Yesterday afternoon, The Daily posted an imagined interview with the November issue of Allure. The story’s set up as a look at what it’s like to be a glossy mag in a world that’s constantly downsizing.
Its tone, however, made it feel more like an interview with a petulant, somewhat ditzy, undernourished starlet. Full Disclosure: I’ve worked at both places, but this left me wondering where The Daily’s flood of negativity towards the beauty book was coming from. Take this exchange for example:
Does it embarrass you to scream words like “sexiest” month after month?
Even a glossy can blush. We’re using variations of that word more than ever before. It must sell or something. But why not use it in top left then?
And this one:
Do you move on the newsstand? Be honest.
It really depends. Sometimes I linger, especially in bodegas. I do better at airports. Even with my strict exercise regime and all that green juice, I feel totally lame when the US Weeklys of the stand outperform me. If I could cry, I would. I think I have body dysmorphia disorder.
Green’s Growth: Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about Sir Phillip Greene, except of course the answer to the age old question, can he finally conquer America. So far so good, but even Kate Moss can only get Topshop so far. {Bloomberg}
Party Time: Heidi Klum and Seal threw their annual Halloween bash in LA this weekend. We spy crows, Gaga, a single lady and best of all Kelly Osbourne and Luke Worrall as bacon and eggs. {Modelinia}
Bazaar’s New Moon: Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson are apparently on the next cover of Harper’s Bazaar. Vampire anything “At Every Age” seems rather hard to manage with them not aging and all. Pattinson’s also landed the December cover of Vanity Fair though he, unlike Shia and the others, isn’t christened the next _____.{WWD} & {VanityFair}
West Coast Style: The CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalists took their show on the road to Los Angeles, the Chateau Marmont to be exact. And there was a Lisa Love sighting which made us miss her days on The Hills. {Vogue}
This picture landed in my inbox because of the Bally bag Kate Hudson’s holding - which is cute - but I’m writing about it because of the kid.
It’s from the set of a shoot for Harper’s Bazaar (I swear we’re not trying to belabor our Bazaar feelings; it just keeps coming up) in which she’s modeling not just the latest fashion, but also her five-year-old son, Ryder.
The kid looks adorable, but it’s jarring to see him voluntarily put in front of the camera when so many people - famous people - complain about media attention toward their children. It’s something we touched on last year when Natalia Vodianova dragged her entire clan into the pages of Vogue and something we thought about again when Angela Lindvall posed with her kids in British Vogue and then gave her son a starring role in her Gap ad.
Is it okay because it’s a controlled environment, unlike the paparazzi on the sidewalk? Because they’re still kids either way, and they’re not the ones choosing to model, their parents just happen to be really, really pretty. Are we nuts? Or would you, too, prefer your fashion editorials without a side of child?
Well, Harper’s Bazaar, just when I think I’m out…you pull me back in.
I have made it entirely clear how I feel about a certain theme in the magazine (and subsequent coverlines.) But I did find our friend Bonnie Morrison’s piece about drinking and the social aspects of a job in fashion last month incredibly insightful. And now here you go putting my girl Tina Fey on the cover for November.
If you’re not going to put a model or a “typical” (and don’t you people get all fired up about that, you know what I mean and why it happens) fashion person on the cover, then this is the kind of smarts and beauty that I want to see. And an interview I might actually want to read. Not a paparazzi shot of Angelina Jolie with a less than interesting write-around story accompanying said picture.
So kudos, Glenda. You definitely win this round. How can I argue with a woman as awesome as Tina who says of her glasses, “And I don’t wear them when I am dressed up, because then I would look like Tootsie.” And also coined the phrase, “I want to go to there.” Well played, Ms. Bailey. Well played.
We’re still rolling our eyes over the Leighton aging antics in September’s Harper’s Bazaar, but this morning, Models.com posted an editorial that gives us back some faith in the mag: Agyness channeling the different looks of Michael Jackson.
