Wintour: Believe In Yourself, Believe In Your Staff

Anna Wintour has some unorthodox ideas about what constitutes individualism.  Her “Letter from the Editor” (Vogue, January) manages to take designer Marc Jacobs’ inspiring case of self-determination and morph it into something downright insipid. She starts with the moral of Marc’s tale:

…a commitment to a singular point of view is the never-easy path but, ultimately, the most rewarding.

Sadly, this message completely disintegrates as Anna elucidates exactly what she means by “singular point of view.”

[Angelina Jolie] knows who she is and is happy to share that with the public with no press-agent interference.

And then:

Our Best-Dressed List features ten young women who get dressed every morning without the help of a stylist.

And finally:

For another example of going one’s own way…How fantastic to come upon such an extraordinary residence that was created without the help of a decorator!

And how fantastic to come upon such an extraordinarily elitist and overly simplified idea of individualism!  Could she find no one better to commend than a woman who picked her own paint colors?  Sorry, but we refuse to consider that trail-blazing.

On Planet Anna, it seems committing to that “singular point of view” requires only that one muddle through life without a publicist, stylist, or decorator.  No wonder she described their path as “never-easy”—she must feel terrible for those so-called individualists who somehow get through life without a staff.