The Devil Wears Prada

There's a line in this movie that is rather fascinating. Apply this to anything that you're involved in. It starts out with Miranda (Meryl Streep) criticizing some clothes:

This has sequins, but it's denim. It's of no use to anyone. We need to give women clear choices about -- (to ANDY) What are you looking at?
ANDY
Me? Nothing, I--
MIRANDA
You think you're above this, don't you? We're talking about skirts and you're smirking.
ANDY
I'm not smirking.
MIRANDA
Inside, you're smirking.

And now the room is totally silent. Everyone there has had this happen to them at one time or another, and they're just grateful this time, it's not them.

ANDY
No, no, no. I'm not. I'm not above anything. That's my motto. I swear.
MIRANDA
You see that droopy sweater you're wearing? That blue was on a dress Cameron Diaz wore on the cover of Runway -- shredded chiffon by James Holt. The same blue quickly appeared in eight other designers' collections and eventually made its way to the secondary designers, the department store labels, and then to some lovely Gap Outlet, where you no doubt found it. That color is worth millions of dollars and many jobs.

What happens in architecture today, and wine making and many other professions is that the STARS provide the latest and greatest and everyone down the line rides the wave. Next year it's something new and everyone follows that path. It's just that the path is eventually dominated by cost and the high-end design is reduced to the quickest, most base method of production.

The simplest example in architecture is the International Style. Even the best architects had problems achieving the simplicity of this envelope. But the developers, understanding the significant savings potential from the previous ornamented buildings at the turn of the century, jumped on the band wagon and promulgated the style to the Nth degree. And it still flourishes today among the developers interested in short-term profits.

What is so offensive though is that much of our lives are driven by FASHION, or this concept of FASHION. This season it's skirt lengths are above the knee and next season it's Malbec. How much manipulation is there in wines today in order to achieve what the masses desire?