The share prices of brands that got placement in the movie have almost all slumped more than the wider stock market in recent weeks -- possibly reflecting a new caution about discretionary spending among American shoppers. Phillips-Van Heusen Corp. (owner of the Calvin Klein brand), jeweler Tiffany & Co. Inc., coffee chain Starbucks Corp., steakhouse chain The Smith & Wollensky Restaurant Group Inc. and bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc. all got their moments in the movie -- and all have had moments to forget in the stock market.

Higher gasoline prices and interest rates -- which raise the cost of credit-card debt -- may be deterring consumers across all income groups, analysts said, but it's the middle class and the "nearly rich" -- those worth between $1 million and $5 million -- who are cutting back on luxury goods and services. "Instead of buying the $25,000 watch, they're buying the $10,000 watch," said Milton Pedraza, CEO of The Luxury Institute.

Big signs of a consumer pullback came this week when Brunswick Corp., the world's largest maker of recreational boats, cut its earnings outlook, and recreational vehicle maker Fleetwood Enterprises Inc. posted lower-than-expected earnings. Among the "Devil" brands, shares of Philips-Van Heusen and Smith & Wollensky have declined about 20 percent since May 1, while shares of Tiffany & Co. have fallen 11 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index has dropped 5.3 percent in the same period. Barnes & Noble shares have lost more than a quarter of their value since May 1.

Even a high flyer like Starbucks has not escaped the Prada curse -- or at least was not helped by placement in the movie. Shares dropped 11 percent in the past week after it announced June sales growth of 6 percent at coffee shops open at least 13 months, against expectations of as much as 8 percent. Another of the darlings of the stock market in recent years, luxury handbag retailer Coach Inc., fell about 27 percent since a March peak. With gasoline prices close to all-time highs, even the rich may pause before driving to purchase a luxury item. "When you pay $3 for a gallon of gas, even if you have a lot of money, you suddenly say, 'Hey, wait a minute, I just filled my tank of gas and I got rid of 40 bucks. That's incredible. That's indecent,'" said Kurt Barnard, president of Barnard's Retail Consulting Group. "Those are things that precipitate the desire to hold on to your money and to go about spending it judiciously."

"Where is the chic?" groused David Wolfe, a New York fashion and retail consultant well versed in the eccentricities of real-life magazine divas. In his assessment, the film's stylistic problems begin with Meryl Streep as the silver-coiffed Miranda, a character he thinks looks far too bland and bankerlike and ugh! — far too pretty — to be convincing as Runway's chilly commander in chief.

In fashion, "You've gotta have a gimmick, like the stripper said," Mr. Wolfe observed. Think, he urged, of the rigidly stylized signature look of magazine legends like Diana Vreeland, with her kabuki makeup and tar-colored hair, or celebrity editors like Anna Wintour, whose dark glasses and precision-cut bangs shield a profile of cut glass. "In a world of 'fabulous,' " Mr. Wolfe pronounced, " 'pretty' just isn't good enough."

Other self-appointed critics pin "Devil's" visual shortcomings on a misapprehension of what truly counts as "fabulous" in the realm of style. It is not summed up by a parade of Gucci, Pucci, Dolce & Gabbana and Prada, they say, but by breezier labels like Chloé, Marc Jacobs and Marni, which are coveted by young trendsetters but are in scant evidence on screen. Even Prada is in short supply. In their place are masses of wool bouclé power suits, double-C logo pearls, tweed newsboy caps and thigh-high boots that threaten to sink the film under their weight.

Those costumes are "a caricature of what people who don't work in fashion think fashion people look like," said Anne Slowey, the fashion news director of Elle. Conceived and styled by Patricia Field, who assembled the wardrobe for "Sex and the City," "the clothes are a little too head-to-toe perfect," Ms. Slowey said.

"Andrea is this smart, natural-looking girl who just graduated college," says Ledermann. "She slowly learns a whole different world that she never thought she could be part of." Throughout the film, Ledermann subtly progressed the makeup from low-maintenance college girl to over the top fashionista, culminating in the scenes where Andrea is in Paris for fashion week. "In the Paris scenes, her look becomes very sophisticated, with hard eyeliner and red lips," says Ledermann. "Throughout the whole movie I avoided red lips because I wanted to save something special for the end."

For a wearable red lip that doesn't overpower, Ledermann took a less is more approach, applying Benefit Benetint, $28, on the lips. She then dotted Dior Addict Lipstick in Positive Red 857, $23.50, just in the center of the lips and blended well with her fingers to create a matte, stained effect.