Cerulean blue, winning red

The Devil Wears Prada contains one of the best explanations of how fashion works as a system, an industry, and a cultural phenomenon: the scene in which Miranda (Meryl Streep), editor of a fashion magazine, explains to her subordinate Andy (Anne Hathaway) how wrong she is about the clothes she herself is wearing. Miranda uses as an example the cerulean blue sweater ("not turquoise, not lapis lazuli") that Andy believes she bought without any external influence.

Her boss will open her eyes: that sweater is the product of decisions, million-dollar investments, and countless jobs . Miranda doesn't even need to quote Simmel, Bataille, or Barthes for Andy to understand that fashion is important.

We dress to cover ourselves, but also to communicate. We use clothing to announce who we are and who we want to be , we use its codes to connect with others, and, like small, brightly colored animals, sometimes to remind our predators that we're poisonous.

In The Roses , the charming remake of The War of the Roses , we see Ivy (Olivia Colman) go from a housewife with a culinary background to the owner of a small restaurant. The establishment does well, and before long Ivy is a successful cook and businesswoman. At the beginning of the film, Ivy dresses in loose, colorful, and slightly quirky clothes. She is those clothes . As the story progresses, her clothes improve: from affordable designer pieces and vintage flea markets, Ivy moves on to what looks like semi-luxury Made in Italy (Marni, maybe?). Same style, same message: this is me. I just used to have less money.

In the final stretch of The Roses , a powerful but bitter Ivy is welcomed home wearing what looks like an Issey Miyake blouse. A sculptural, elegant, anything but discreet, high-quality piece. And expensive, very expensive. Winner's clothing. Rich artist's clothing, like the dress that another woman, Marga from the series Fury , chooses to stand out at a party. That design, if not by another Miyake, looks like one.

Elsewhere in Furia , we see Marga (Carmen Machi) buy the dress. It's expensive, very expensive . Nat (Candela Peña), her trusted saleswoman, sells it to her. Nat is a wretch who thinks dressing like a winner will make her look good. She uses fashion as a passport to a better life . But the plan doesn't work. Nat conveys despair, confusion, and low self-esteem. At her side, Ana Torrent, in a tracksuit, makes us believe she's Rosa, a careless and somewhat lumpen aunt.

Is it Torrent's performance or is it the clothes? It's both. Some will see Olivia Colman's red blouse in The Roses and think, "How pretty." Others of us will think, "She's gorgeous." And her predators will understand that, in addition to all that, Ivy is poisonous . Clothes speak volumes.