It is especially telling to Michael’s influence that he could be portrayed by a blonde, white, British woman. Though you could definitely insert a joke here. Of course, his sketchy cosmetic surgery changed who he was, making his face a blank canvas of sorts. His surgery dramas were a reflection his way too complicated to understand issues and we’re guessing sadness. But this editorial is focusing on his long-lasting and widespread musical and fashion legacy, the things that brought his fans happiness.
Terry Richardson shot it (he also shot Leighton for the cover) and we love it. They capture the fun in fashion that Michael definitely embraced when he dressed. Life can be rough, but clothing can always lift our spirits—especially if it’s sequined. His fashion choices were as significant as his music, and this homage is making us feel like moonwalking again.
Just when I thought I was out…it pulls me back in.
Here I was thinking that I had purged my long-brewing rage about Harper’s Bazaar and “At Every Age”, when I wake up to an email that begins: “Are You Trendy at Twenty? Stylish at Sixty?” Are people trying to torture me?
Maybe not people, just Bazaar. They’re now taking this thing nationwide with a contest to find women who are “Fabulous at Every Age.” Again, not a bad concept. There are indeed a lot of fabulous women at every age. EIC Glenda Bailey references a great Coco Chanel quote in the release: “Nature gives you the face you have at twenty; it is up to you to merit the face you have at fifty.”
Word. I couldn’t agree more. And I hope to live a life that one day merits a great 50 year old face. I’m just bummed out that apparently this is the central concept around which one of our once great American fashion magazines now revolves. And here I was thinking that it was, you know, fashion.
Being a former magazine editor, and still a current magazine lover, I often get angry when I see things I once loved go sour. I already made it pretty clear how I felt about the pick-up paparazzi shot of Angelina Jolie that Harper’s Bazaar used on the cover.
And, forgive my rant, Glenda, but now I’ve got another gripe. Enough with the “At Every Age” shtick. Please. It seems like every single story in the magazine now has this age component.
Apparently even cover stories are no longer immune as Leighton Meester has been digitally aged on the inside pages. I’m happy that Leighton scored a big cover. But is this really the best idea to be had about what to do with her?
Die Hard: Do you think Tallulah’s getting ribbed about these pics over at her Bazaar gig? We’re just super glad that’s not our dad doing all those things because this is definitely more uncomfortable than anything her stepdad has ever Tweeted. {W}
All Tied Up: We’ve been rocking out old school knot bracelets since Memorial Day and plan to all summer long. Behnaz has a different spin. {Elle }
Thank You Selma: Charivari creator Selma Weiser passed away this weekend. We have her to thank for giving Marc his first fashion job and basically reinventing merchandising and retail. {WWD}
This is…Fashionair: Manager and producer Simon Fuller (he of American Idol and Spice Girls fame) is taking his wily media ways to the internet in September by way of a fashion website called Fashionair. Will VB be blogging? {Grazia}
We just saw the new cover of Harper’s Bazaaronline and let us say that we were a bit surprised.
The cover image is pick-up art from a red carpet event back in December, so the shot may look familiar to you. And inside there is no accompanying interview with the usually candid Angie. Instead, there is an essay by Naomi Wolf (of The Beauty Myth fame) titled “Why Women Want Angelina Jolie’s Life” which we think is rather obvious. But that’s not even our problem here.
Bazaar is meant to be one of our venerable American fashion magazines. And this reeks of tabloids, more than fashion.
I worked in magazines for many, many years. The importance of newsstand sales is something I know all too well. But throwing Angelina’s face onto the cover and doing a write-around story is such an obvious sales ploy that it makes me sad for Bazaar and for the state of magazines in general.
Starting next month, about a dozen items - mostly totes and tees - will be on sale at Obama.com and they’ll be different from those MoveOn sweats in one crucial way:
They’ve been sketched out by Diane Von Furstenberg, Derek Lam, and other CFDA members, including Tracy Reese, whose Obama scoop neck can be seen at left. The clothes will also have a launch party at Charles Nolan’s studio on September 9 - during New York Fashion Week.
