Self Service

And Coco Rocha spills on her style icons.

The Fourth of July is about more than just barbecues, fireworks and baseball games. It's about independence! Beating the system, forging your own path, etc., etc. So we thought, what better time to highlight some of our favorite independent fashion magazines who are doing just that.

Fashion is always looking for the next big thing--and that means photographers, models and magazines are continuously pushing themselves onwards and

Dont judge a book by its cover... Unless it's a magazine, in which case, sometimes the cover is the deciding factor of whether or not to buy the mag altogether. The best covers of 2011 returned to a new naturalism and a fun aesthetic, like the Lara Stone T cover we're still drooling over, pictured at left. Sure, there's still room for artifice in fashion (see: Stella Tennant on Vogue Italia), but 2011 was a year for reflecting on natural beauties, incredible models, and stellar photography. After toiling over hundred of covers, we're bringing you "The Best" according to us. Did we forget your favorite? Let us know in the comments.

It happens every year: Our ever-growing pile of fashion magazines inches higher with each passing month, and by the time December rolls around, we can barely sift through the hundreds of stylish images we bookmarked for inspiration. 2011 was no exception, and in a year that celebrated retro supermodels, androgyny, vivid colors, and plenty of experimentation in the beauty department, choosing our favorites was particularly difficult. The best editorials of the year ran the gamut from huge ensemble casts of blue-chip models styled by greats like Katie Grand and Carine Roitfeld, to intimate, one-on-one portraits of our favorite girls like Lindsey Wixson and Daria Werbowy. The acid brights that dominated the spring collections allowed for some pretty trippy trend stories last season, but the fall glossies featured much moodier imagery, with a number of gorgeous spreads in black and white. Here are the editorials from 2011 that will stay tacked up on our walls and fill our inspiration boards well into the new year—and beyond.

more Here's what we're feeling this month: Lindsey Wixson in Oyster #95 Christopher Kane SS12 Lara Stone in T Magazine Winter Travel Issue Lady Warh

In the spirit of July (the month of my birth!) I've picked all out my favorite things for this month's mood board. Click through to find out what to get me for a present...

Memory Lane: Natasha Poly tweeted this photo, and look at that hair! We love seeing models on Twitter. It can keep us entertained for days. {Twitter}

New York Fashion Week layers its shows one over the other with anywhere from three to five shows in a single time slot, but London's perfectly organiz

Ford Models just re-signed Jerry Hall. The woman's been modeling for thirty-seven years but it sounds like it took her recent turn for Chanel to get F

"Our compromise is, we'll do one house in Malibu, one in the West Village for Frances and one in London for me." - Courtney Love, on what she's been u

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