As models, designers and journalists gather for Paris Fashion Week, Fashion Council head Olivier de la Fontaine chokes to death on a sandwich, leaving behind a wife, a mistress, and a mysterious Russian companion who has fled the scene. As the death is being investigated, three rival magazine editors vie for the exclusive services of a trendy photographer while two journalists begin a hotel room tryst.
Miramax considered that American audiences would not understand a French title, so they released the film in the US as Ready to Wear . In other countries, where basic French competence was assumed, the original title was used. The US DVD and VHS title was Robert Altman's Ready to Wear.
Reception
Prêt-à-Porter holds a 24% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 25 reviews, with an average rating of 4.75/10. Roger Ebert gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four and thought it "should have gone further and been meaner; too many of jokes are generic slapstick, instead of being aimed squarely at industry's targets." Gene Siskel gave it one-and-a-half out of four stars and called it "a true bomb as director Robert Altman, on a very hot streak, improbably finds absolutely nothing funny or fresh to say about the fashion industry and the 'journalists' who cover it with a wet kiss. Lacking a screenplay, Altman's intercutting among boring caricatures grows old quickly, and after 2½ hours, it may occur to you: 'I could have been shopping.'" Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote that Altman's "laissez-faire satirical style proves ineffectual for shooting fish in this barrel. Fashion is too self-conscious to be skewered so casually." Rita Kempley of The Washington Post called the film "a mess" that was "most compelling when Altman turns his camera on the kitschy runway shows themselves... Perhaps Altman should have made this film as a documentary instead." Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film "sounds like Altman's most recent successes, 'The Player' and 'Short Cuts.' But there is a difference between creative improvisation and absolute chaos, and while those films were delicately balanced balls that magically stayed in the air, 'Ready to Wear,' with a script credited to Altman and Barbara Shulgasser, has a haphazard 'Let's go to Paris and see what happens' feeling that wastes everyone's time and talent." Owen Glieberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a grade of C- and wrote, "Virtually everything that happens is held up for our ridicule, yet it's never quite clear what we're supposed to be laughing at. The characters aren't really mocked for their attitudes, their obsessions with glamour and money and style. They aren't savaged in any specific, observational ways that could truly be called satirical. They're made fun of simply because they're silly, trivial human beings—walking punchlines in a joke that never arrives. It's like watching an Altman film that's been drained by a vampire." John Simon writing for the National Review said Prêt-à-Porter was a picture that only a director's mother could love and that though the film lasted over two hours, wore out its welcome in ten minutes.
Box office
The film had a weak debut and bombed at the box office. By the end of its run, the film grossed US$11,300,653 in the domestic box office.
