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Catty Stylista Fits the Times

Ruthless job screening makes for entertaining viewing

By Ambreen Ali, Newser User

Posted Oct 22, 2008 7:16 PM CDT

(Newser) – Stylista depicts fashion’s “empty ambition and distaste for civility,” but the show’s timely appeal is its “fresh resonance” during the current job market, Ginia Bellafante writes in the New York Times. In the CW series beginning tonight, 11 contestants trample and scramble to present the best breakfast arrangement to their potential boss—all for a junior editor job at Elle and a year’s free rent.

Though the cutthroat “I don’t do wheat at all” attitude of said boss, Anne Slowey, is uncharacteristic even in fashion, Slowey’s performance is Emmy-worthy. The reality-show version of The Devil Wears Prada also indulges us with characters who “thrive on confrontation” and catfight “in novel ways”—like Ashlie, the feistiest of the pack, who calls another participant “Satan’s little hand foot maiden.”

[Images (2)]

[Videos (1)]

Elle magazine editor Anne Slowey is hardly known for being a tough boss, but she plays the part well in "Stylista." (AP Photo)

Executive producer Ken Mok and Anne Slowey of "Stylista" speak during a press tour in July. (Getty Images)

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Watch a teaser for Stylista and see the 11 contestants participating this year. (ElleMagazine)

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Catty Stylista Fits the Times