“Ready to Wear (Pret-A-Porter)” Sends Up the Parisian Fashion Scene

In the summer of 1994, acclaimed film director Robert Altman threw a huge bash in Paris during the peak of fashion paparazzi. Attracting hoards of celebrities and models to his ten-week gala, Altman unveiled a hyped-up hootenanny, establishing his reputation as the world’s premier party host. It’s unfortunate that Altman the auteur was making a film in the process. His clothes hangover posing as a fashion scene parody is Ready to Wear (C-), a deluded mis-mesh that could have benefited from a formal screenplay and perhaps a few short cuts. Stars galore from Kim Basinger to Julia Roberts to Cher to Sophia Loren in snippets of plot delight in moments but can’t stitch together the threadbare affair. Fashion aficionados may enjoy the glimpses of the pret-a-porter and some of the runway frivolity. Ultimately, though, Altman’s statement on this one is the lampshade still on his head.