To call me a fashionista would be wrong. I know style and I possess it, but I also keep it in it's place because quite frankly I've had far more important things to be concerned with over the past 36 months of my life. However, I do like to look, smell and feel good and respect those whose careers exist to make me (and others) with these goals.

This weekend I finally took a lil time off and saw a movie for the first time in months. The irony is that the last two movies I made time to see were both documentaries about fashion industry icons. Valentino: The Last Emperor was the previous film I saw and this weekend I checked out The September Issue.

The film is a revealing look at Vogue Magazine's iconic Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour and the process that she and her team go through to produce the most important issue of the year "the September issue." For those of you who don't know or care much about fashion, the fall fashion issues of major magazines share trends from the upcoming season and essentially tell women (and men) what they should be wearing for the rest of the Fall/Winter season. For advertisers it's even more MAJOR because they know that anyone who cares about fashion will be reading these issues and advertisers from design houses to retailers spend huge sums of money producing ad campaigns and buying space in fashion rags to target fashionistas everywhere.

The film captures what appears to be the essence of Ms. Wintour and does a wonderful job at showing why she is at once feared, respected and oft hated. Anna Wintour and Creative Director Grace Coddington play off of each other like Magic Johnson and Larry Bird in the NBA finals. Grace Coddington is quite literally the best stylist on the planet and the kind of person I tend to appreciate. She is classy, creative, passionate, professional, kind, generous and longs for a kinder, gentler and more gentile age when models wore the clothes and people treated each other with more respect and kindness. Ms. Wintour on the other hand is all business. She is focused on task, has no room for nostalgia, no time for treading lightly on people's feelings and essentially there to do her job, which she does better than anyone in the business. There's something pathetic about watching grown men and women cower at her feet, but after her watching her do what she does so well you start to understand her methods and mission. Anna Wintour is simply the best in the business and if she gives something the stamp of approval then it's likely to end up very successful very quickly (reference Oprah Winfrey). I'll never understand why humans give one person such power, but it's something we tend to do and kudos to those who learn how to wield it with grace.

She and Grace Coddington spar throughout the film and I admire Grace (as does Ms. Wintour) for standing up for what she believes in and defending her own vision and incredible work. Though they don't see eye to eye Anna Wintour and Grace Coddington are there for each other when it counts the most. When the issue needs to close and there's a shoot that needs to be done overnight Grace creates magic from scraps and well...see the movie and see what happens for yourself.

The September Issue works on so many levels. The film educates, entertains and shows us a world that few and have entered. It manages to humanize the most iconic figure in fashion and show another side without destroying her mystique. It may even achieve the most unlikely goal of all; it may succeed in generating some respect for a 300 billion dollar industry, Vogue Magazine and it's editor with her daughter an aspiring lawyer who wants NOTHING to do with the family business.

This film is a must see for all fashionistas and recommended for anyone who enjoys an engaging portrait of a very human icon.

Note to my fashion industry friends who want to imitate Anna - Her thing works for her because she KNOWS WHAT SHE IS DOING, paid her dues and people respect her accordingly. (Anything less just makes you another b*tch with a bad attitude). For stylists, I suggest Grace Coddington as a far better role model for you.

Make sure you Pop everyday.

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