Editors, Fashionistas Concur: Katie Holmes Is Smart

did I ever tell you you're my she-ro?

As a card carrying member of the chattering class I am a little bit astonished at how Katie Holmes has managed to veer away from being perceived by editors and fashionistas as drinking the Tom Cruise Kool-ade. Now, suddenly, she -- formerly the second part of TomKat -- is something of a shero. From the Gray Lady:

"As Janice Min, the editorial director of The Hollywood Reporter, put it: 'The whole narrative on Katie Holmes was ‘She’s been brainwashed and lobotomized. She’s a zombie for Scientology.’ That’s what made this whole saga breathtaking. Forget the princess in ‘Brave.’ This is the heroine of the moment.'
       

"Liz Rosenberg, the publicist for many celebrities who have been through nasty breakups and divorces, among them Madonna and Cher, concurred.

      

"'People see her as a battered wife who got out,' she said. 'I don’t know why. I don’t have the hatred for Tom Cruise other people have, but whatever went on between them, she came out smelling like a rose.'    

  

"Indeed. Whatever Ms. Holmes’s strategy was, it seems to have worked. The couple reached a settlement (the terms have not been disclosed, but have reportedly left the former Mrs. Cruise well off, as well as with primary custody of Suri) in near-record time, suggesting that the sweet-looking actress is very savvy.

      

"Even the fashion crowd, which previously grumbled that Ms. Holmes’s clothing choices were a bit of a bore, is now applauding her style sense.

      

"'I’m fascinated by what she’s been wearing,' said Charlotte Cowles, an editor at New York Magazine’s fashion blog, the Cut. 'It’s simple relatable clothing. She’s playing the mom role she wants to portray herself as: a loving parent and as a normal person, America’s sweetheart. It’s a clichéd term, but Tom Cruise is a wild card, and she knows she needs to play the opposite. She’s been very smart.'"

And -- very lucky (if you go in for that sort of thing; and I do). More here.