Project “The Devil Wears Prada” In “The Devil Wears Prada”, Andrea Sachs begins an internship on the catwalk as a woman confident in her character. Despite this confidence, her taste in fashion is constantly tested by her family of models, assistants and especially her Runway boss. When Andrea realizes that she is unable to do her job without fitting into the role of her work environment, she changes her clothing to meet the standards of her colleagues. As a result, the movie audience likes her because she is sexy, professional and chic. The overall effect is pleasant for those who witness the change as it is a relief to know that the protagonist is finally accepted by the people who have marginalized her. Despite this, the change in Andrea's fashion is disturbing as it raises the question of why she had to change her style to function in her job. Her job on Runway is associated with fashion, but her tasks are more mundane and secretarial, which has nothing to do with her performance. Instead of modeling or being the spokesperson for this trend, Andrea goes to get her boss a Starbucks coffee, a fresh sautéed steak or even the new Harry Potter book. This has nothing to do with how she represents herself through her clothes, but rather how she represents herself as a servant of their industry. In “The Devil Wears Prada,” Lauren Weisberger describes the role of fashion in society and how it influences consumers like protagonist Andrea Sachs. Although the change in Andrea's self-image is portrayed as aesthetically appealing to the consumer, the film's intention was to show how this materialism distracts consumers from their own self-image. As a result, consumers are likely to abandon their self-expression and follow unrealistic body standards. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay As a clear sign, fashion reflects values and style when used as a device of expression among consumers. In “Consumer Culture and Media”, it is stated that “it is necessary to consider the relationship between subjects” since “the individualized subject seeks and constructs an image of himself” (Iqani, 31). Through fashion as a topic, the consumer is able to construct a look that not only pleases himself, but also represents how he would like to be seen as a separate person in his social environment. Nonetheless, fashion raises the question of whether consumer preference is entirely original when derived from catalogues. The various fashion selections are designed to provide products based on consumers' preferences and tastes, but instead question their originality. With Andrea Sachs, her clothing preference reflects her personality: practical and discreet. She didn't take fashion seriously because it hadn't had an impact on her life. Based on the consumer's self-image, this is not a problem. Fashion was designed to allow for imagination and individualism, which makes it open to the consumer. When Andrea is criticized for working in the Vogue office without the proper pumps for the work environment, there's a problem. After switching to pumps, she is praised and admired for her contributions to the world of work, but only because she sacrifices her individual style. This resembles how consumers are discouraged from representing themselves according to their own preferences because of how fashion wants to maintain the same consistent image. It's a generally accepted standard that leaves little for consumers to imagine themselves as they wantbe accepted in his environment while maintaining his own self-image. In “Originality through Imitation” it is explained that consumers “imitate the refusal of imitation, and in doing so they are compliant and deviant at the same time” (Esposito, 609). That said, consumers lean towards simpler alternatives and already choose "imitations". Approved by catalogs and models that do not reflect their preferences. As consumers conform to the same preference, fashion industries assume themselves as role models for these choices. This is problematic as consumers are no longer seen as the deciding role in what clothing companies sell, giving fashion industries the power to sell whatever they perceive as acceptable. Therefore, there is a misunderstanding about how fashion industries are able to receive a guaranteed number of consumers, let alone build customer loyalty. The assumed idea is that there are designers accepted into the Runway family who maintain differentiated appeals and tastes based on what consumers want. In this sense, fashion is able to encourage the consumer's self-image through its varied selection of designer experiences. In reality, these designers maintain styles based on what the company wants. With “The Devil Wears Prada” the film perceives the selection process as a judgment based on hierarchical management. Most clotheslines are rejected by Miranda through a single expression on her face, so her preference is what the fashion company is built on. These are not just clotheslines that are rejected, but rather “different methods and approaches to the design process (that) allow uniqueness to (a designer's) work… (us-ing).. intelligent appearance, utility and meaning " (Cho, 490). When Miranda rejects these differentiated clothing lines, essentially what she is doing is reducing the options available to consumers when purchasing clothing. Therefore, consumers have no say in expressing themselves through the choice of clothing items since they do not select clothing items using variables in the designer's work, but rather imitate the corporate image of general standards. Initially, Andrea doesn't see this as a valid conclusion because she doesn't take fashion as seriously as her peers and colleagues. However, he believes that style depends on preferences as a result of one's identity. It is justified that consumers like Andrea have little say in their own originality