Miranda Priestly, Meryl Streep’s character in “The Devil Wears Prada,” is fashion’s queen bee and an ice princess to boot. The only time anyone recalls her smiling was when she previewed Tom Ford’s 2001 collection. Must have been that updated Yves Saint Laurent smoking jacket that pushed her over the edge.

Streep, with a chic silver haircut and baring what has to be one of Hollywood’s finest sets of shoulders, gets top billing in the movie version of Lauren Weisberger’s best-selling book about the catty fashion world that’s filled with “clackers” — skinny young things who teeter on high heels that sound like a typing pool as they scurry around the office.

Streep, though, really has a supporting role. This movie is all about fashion and no single person — not even multiple Oscar winner Meryl — has the star power to compete with racks full of Chanel, Bill Blass, Valentino and, of course, Prada.

It seems that there are more handbags, shoes and earrings in this movie than all the other summer releases combined. Superman only gets to wear a glorified unitard; Streep’s Priestly gets to wear hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of Fred Leighton diamonds.

The sheer volume of garments required costume designer Patricia Field and her team of assistants to be on the set each day of 14 weeks of shooting — and that’s after eight weeks of shopping.

Priestly is the editor in chief of the world’s end-all, be-all fashion magazine, Runway. Her signature style is “expensive,” said Field. “She is first and foremost an executive, so she might wear a jewel-encrusted sweater but with a pinstripe skirt and a white blouse. There’s always a pinch of glamour, but no trends.”

Field knows a thing or two about trends: She’s the one who dressed Sarah Jessica Parker and her pals on “Sex and the City,” making Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo “celebrities” and convincing countless women to wear their own names around their necks.

But fashion insiders know the top figures in the industry mostly wear timeless styles — things that won’t become dated from one year to the next and, more importantly, one photograph to another. It’s why Field chose several of Bill Blass’ perfectly fitted jackets for Priestly’s work wardrobe and a custom-made Valentino gown with an oversized bow for the film’s biggest fashion scene, a huge charity gala at a museum.

“Miranda is the queen of fashion, and that’s how she dresses,” Field said.

Anne Hathaway’s eager Andy, the aspiring writer who gives up onion bagels in favor of a Fendi baguette, starts off in shapeless sweaters and skirts that literally came from a middle America mall. But once she gets a makeover, she is off and running in high-heel and thigh-high Chanel boots.

Field says she used a lot of Chanel in the wardrobe for Andy because it is so beautiful, identifiable and immediately associated with a world most people don’t get to live in.

The highlight is a figure-hugging gown from John Galliano.

“The Galliano gown that I got to wear at the benefit was just absolute heaven,” Hathaway said.

The 23-year-old actress also said she learned from Field to play up her sexier, sassier side through clothes.

“I’ve always been pretty comfortable and pretty resigned to the fact that I’m just curvy and I’m never going to be a stick, but Pat taught me how to highlight my assets,” Hathaway said.

Field encourages and emphasizes personal style. And she says the key to dressing characters, whether they are actors or people plucked from the street, is making sure they can handle the clothes.