Welcome to your Quarter Life Crisis, Elle US

Elle US celebrates its 25th birthday with four twenty-somethings covering its October 2010 edition – Amanda Seyfried, Megan Fox, Lauren Conrad and Gabourey Sidibe.

The cover girl that I’m most excited about (the others are a bit on the yawn blah same old, same old side) is Gabourey. I’m so glad such a talented actress is getting props.

Gabourey covers Elle

BUT. What’s with the styling and the hair? C’mon now, surely the Elle US team could’ve done best.

Here’s what she says on the inside:

Gabourey Sidibe
Actress, Hollywood cliché slayer
Credits: Nominated for best actress Oscar in 2009’s Precious; plays Laura Linney’s mouthy high school student on Showtime’s cancer-is-hilarious dramedy, The Big C, and bully Latonya in the upcoming Yelling to the Sky.
On celebrating her twenty-fifth birthday: ‘Part of me thought it would be weird if people knew I was a grown-up playing a teenager in Precious. So I had a twenty-first-birthday party. We had drinks and went to a strip club called Shotgun Willie’s.’
Jersey cocktail dress with jeweled detail, Tadashi Shoji, $308. Brass necklace with crystal and glass, Fenton, $540.

Other things I love in this edition:

The dress Megan dons on her cover

Janelle Monae getting some shine on the inside

Janelle Monáe
Singer, Diddy protégé
Credits: Cofounded record label Wondaland Arts Society; released toe-tapping album The ArchAndroid, earning critical hosannas (from mainstream and indies alike) and an opening spot on Erykah Badu’s tour.
Wisdom gained so far: ‘Don’t get high off praises, and don’t get too low on critiques.’
How she’ll celebrate her twentyfifth: ‘On a space shuttle.”
Cotton shirt, Brooks Brothers, $90. Wool crepe and satin pants, Azzaro, $1,465. Vintage gold earrings with enamel and diamonds, $1,150, gold ring with onyx, $995, both, from Beladora, Beverly Hills. Brass bone cuff, Fawn by Jennifer Fisher Jewelry, $200. Lace-up and peep-toe leather booties, Christian Louboutin, $995.

All pics via.

Victoria/ Victorious

You don’t have to know me that well to know that I worship at the altar of Victoria Beckham. From her cheesetastic Spice Girls roots, even through her trashtastic chav moments to her current fashionista/ businesswoman incarnation – everything she does, I love love love. Le Sigh.

So, I’m quite pleased by two things this month:

1. Her fab picture on the cover of Fairlady magazine. You can check the profile (written by moi) right over HERE.

2. Her stellar turn in German Vogue; which, at the moment, is my favourite Vogue. You can see some pictures from her spread HERE.

Pics via.

FAIRLADY gets real!

If you didn’t know, now you know: The magazine I work at, FAIRLADY magazine, has a reality show hitting TV this Friday. The show’s going to track the trails and tribulations of a group of young people as they vie for the position of Style & Beauty Intern.

I can’t really say much more (for fear of giving anything away), just watch it! First episode screens this Friday (2 April), 9PM on MNet Series!

Separate, but Equal?

Vogue Italia totally won me over with its 2008 All Black Issue and now this… The magazine has launched two new websites: Vogue Curvy and Vogue Black.

I do think this is some kind of progress, given the magazine world’s continued inability to view beauty as anything but white and thin. On the other hand, like Amy Odell asks in New York Magazine: ‘Why must curvy women [and] women of color… be viewed in separate channels?’

Segregation always makes me itchy, but if this is what it takes for more representivity in fashion and the publishing world… why not?

What I like about it? The content is fantastic. They have video clips of bigger girls going clothes shopping and real advice for black women who want to embrace their natural hair texture. I work in the magazine industry in South Africa and find it pathetic that mainstream magazines here still have a very real cultural bias. Puzzling that the majority of women in this country are black and the average dress size is 36, yet our magazines could learn a lesson or 10 from Vogue Italia.

And, for your viewing pleasure, some pics from the 2008 edition:

Naomi

Iman

Pics via.

Do your thang, Miss Solangel!

Miss Solange Knowles in all her fabulosity!

We all know my love for the Knowles’ knows no bounds (phantsi haters!), so even though this here article is ancient in internets years, I still have to give Little Sis her props.  

Solange is one fiesty chick and, although not always on point, her personal style is sick (yes, that rhymes). Her music’s also quite something. Her album, Sol-Angel and the Hadley St Dreams, is a staple at my place.

In her recent interview with Honey magazine, she opens up about her music, love life and her hair. Recently, the weave-a-licious Solange chopped off all her hair, causing quite the furore. She was featured on Oprah, during a story on Chris Rock’s documentary, Good Hair. Solange – and her weave-free hair – even shot up to Twitter’s number 3 trending topic at some point. This was her reaction:

The first picture of me when I cut it off — I had no idea that there was any photography going on. I was looking like someone taking their kid to school at 7 o’clock in the morning in jeans and a top and no makeup on, no earrings, no nothing. That reaction was very harsh, very negative. I think it was the initial thought of change in someone that freaked everyone out. As a society we equate beauty with the images that have been placed in front of us since we were little kids. Every Disney movie, every fairy tale, every pop star typically has a certain aesthetic and look. I think that anytime we see something different, it freaks us out. The more people warmed up to it, and they saw more images of me with it and dressed up with my earrings and a little something, something on my face, I think then people were more willing to conform and accept it. Now, it’s interesting how the first day I had it, I had nothing but negative, evil, cruel things in my inbox and then yesterday [after Oprah aired] I had 300,000 people saying ‘Oh my God, you looked amazing, so beautiful, and you made us proud.’ People were able to hear my reasoning, which is good and bad because we should be able to just express ourselves.