when Miranda points out that items like Andrea's "lumpy blue sweater" were "selected" for her by the Runway organization. This contradicts Andrea's argument that something as simple as her blue sweater is considered a derivative form of a Vogue product. Runway's CEO despises Andrea's ability to express herself not because of her personality, but because she wears clothes that don't represent Runway's merchandise. This works the same way when consumers like Andrea are seen as people without style because they don't buy their items from a branded magazine. As a result, consumers do not see brands as a product that expresses their self-image, but rather as a statement that they belong to the same group of consumers identified as fashionable. These pressures may relate to periods in which women as consumers did not have the right to manage their own image and this demonstrates the mistake of fashion companies. When most consumers change their preferences and values over time, this is reflected in how they see themselves as changed individuals. Fashion should accommodate these changes in taste in order to sell withsuccess at the market in adaptation. In Buckley and Fawcett's example of “Fashioning the Feminine:,” the background of women's fashion throughout the century explains how fashion was based on the idea that women should appear more conservative in their magazines. Even during the First World War, when women were valued as workers to replace men sent to war, the article demonstrates how two different ideas were promoted against each other regarding what female identity should be. The war had challenged women “to take responsibility for all aspects of their lives, gaining confidence with a different sense of self-worth, ultimately changing and challenging their sense of identity” (Buckley & Fawcett, 52). Despite this, women's magazines of the time “had to be feminine, but also serious and independent; they had to be 'feminine' but also have weight in their war effort” which resulted from “contradictory demands made on women, and their bodies became a site where battle ensued” (Buckley & Fawcett, 52-53). This exemplifies how consumer preferences make a difference in fashion organizations as time changes values and self-images. These expectations in selling a consumer image contradict two visions in the process: the consumer and the fashion industry. Rather than embrace the changing female identity of its time, fashion ultimately stagnates by falling in love with their standards and regulations to the point of being unable to innovate from them. Innovation is crucial for companies like fashion if they hope to satisfy their consumers by changing values and means of expression. With this goal in mind, fashion companies do not have a mindset of selling clothing to express personality but rather to make profits. For this reason, fashion is no longer about originality, but rather about popular demand. Contractors at fashion companies like Irve Rabbits in “The Devil Wears Prada” know nothing about the fashion content of the business, but are willing to invest $300,000 to create a product based on the CEO's demand. Despite this, the investment was lost because demands were not met and the industry failed to produce the product consumers wanted. The $300,000 investment ended up in a worthless commodity: “shitty jackets.” That said, fashion is less inclined to provide clothes for personal expression and, because of this, has lost its meaning and appeal to originality. For example, the punk movement of the mid-1970s and its association with fashion automatically looked back to the Sex Pistols as leaders in the culture. However, this was not the case. According to “The Female Body of Punk,” “the artists who created Punk (in the form of clothing) were Malcolm and Vivienne” (“The Female Body of Punk”). Malcolm and Vivienne, as well as other women, were responsible for creating a trend that expressed its denial against generally accepted clothing. Meanwhile, trend leaders such as the Sex Pistols wore this garment only to profit from their fans as they appeared original in their aesthetic image. They didn't express themselves based on who they were or what they were trying to accomplish, but instead imitated an image in the middle to ensure profit. As a result, the original idea of the movement is ignored and the expression of clothing no longer has the same meaning. Fashion without meaning or statement does not prove original as a commodity and can be easily manipulated so that the general population follows its trends without a sense of identity among consumers. That said, the consumer's identity has been tarnished due to mass adoptionthese similar trends. There is no distinctive style between them due to the way they imitate each other. The consequence of this is that consumers function with dependence on a mindset that does not work efficiently with their way of life. In terms of "The Devil Wears Prada", Mi-randa sees no difference between her personal secretaries as she only carries two of them and calls them by the same name, "Emily". This means that there is no originality in the expression of her workers as Miranda expects the usual assistant who imitates fashion but has no sense of individual intelligence on how to do her job. These expectations are unreasonable when consumers are unable to operate within their capabilities if their expressionism is limited. The same can be said about employee empowerment since productivity is based on empowerment in individual choices. Individuals who express themselves in something equally simplesince their clothing preferences are able to function normally without stress in their image. This is associated with “brand personality” and how “the set of human characteristics (are) associated with a brand” (Aagerup ,489). By behaving according to the same self-image