The Devil Wears Prada 2 has provoked a tsunami of journalists eager to share the horrors of their days as junior assistants to female magazine bosses.
Give me a break, I find myself saying when reading about yet another person threatened with being locked in a cupboard all weekend or undermined by a litany of personal remarks. Was it really like that?
Judging by the large number of articles, female bosses were total cows: bullying was rampant and demeaning comments part of daily life.
I can’t say I recognise this from the lofty heights of the editor’s chair, but perhaps there are elements of truth.
As an ex-Vogue boss, I hold my hand up and confess to asking my assistants to go out and buy me coffee, or pick up a pair of tights from John Lewis.
And yes, I might even have asked them to help organise my son’s birthday party. But I don’t regard these as an assault on human rights.
I could certainly be grumpy and unwilling to chit-chat, and no doubt on occasion I made them feel unappreciated – that just went with the territory.
However, in defence of the boss, I doubt many juniors starting out in the job have any idea of what that senior role is like.
Former Editor-in-Chief of British Vogue Alexandra Shulman (pictured) gives her take on the portraits painted of female magazine bosses
Meryl Streep (pictured) stars as Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada, a character often compared to ex-Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour
Anne Hathaway (left) plays Andrea Sachs in the film, a junior personal assistant to Miranda (right)
The world of glossies is a febrile environment. To some extent, magazines are a work of alchemy – turning the core business of selling stuff into interesting images and stories.
It’s not exactly working on the front line, but it’s competitive and the pressure to succeed is huge.
Sometimes you do have to be tough. You need things done efficiently and speedily with no time for a preamble, and, to a newbie trying to find their feet in the office, that can seem plain mean.
It’s noticeable, though, that none of these pieces are about male magazine bosses, who could be every bit as autocratic.
Or indeed about the men at the very top of the tree, the ones running the magazine companies, who were frequently dismissive and harsh to their young female staff.
Yobs who exposed Keir’s empty vows
Last Sunday I was about to turn off the lights when I heard a huge crash. It sounded like a large picture falling off a wall and, faintly worried it might be my husband David collapsing to the floor, I ran downstairs to check.
Thankfully it wasn’t and, after a quick look around, we went into the street where we found our neighbour. She told us she’d seen a gang of youths trying to kick in both her, and our, front doors.
We called the police, were given crime numbers and told the neighbourhood support team would be in touch (which has yet to happen).
This is only one of the many nuisance crimes escalating across London and just the kind of thing William Bratton was talking about last month.
A former US police commissioner, he oversaw a large decrease in crime in New York in the 1990s by implementing ‘broken windows’ policing – the theory that if you cut petty crime, such as vandalism, it also reduces serious crime.
Last year, Sir Keir Starmer announced a multi-million-pound drive to tackle anti-social behaviour with the ‘onboarding’ of 3,000 more neighbourhood police officers by this March. They would be actively policing on the streets, not immersed in office bureaucracy.
Well, there’s not much evidence of this in the streets around here, where the sight of a copper on patrol is as rare as a red squirrel.
Whatever the hour, I need wine to fly!
RYANAIR boss Michael O’Leary’s suggestion that early morning alcohol be banned at airports is a ghastly idea. As a terrified flyer,
I view a glass of wine before boarding – no matter the hour – as essential. It takes the edge off the fear and gets me on that plane.
A customer in want of some shelf-help
In a bookshop recently, I heard a young woman ask the guy at the till whether she could bring in her green smoothie. She then came up to me and asked whether she was in a shop or a library. Was she allowed to buy from the shelves?
‘As you’ve probably realised, I’ve never been in a bookshop,’ she said. I was astounded. I couldn’t imagine being such a person. But, of course, she’s one of many who, if they buy books at all, do it online.
How sad. Browsing bookshops is one of life’s great pleasures. I hope she goes again.
Even Alexa needs all this to look A-list
MODEL Alexa Chung, who looks wonderful without a smidgeon of make-up, shared the details of getting ready for the Met Gala on Instagram. The list of 17 different Dior products used on her face made cheering reading for any of us who wonder why we don’t look red-carpet ready when we’ve only slapped on foundation, blusher, eyeliner and lipstick. That doesn’t scratch the surface of the mountain of cosmetics needed to get today’s A-list glow, even for Alexa.
Time to jettison this extravagant habit
MARKS & Spencer has launched its summer holiday collection with a catwalk show in Ibiza.
For years I’ve been railing against the environmental impact of this ludicrously extravagant habit, perpetuated by the big fashion houses flying editors to shows across the world.
So I was disappointed that M&S, which I regard as the brand of common sense, was silly enough to follow suit. And very much doubt it will sell a single extra leopardprint one-piece as a result.
Happiness is a good cheese sandwich
AFTER a moving memorial service for journalist Dominic Prince, his widow, the food writer Rose Prince, served wine and the most delicious chunky cheese and pickle sandwiches. Being Rose, it was particularly good bread and cheddar – none of your supermarket nonsense – but all the same,
it confirmed my opinion that a sandwich is all you need. So much better than fussy canapes.