(Emphasis mine).

The thing I dig most about Solange is that she’s marketed as the ‘outspoken’ Knowles sister (I have no doubt that everything that family does is orchestrated) and she embraces that role with open arms. For more gorgeous pics and quotable quotes, head over to Honey (www.honeymag.com).

You can check out Solo’s Oprah appearance right here:
Youtube clip [Sorry, didn't allow embedding]
Jezebel clip

Guess who’s locking Vogue down – worldwide!

Miss Beyonce Knowles in Vogue Italia

Yes, not only is Mrs Carter covering US Vogue’s April 2009 issue, she’s also featured in April’s Vogue Italia. She’s not playing games.

It’s been a minute, hasn’t it?

A thousand apologies! I’ve been AWOL for almost a month now. Not a good look, at all. To make up for the absence, here’s a great look – Mrs Carter doing her thing on the April cover of Vogue US (a first for Beyonce! Yay!):

Beyonce Knowles

Pic via

The Great(est) Kate

Say what you want about Miss Moss – yes, my fashion consciousness was formed in the 90s - but she sure can turn it out. Look. At. That. Face.

She discusses her latest ventures, designing for Topshop and pregnancy rumours in this New York magazine feature.

Some highlights?

Kate on designing: 

 I’m not a designer. I’ve never been to school or been trained. I can’t draw a dress, really. But I know what I like.

On her attitude to clothes:

I love clothes. I know how clothes should fit and feel. When I would go to shoots, stylists would say to me, “You really should do something. You should take it another step.” But it never felt right until I met Philip and the whole atmosphere of Topshop.

On her newfound boobage:

 I am a woman now! It’s true. No, honestly, I’ve never worn a bra in my life. Ever! It’s so awful, even my friends are phoning me up and saying “Are you pregnant?” And I’m like, “No! I just put on a couple of pounds, and they went in the right place.” Isn’t that weird? And how perfect for lingerie.

It’s a wrap!

What a week it was… Full of drama, celebs, mag covers and unflattering clothes. This week:

• Rihanna and Chris Brown missed the Grammys, had an altercation and speculation and mayhem ensued;
• M.I.A., on the other hand, made it to the Grammys and I fell deeper in love with her and her uterus;
• Beyonce also skipped out on the music awards ceremony. But if you miss her badly, you can always get your dose of Queen B on the cover of Fairlady;
• Speaking of mag covers, Madonna does W and no one has ever looked so classy while being so sleazy. We love you, Madge!
• Michelle Obama brought the heat on Vogue’s cover and got candid inside - despite having ‘helmet hair’;
• Gwyneth Paltrow has a foul mouth (and wears questionable  outfits);
• Based on Chomee’s indepth analysis of politics and economics (hmm), I now know who to vote for come April (or not);
• The only certainty in my life come April is seeing Mos Def rock the Cape Town Jazz Fest stage;
• We discovered that Salma has healing breasts
• And Lerato Moloi made us hella proud. Gorge girl!

 

 

‘And f**k all the haters!’

Elle UK

… Now, now, Gwynnie, that’s no way for a woman to speak…

Gwyneth Paltrow covers March’s Elle UK in a rather - um -  interesting ensemble (ok, I’m just not feeling it!) and she gets very real when talking about people’s misconceptions, Internet gossip and her vices:

On drinking: ‘I love good red wine. White wine is nice, too. I don’t like lager, but I like stout – I love Guinness. I never get drunk to the point of throwing up or anything. But I get very warm and talkative.’

On smoking: ‘Man, I wish smoking didn’t kill you, I’d be smoking right now. I miss it. The last cigarette I smoked was the day I found out I was pregnant with Apple. I had to sit down and smoke one final cigarette. It’s such a beautiful thing. I’m so pissed off it gives you cancer. But then, once you have children, if you’ve witnessed a death like I did with my father, you just can’t. I’d never want to put them through what I went through. So I don’t do it. But I’ve decided that when I’m about 70 I’m going to start smoking again. Why not? I can’t wait!’

Gossip blogs: ‘I saw this blog of people writing horrible things about me. And, you know, for a second you lose perspective and your ego is so wounded. You think, how could people hate me or hate my intentions or what I’m trying to do? I’m a good person and I’m trying to put good things into the world.’

On just being Gwyneth: ‘I am who I am. I can’t pretend to be somebody who makes £15,000 a year. That would be completely inauthentic. I know what my intention [with her email newsletter Goop] is – and if it makes one person’s life better, then it’s worth it. And f**k the haters!’