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Are you an Emily, Andy, or Miranda? When the infamous book-turned-movie
The Devil Wears Prada
premiered in 2006, the fashion community clutched its pearls. I, however, was nine years old and my mother took me to the local AMC theatre to watch, having already clocked my love of fashion.
I left the theater earnestly asking my mom why anyone would want to work at a place that stressful; how ironic that I would actually end up a
Vogue
employee. I also left with very specific opinions of the characters. I hated Andy’s boyfriend, for one, and while I didn’t like Emily either, I loved her
blue eyeshadow
. It felt so
her
; and there’s a clear reason why. Nicki Ledermann, the celebrated TV and film makeup artist who led the department on the original movie (earning a BAFTA nomination, no less), explains that the looks focused on characterization rather than imitation. No wonder the looks still read fresh and modern despite two decades having passed since its debut.
“Trends date because they belong to a particular cultural instant, but character doesn’t,” Ledermann tells
Vogue.
“These faces still feel alive because the people inside them still feel alive. That’s the only timelessness that matters.”
Vogue
’s Favorite DWP-Inspired Makeup Picks
The Bold Liquid Liner
L'Oréal Paris Haute Precision Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in 010 Black Silk
Read more
$25
AMAZON
The Blue Eyeshadow
L'Oréal Paris Colour Riche Eye Pocket Palette Eye Shadow in Avant Garde Azure
Read more
$14
$11
(21% off)
AMAZON
The Lengthening Mascara
L'Oréal Paris Extensionist Mascara
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$16
$13
(19% off)
AMAZON
The Setting Spray
L'Oréal Paris Infallible 3-Second Setting Spray Mist
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$14
$11
(21% off)
AMAZON
The Just-Kissed Lip
L'Oréal Paris Hyaluron Tint Lip Stain Serum in Berry Jolie
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$14
$10
(29% off)
AMAZON
The Smokey Grey Shadow
L'Oréal Paris Colour Riche Monos Eyeshadow in Meet Me in Paris
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$10
AMAZON
In preparing for the original
The Devil Wears Prada
, Ledermann and the makeup department completely avoided looking at trend boards and noughties fashion campaigns, aiming instead to create looks for each fictional woman that were specific to each of their personalities. “I didn’t want to follow a trend but rather inspire one that was specific and considered enough to take on a life of its own,” Ledermann tells
Vogue
. “The inspiration was always rooted in character first—who are these women, and how does their face tell that? As an artist I’ve always been drawn to bold color and what it can do—not as decoration, but as expression.”
For Ledermann, she identifies the trio of main characters by three completely distinct beauty languages—bold eye makeup on Emily, warm orange and red lips on Andy, Miranda’s unwavering understated makeup. “Miranda found her signature long ago and never wavered. That consistency is her power—it’s a quiet refusal to be influenced by anyone. Meanwhile, color became Emily’s signature, with those striking eyes look so specific to her,” she says. Conversely to the unwavering aesthetics of the former, Ledermann describes Andy’s beauty looks as the most nuanced and fluid because “her beauty shifted depending on where she was and who she was becoming.”
Below, we dive further each character’s signature look—with editor-curated picks from L’Oréal Paris— inspired by each fictional (and iconic) woman.
In This Story
The Emily Charlton Look
The Andy Sachs Look
The Miranda Priestly Look
Meet The Expert
The Emily Charlton Look
Masterfully played by Emily Blunt,
Emily Charlton
and I would undoubtedly have office beef in real life (I have a low tolerance for mean-girl behavior). However, she never failed to serve looks. “Emily’s maximalism was never about excess, it was about conviction. The blue shadow was chosen to be deliberately fashion-forward without being costume-y,” says Ledermann, who notes that the bold color choice was meant to feel more like Emily’s signature rather than a trend she was following.
When it came to application, the team precisely saturated Blunt’s eyelid fully in eyeshadow— ensuring it had clean definition, as opposed to an accidental smudged-on look. “The boldness works because the rest of the face is disciplined around it. That balance is what keeps it from tipping into costume territory, and exactly why it still reads as current today,” she says. There’s often some bold yet sharp black
eyeliner
too.
L'Oréal Paris
Haute Precision Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in 010 Black Silk
$25
AMAZON
Vogue’s
Conçetta Ciarlo uses L’Oréal Paris’s Haute Precision Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in 010 Black Silk.
L'Oréal Paris
Colour Riche Eye Pocket Palette Eye Shadow in Avant Garde Azure
$14
$11
(21% off)
AMAZON
L'Oréal Paris
Infallible 3-Second Setting Spray Mist
$14
$11
(21% off)
AMAZON
The Andy Sachs Look
Anne Hathaway’s noughties resume was a big part of my childhood—from
The Princess Diaries
to
The Devil Wears Prada;
two films that put the actor’s character at the center of a qu

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Source: https://www.vogue.com/article/the-devil-wears-prada-2006-makeup