My favorite Vogue moments in TV and film (and how I know they’re made up)

Vogue has long been a favorite guest star on the small screen. In films and TV shows, it usually appears through a strict editor who makes everyone’s blood run cold, or through an ambitious yet slightly awkward journalist who has dreamed of working at Vogue ever since she was a little girl—around the same time she was sketching her dream wedding dress. The magazine pops up in the crime series Murder, She Wrote, in the cleverly titled episode A Fashionable Way to Die, and also plays a role in The Diplomat as the publication tasked with polishing ambassador Kate Wyler’s public image through a feature story. All of these appearances are part of a broader picture of a magazine that has long transcended publishing to become a pop culture icon—and a reflection of how the public imagines Vogue through these fictional portrayals.

I revisited some of my favorite Vogue moments in films and TV shows to see what’s fiction—and what I wish were true.

Sex and the City, A ‘Vogue’ Idea

In the seventeenth episode of the fourth season, Carrie (“Vogue-feeds-me-more-than-dinner”) Bradshaw triumphantly steps into the offices of the most nourishing magazine in the world. After we’ve seen her impressive writing skills through her witty, existentially tinged columns, Carrie enters Vogue’s editorial office with a new hairstyle (and a new mortgage) to hear feedback on her first piece about fashion accessories. She’s greeted by Enid, the stern and unrelenting editor, and Julian, a guy whose job remains a mystery. “A Prada dress should always be paired with an investment banker,” Carrie quips—only to have Enid sharply inform her that such lines “aren’t Vogue.”

After Julian runs a marathon of flattery to save Carrie’s confidence, Enid shows not the slightest inclination to coddle her. “You just replaced the word sex with style,” she snaps, much to the delight of every columnist who has ever tried to understand the correlation between Carrie’s talent and her expensive shoe collection. Out of despair, Carrie downs martinis with Julian and gets overly dramatic about her supposed failure. After spending an absurd number of work hours on a 500-word article about handbags, she finishes it in the middle of the night and celebrates in the Vogue wardrobe room, where the staff gather to toast the publication of their pieces—shoes gleaming under the spotlights. The celebration is quickly ruined when Julian, whose role remains a mystery, strips down to his underwear for no apparent reason. Shocked but already used to men behaving badly, Carrie refuses to give up on her dream. After the escapade in the magical Vogue wardrobe, she begins visiting the office monthly, and her relationship with Enid improves drastically once she declares, “I may not know much about men, but I sure know shoes.” Everyone bursts into cheerful laughter.

How do I know it’s fiction? Because honestly, who on earth has the patience to wait days for an article about handbags?

What I particularly loved: Morning martinis and the Vogue wardrobe, where (after a round of drinking) we meet to slip into designer heels and celebrate our freshly published articles.

The Diplomat: The Cinderella Thing

Keri Russell plays Kate Wyler, a seasoned American diplomat. In the midst of an international crisis sparked by an attack on a British aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf that killed 41 sailors, Wyler is reassigned as the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom. Though she knows she has little choice, she accepts the position reluctantly—a reluctance made instantly visible through her hairstyle, which clearly suggests she’s not a big fan of conditioner. But never mind that. To improve the new ambassador’s image, someone at the embassy comes up with a clever idea: she needs a strong feature in a major outlet that will present her as a capable yet effortlessly chic ambassador who handles even the most tangled crises with ease.

When Kate asks who will handle the exclusive feature, she’s told it will be British Vogue (who else?). She agrees, even though she’s not the type for photo shoots—she finds the whole thing pointless and, as always, looks thoroughly unimpressed. Still, being the professional and pragmatic woman she is, she takes the assignment seriously and eventually agrees to have her hair done and put on a nice dress. “I’m not Cinderella. I’m here for thirty funerals,” she snaps, just to remind everyone how trivial she finds it all. After channeling her “inner Cindy Crawford” on the terrace of Winfield House and spending two hours waving dramatically from a carriage à la “Lady Diana getting married,” she storms off, strips out of her gown, and—like any respectable ambassador—collapses on the staircase in a slip to collect herself. She’s utterly exhausted. She’s had enough.

How do I know it’s fiction? No one is ever bored when British Vogue is doing a feature. You can’t fool us, Kate Wyler.

What I particularly loved: That she finally did something about her hair—thanks to Vogue.

Will & Grace, Last Ex to Brooklyn

Grace and her husband Leo decide to host a dinner party for friends, but no one could have guessed it would turn into a full-on Televisa Presenta moment. Despite all signs pointing to disaster, Leo unexpectedly invites his ex-girlfriend, whom he ran into by chance on the subway. The fateful guest turns out to be Diane, an editor at Vogue—and, as it happens, the only woman Will has ever slept with. This revelation sparks several minor heart attacks for Grace, who does not bother to hide her jealousy. Diane (played by Mira Sorvino) is chic and striking, arriving in classic black and sporting the kind of perfectly styled hair that suggests she’s memorized every Vogue hair feature ever written. Upon meeting Grace, she casually offers her red Birkin bag, explaining that “when you write for Vogue, you get tons of stuff.” Jack and Karen, of course, make the situation even more chaotic and have a fantastic time doing so. And though no one asked for an insider anecdote, Diane nonchalantly jokes over dinner that she’s happy with the food since no one at Vogue ever eats at birthday parties anyway. By the end, it turns out Diane is quite unbalanced—but that’s hardly unusual, since no one on that show is particularly stable.

How do I know it’s fiction? First, I don’t know anyone who’s ever been gifted a Birkin. Second, a Vogue editor would only part with hers if it were part of a ransom deal for her kidnapped Chihuahua. Third, fashion people do eat (trust me!).

What I particularly loved: That there’s even the slightest chance I might one day be gifted a Birkin.

Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion

Michele (Lisa Kudrow) and Romy (yes, Mira Sorvino again) are inseparable high school best friends who, for their ten-year reunion, are determined to impress their former classmates—especially the clique of mean girls who spent their teenage years making their lives miserable. As if high school reunions weren’t already tinged with horror, the naive duo concocts a story meant to make them look wildly successful in the eyes of their old A-list tormentors. Romy borrows a Jaguar from a coworker, while Michele makes sure they arrive dressed in sleek black power suits—the kind “successful entrepreneurs” would wear—because, as they proudly claim, they’re the inventors of Post-it notes.

When their lie is exposed, the two decide to embrace who they really are and return to the reunion in their original outfits—pink and blue metallic mini dresses that stand out against the dull dress code like Christmas lights in July. The resident high school bully, Christie, mocks their clothes just like she used to back in the day, but Lisa Luder (Elaine Hendrix), a former A-list mean girl turned associate fashion editor at Vogue, steps in to defend Romy and Michele. “Actually, Christie, they have good lines; a fun, playful use of color. Overall, I’d say they’re really… not bad,” Lisa says without hesitation, adding the perfect note of poetic justice for every time she once said she liked someone’s dress pattern and got an icy glare in return. Ka-ching!

How do I know it’s fiction? It’s not. Every word of it rings true. We love Lisa on our team!

What I particularly loved: Lisa isn’t just a Vogue fashion editor—she’s a fighter for justice, and justice has finally been served.