From the outside, the fashion world looks exciting, frivolous - dare I say, easy?

I can't tell you how many times I've mentioned what I do for a living and have been met with a gushy, "Your job must be so much fun."

Most of the time I smile, nod, and come back with, "You can't beat a gig that pays you for people-watching." But my thought bubble is screaming, "If only you knew!"

Thanks to director R.J. Cutler's moving documentary The September Issue, now you can know. The film is a behind-the-scenes saga of the nine months leading up to Vogue's September 2007 issue, featuring the impeccable Anna Wintour at the helm. The main difference between Vogue's fashion shoots and those we produce at The Inquirer? My job comprises the work of about 20 people there. (See next week's Fall Fashion issue of Style & Soul.) Yet on any scale, it's no small task.

From the first scene, with racks of clothes being wheeled through the magazine's offices, we start to see the amount of work that goes into fashion shoots: thinking up the concept, finding and getting the clothes (and the shoes and the accessories), scouting a location, dressing the models, working the lighting, picking images. Fashion is so much more than whiny design students and poorly behaved models. The September Issue is fashion reality.

The industry considers Vogue's September edition the most important of the year as it ushers in the fall season for genuine clothing connoisseurs. And to date, the 2007 issue (with actress Sienna Miller as the cover girl, with a touched-up neck) is Vogue's largest ever, at 840 pages.

The film by Cutler, who produced The War Room, about Bill Clinton's 1992 run for the presidency, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January. When it opened in New York over the weekend, it took in $240,000 - the fifth largest opening ever for an independent documentary. It opens in Philadelphia Sept. 11.

What perfect timing. After all, the beginning of fall fashion season is upon us, with back-to-school shopping, the presentation of spring collections at New York Fashion Week, and the awards season that had its soft launch Sunday night with the Daytime Emmy Awards. The prime-time Emmys will follow later this month.

Not to mention that this year Vogue is hosting its own event, called Fashion Night Out - an evening of retail revelry to renew the love for a recession-weary population. The Delaware Valley's version will take place Sept. 10 at King of Prussia mall.

But with all this celebration comes hard work. So it's nice to see Wintour, the industry's queen, with her perfectly bobbed hair and floral, cap-sleeved sheaths, reminding us that fashion is to be taken seriously. Some people don't understand fashion, but it is no less an art form than any painting you pay to see in the world's great galleries.

In many ways, the movie also acts as damage control for Wintour. By no means do we see a warm and fuzzy woman, but Cutler's portrayal softens the image created by Lauren Weisberger in her fictional recap of life at Vogue in The Devil Wears Prada. In the movie, Meryl Streep's character throws her coat on her assistant's desk every day and ends her commands with a brusque "That's all."

In fact, the softer side of Wintour becomes the crux of Cutler's documentary. We see Wintour in the back of her limo, arms tightly crossed as she starts her day with a Starbucks drink, as well as Wintour at her Long Island home with her daughter, who clearly doesn't want to follow in her mother's footsteps, basically pooh-poohing Wintour's career.

But the most eye-opening relationship is the one between Wintour and Vogue creative director Grace Coddington. Coddington, a former model who, like Wintour, hails from England, is not only the genius behind the issue's high-concept style shoots, she also is the movie's breakout star. When the hands-on fashion director has to defend her aesthetic choices to Wintour, her stance makes her the movie's heroine.

Remember: Wintour nearly single-handedly changed industry convention when she decided that actresses should be cover models. She helps Osar de la Renta edit his collection. She's a force to be reckoned with.

Still, there are some lighter aspects of the movie. One is provided by fashion editor-at-large Andre Leon Talley, whom we see in full Louis Vuitton garb - while playing tennis in Europe. In another scene, Wintour suggests that a cameraman's belly be retouched. Coddington prefers the realism. That could be a deal-breaker, but the women handle their disagreement with humor and grace.

Maybe the most important lesson we learn from The September Issue is that even in an industry that's based wholly on outside appearances, there is always a deeper story. And there will always be more racks of clothing to help tell it.

Contact fashion writer Elizabeth Wellington at 215-854-2704 or ewellington@phillynews.com.