cultivated through the fashion mentality, consumers imitate something that has no control or expression. This is considered “harmful” to a consumer as “in addition to an ideal self they aspire to, consumers also have an unwanted self… (which) includes everything they do not want to be” (Aagerup, 489). Miran-da's constant criticism of her employees for simple mistakes reminds her colleagues of those "unwanted selves" despite adopting her fashion principles. Likewise, consumers are unable to behave like themselves because they express themselves through styles that are not theirs. It's an uncomfortable process in how they are perceived by other people because they constantly have to adapt to a role that isn't theirs. On the other hand, the public believes that Andrea has changed her self-image to embrace her own inner style. This is what consumers want from themselves when they reflect on their self-image. Consumers want to be seen as different as they move away from their original clothing. However, it is clear that nothing has changed with Andrea's status as she is still considered the "Miranda girl" just like any other assistant in her place. Instead, it is his personality that has changed along with his self-image. With Runway clothing, Andrea also adopts the company's attitude towards how it works in its business sector. As a result, Andrea believes that the image she portrays at the company is essential to her mundane tasks, but this sounds as ridiculous as her boyfriend's comment that she doesn't need a “ball gown” to “answer phone calls and receive coffee". Through this belief, Andrea forgets the reason why she committed herself to the internship and with it forgets her future goals which first and foremost constitute her character. She adopts the same belief as her colleagues according to which the adoption of trends of fashion allows her to function properly as a consumer and not as an individual. Fashion has this effect on consumers as it is implemented as an expression of their personality, whether or not it reflects their actual character , the consumer adopts not only her physical resemblance but also her behavioral traits. For example, Miranda's self-image is seen as cool, chic, and professional because in this form of expression, she is essentially “doing her own thing.”Work". People might believe that this is a context where consumerism simply follows the trend of the CEO, but it can be argued that fashion portrayed as a business has its own influence. Miranda may have control over fashion, but the system she works under gives her no more leniency than those who work under her. In her personal life, she is seen as struggling with her family and making her all-out effort to be a mother to her two children. When Andrea offers to help her in any way, such as canceling the very event that proves to be an obstacle to Miranda's personal life, her boss refuses and insists that she continue doing her job. Although she is considered responsible for standardizing this form of expression, she too is under the same pressure to maintain a self-image that does not represent who she is and how she struggles with her life. The same can be said about the way consumers perceive their image and the way fashion categorizes them. For Miranda, her responsibility is to represent her company and manage what the company sells. For others, they might represent themselves based on how they want their work to see them or how people perceive them. Neither role establishes freedom with the effect of fashion in dictating how the image should be set in their environments. consumer's body image, they ultimately choose what they believe is healthy and approved in the environment. Fashion magazines usually employ skinny models because of how "fit" or "fit" they are, but it comes back to these questions. Where do they “fit in” and how do they “fit in” compared to everyone else? According to “Consumer Culture and the Media,” “strong, physically fit bodies in Western culture are visually valued” in terms of media representation (Iqani 121). It can be argued that, due to this generally followed principle and its results, there should be no harmful side effects for consumers. But what explains the way fashion takes these cultural norms and subjects them to extreme tests? The fashion industry holds the most desirable examples of what consumers should look for when developing their self-image. This can also be said for body image where “The Devil Wears Prada” has been a dynamic standard over the years. One of his key examples is when Nigel explains that women's diets have changed "since size two became the new four and zero became the new two." At that moment, it wouldn't have mattered if Andy had confessed that she was happily a size six because Nigel, as well as her Runway co-stars, would have seen her as the "new 14-year-old." This is not sarcasm or a play on fashion humor. Catwalk catalogs and Vogue magazines represent women who follow these declared measures without error, which attracts consumers under the same unconditional trend. In this exposure, magazines expose fashion culture and expectations to consumers and the result is not pretty. Consumers look to industry models as role models for their own bodies, especially when they admire clothes they believe fit their image. Despite this, clothing lines are not intended to be stepping stones towards what the example of the body should be. Indeed, “constructing the object, anorexia, within the text as an extreme, dangerous, and deviant condition” should “distinguish it from simply being thin, beautiful, and charming” as explained in “Saints, Sinners, and Standards of Femininity". Through the magazine's use of Photoshop, the line between the two terms "slender" and "anorexic" has become blurred when the same images are”..
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