dismisses her hard work", Entertainment Weekly wrote in 2017, collecting some tweets and other posts from social media critical of the character. Many, like the writer of that piece, found it particularly upsetting that he berated Andy for missing his birthday party even though she had a good work-related reason for her absence.^[15]

McKenna defended the character. "[W]hat people focus on is that he's trying to restrict her ambition," she told EW. "But her ambition is going towards something that she doesn't really believe in, so he has a point." While she admitted he seemed "whiney" about his birthday, McKenna also pointed out that he tells Andy later that that really was not what he was upset about. She gave Grenier credit for what she admitted was a "thankless" role, saying he captured "that actual college boyfriend, that guy who's a drummer in a cool band, and plays intramural rugby, and plays guitar, and maybe took a ceramics class".^[15]

Grenier (shown in 2007) has come to terms with the negative reaction his character has gotten

On the film's 15th anniversary, Grenier weighed in. "When that whole thing ... first came out, I couldn't get my head around it." He ultimately came to realize that he had more in common with the character at the time and, like Nate, had not completely matured. "[Now], after taking time to reflect and much deliberation online, I can realize the truth in that perspective ... He couldn't support her like she needed because he was a fragile, wounded boy."^[9]

Hathaway was more forgiving.

I don't think everybody's being completely honest with themselves about their own poutiness. Nate was pouty on his birthday because his girlfriend wasn't there! In hindsight, I'm sure he wishes he made a different choice, but who doesn't? We've all been brats at different points.^[9]