The Most Iconic Moment In The Devil Wears Prada Was Meryl Streep's Idea

The Devil Wears Prada's "cerulean sweater" scene is a defining moment in the movie and a Miranda Priestly moment that is almost too savage. What makes it so perfect is the way it reveals Miranda's success in an understated way, and conveying this was extremely important to Meryl Streep, who wanted to show her character at work rather than merely ordering her assistants around. Screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna told IndieWire that "she [Streep] came up with the speech about the blue sweater."

In the same interview, Streep told IndieWire that "That scene wasn’t about the fun of fashion, it was about marketing and business, the fun of it is what we always think of." Miranda has two conversations at once, picking outfits for a feature while educating Andy about the way in which the cerulean color of her sweater was directly influenced by high-end designers working directly with the people in the room. While this is not always strictly true at all times, the scene reflects the way in which Miranda can effectively multitask and demonstrate encyclopedic knowledge of her industry.

The fashion budget for the original The Devil Wears Prada movie was just $100,000 dollars, yet the movie showcased over $1 million of outfits. However, despite not being from a famous designer, Andy's cerulean sweater remains one of the most memorable pieces in the movie for the way that it related to the fashion industry in such a defining scene. The moment has stood the test of time so well that when The Devil Wears Prada 2 arrived to great reviews, with a much larger fashion budget, fans of the original movie were treated to a callback to the scene.

The Devil Wears Prada 2 Updates The Cerulean Sweater Moment

The best outfits in The Devil Wears Prada 2 are memorable, stylish, and showcase the characters' updated sense of fashion 20 years after the original movie. In a move away from early 2000s glam, Miranda and Nigel have embraced neutrals and the "quiet luxury" aesthetic, while Emily has evolved her own edgier style. That said, the biggest transformation has been in Andy. While Nigel helped her to dress for the job that she had at Runway, Andy now dresses for the job she has, which is as an award-winning reporter.

Andy's post-makeover outfits in the original The Devil Wears Prada make her look current and fashionable, but since leaving Runway, she has chosen a more timeless look, often wearing white suits, blazers, and carrying a messenger bag, which the movie's stylists chose to reflect her work as a journalist. Still, her interactions with Miranda and Emily show that there are still elements of the younger Andy, and The Devil Wears Prada 2 references some of her earlier scenes in the first movie.

In the opening scene in Central Park, Andy sees a vendor holding up two similar belts in a callback to the moment that sparked the cerulean scene, and, later, the sweater itself would make an appearance. The ending of The Devil Wears Prada 2 shows Andy wearing a cerulean garment that is an updated and more stylish version of the sweater. Director David Frankel told Entertainment Weekly that Anne Hathaway wanted to cut the sleeves off it, so they found a duplicate and restyled it for the movie's closing moments, referencing The Devil Wears Prada a final time.

Source: IndieWire, Entertainment Weekly

Release Date June 29, 2006

Runtime 109 minutes

Director David Frankel

Writers Aline Brosh McKenna, Lauren Weisberger

Producers Wendy Finerman