Assistant who inspired Devil Wears Prada character divides internet in office wear debate

The real-life inspiration behind Emily Blunt’s The Devil Wears Prada character has gone viral in a video discussing her Dolce and Gabbana skirt.

Victoria “Plum” Sykes, 54, is a British journalist and author of the novels The Debutante Divorcée, Blonde Attitude, and Party Girls Die In Pearls. In the 90s and early 2000s, Sykes worked as Anna Wintour’s assistant and as a fashion writer at American Vogue.

Sykes studied modern history at Oxford before moving to New York to become a fashion writer in 1997. She has an aristocratic background, with many social media users pointing out her British diplomat great-grandfather Mark Sykes drafted the Sykes-Picot Agreement in 1916.

The Devil Wears Prada was written by another of Wintour’s assistants, Lauren Weisberger. The novel was later adapted into a 2006 film starring Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt, whose character was reportedly based on Sykes.

In the viral clip from the 2000 BBC documentary Boss Woman, which follows Anna Wintour as she makes the February Vogue issue, Sykes – then in her twenties – describes the outfit she has chosen to wear to the office that day.

“The clothes that people wear here in the day are probably clothes that normal people would wear on their most glamorous night out of the year,” she says as she shows the camera her outfit consisting of a floral chiffon maxi skirt, a sleeveless white top, black tights and matching heels.

“Who’s going to go wear a chiffon Dolce and Gabbana skirt like this to the office?” she asks. “Only me. Or someone who works at Vogue.”

The clip quickly sparked an office wear debate on X/Twitter, with many users claiming Sykes’ simple outfit was nothing remarkable. “I’d wear that to the Post Office,” one person commented.

However, others pointed out the difference between Nineties office wear and modern dress codes. “Yeah a chiffon skirt and casual top are common work attire that you can find at TJ Maxx in 2024. I remember 1999, work attire for women was pretty much a pantsuit or a pencil skirt and blazer. Sorry but once again The Devil Wears Prada is right,” one user said.

Another person added: “So many kids on here that are too young to remember that EVERYONE wore suits and blazers to the office until not that long ago.”

Meanwhile, other social media users addressed the cost of Sykes’ outfit: “Plum Sykes is only referring to the price tag,” they said. “She thinks she’s better than everyone because she wears expensive clothes to the office. Not because they’re particularly fashion forward.”

A days-long discussion about Sykes has ensued on X/Twitter. Among the most viral posts include an article the journalist wrote for New York Magazine about her favourite $300 pen and an interview quote she gave about butlers not being fun anymore.

Elsewhere, social media users took the opportunity to point out the “nepotism” of the British journalism industry as they hit out at Sykes’ family roots.

“The reaction to this on here [is] making it clear people do not realise how posh the UK fashion media industry is,” wrote journalist Roisin Lanagan. “It’s a PG Wodehouse novel set during a rooftop after party at the Standard, it’s the peerage website in an Alaia dress. Welcome to hell girlies.”

“Britain is so cool, everytime you see a name and ask ‘are they related to…’ the answer is always yes,” said another in reference to Sykes’ great-grandfather Mark Sykes.

The Sykes-Picot Agreement was a secret treaty drafted by Sykes’ great-grandfather and French diplomat François Georges-Picot in 1916. The historically controversial document divided up the Middle East into areas of British and French control and influence. Regions affected included Iraq, Turkey, Palestine, Lebanon and Syria.

“Her granddaddy carved up my land, stole my home, exiled my family in a refugee camp so that she could wear a Dolce and Gabbana chiffon skirt while typing on Hotmail in her cubicle,” wrote one person. “This is what colonialism and capitalism are all about baby!”

Others hit out at the agreement “which imposed artificial borders in the Middle East”, particularly at a time of intense upheaval and war in the region. The agreement was also the precursor to the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which bestowed the region of historic Palestine for the creation of Israel in 1948, which has since been accused of human rights abuses, apartheid and genocide, which Israel denies.