Robin Givhan reveals the whole project in the Washington Post, noting “the risk, of course, is being perceived as highbrow or shallow. Obama’s opponents have derisively dismissed him as an elitist and a celebrity. And it was the fashion industry that spawned the celebri-monster known as Paris Hilton. Having Seventh Avenue on his roster of supporters would not seem conducive to a Dockers-man image.”
We’re not completely sure that fashion did spawn Paris Hilton - unless Page Six is considered a direct arm of the style industry - but she’s got a point. She’s also got a guarantee from Tracy Reese that she will sport the Obama tee at some point this Fashion Week, and that’s a really big deal.
Note that this isn’t the only fashion initiative tied to Democrats this season - Anna Wintour famously hosted a Calvin Klein dinner for Michelle Obama last month, and the Senator’s wife was also the inspiration for the September cover of Harper’s Bazaar, which starred Tyra Banks.
Come August, NYLON Guys also gets into the mix - they’ve donated their entire back cover to Obama’s campaign, a first for a national fashion title.
Meanwhile, McCain has the devout support of Hills star and designer, Heidi Montag.
Despite the recent Rachel Zoe/Anna Wintour fashion feud, Harper’s Bazaar has had no qualms in taking in the stray fashionista. I guess editor-in-chief, Glenda Bailey, wants to cause a little ruckus in the fashion world. I overheard Ms. Bailey and another editor discussing a shoot styled by, da duh da duh, Ms. Zoe herself.
Will her first editorial styling gig put her up top with the likes of Brana Wolf or confirm that she should stick to dressing Hollywood starlets? My guess is…the latter. The issue should be out this fall.
xo
Something about this e-mail really makes us wish Gossip Girl was still on…
Months after the Costume Institute announces it’s big ball theme - Comic Book Chic - and already we’re seeing it reverberate in the mass market.
To the left is an upcoming print from Puma; to the right is a hoodie from Topshop. They’re almost identical, and they’re not the only Pop prints you’ll see this Spring and Summer.
This is on top of the runway masks at Marc, Luella, and Alexander McQueen, and past the editorials in Bazaar and V that literally turn comic books into fashion spreads.
And if Vogue isn’t sponsoring a Lichtenstein exhibit in the next year, then our Magic 8 Ball is totally, totally busted.
We didn’t come up with FakesAreNeverinFashion.com, but we wish we did. The website is part of Bazaar Elite.com - and it’s the most fun one can have while fighting fashion crimes.
Their “Shop” section teaches you how to spot a fake, while their “Learn” section lets you report them. It also shares video clips and articles about undercover investigations into the mafia-like world of counterfeiting.
On the “We’re T’d Off” page, anyone can submit their designs for an anti-faux statement tee. The winner’s shirt will be mass produced and published in an issue of Harper’s Bazaar. And if you send us one, we promise to wear it the next time we walk down Canal St.
Our favorite part is their Fake to Fabulous sweepstakes. If you do have a faux-Vuitton hidden in the back of your closet, you can send it to the magazine’s headquarters and they’ll enter you into a $1000 shopping spree - and if you do your shopping homework, you can get a couple of real designer handbags for that much money.
Thanks to our baby Greg for this ridiculous video, where the fire alarm at Harper’s Bazaar explodes in the middle of their Christmas concert - done by Stevie Wonder.
Oddly, our first thoughts about this whole event zoom to Stevie Wonder’s wife, Kai Milla, who’s been trying with marginal success to launch a clothing empire in recent years. We expect now that Stevie’s done the honors at a Bazaar party, Ms. Milla will be duly featured in a few fashion spreads.
Meanwhile, just in case there’s any confusion as to what, exactly, is happening, a lovely shrill male voice rings out from the crowd:
“Oh no! It’s a fiiiiiiiiire!”
But if you think the Bazaar party was flaming, you should see this guy’s Judy Garland impression.
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Yesterday afternoon, The Daily posted an imagined interview with the November issue of Allure. The story’s set up as a look at what it’s like to be a glossy mag in a world that’s constantly downsizing. 
