to say that the big three–w, vogue, and bazaar–have deserved their lower sales and circulation would be an understatement. bland editorials, lackluster cover choices (or interesting choices but bad photography) seems to be par for the course. for the december issues, w went with a hot, young face and bazaar went with a proven newsstand draw showing a different side of her personality.
gossip girl blake lively hit the big leagues first, nabbing her first fashion cover (shot by inez and vinoodh no less). i don’t know what is happening on the cover–bad pose and bad prop (isn’t the american flag a november motif?) inside, the images are at least more inspired, and better fitting for the cover. the one editorial “american dreamin'” (also shot by i&v), features sessilee lopez, lara stone, abbey lee kershaw, aline weber, and eniko mihalik in a lachapelle-inspired ed full of bright colors, cheesy american icons (like in-and-out burger and marlboros), and american fashion. the styling by alex white was spot on, and included some of the usual suspects (calvin, ralph, marc) and some not so usual (isaac mizrahi, banana republic, levi’s)
gossip girl (but in a different way) lindsay lohan is on the cover of bazaar for the second time this year. i suppose this time she’s promoting her relationship with samantha ronson, which she publicly acknowledges (as if we didn’t know). i will say that linds looks great au naturel sporting jeans and t-shirts, and that photographer terry richardson seems to bring out the best in her.
there are two other fashion editorials inside, “new collections,” with chanel iman (shot by tom munro) and “magical fashion, with angela lindvall (by richard burbridge). both are on top of the game in their respective features, and chanel iman has really come on as a model. even in a typically boring studio shoot, she looks amazing in the clothes and has a nice variety of facial expressions and poses so it doesn’t look repetitive. and in the vein of bazaar’s tongue-in-chic eds, sarah silverman does a turn as “jane bond.”
heading into the new year, i hope that magazines see the error of their ways and realize that in order to keep readers and subscribers, they have to be inventive in their cover choices and editorials. mix up the models, feature minority models, use other actresses besides the big three (kidman, aniston, and knightley). in other words, surprise us!
w cover scanned by kroqjock at thefashionspot; american dreamin’ from wmagazine.com; lilo cover and angela scan by kroqjock; chanel iman scanned by fer19dog at thefashionspot
