Elle Magazine Has Embraced Women of Color in 2013

Last week we got quite excited at the "It Can't All Be Dior" offices when Kerry Washington was the Elle Magazine June cover gal. Finally a woman of color stands there to lure readers. We remarked then how appropriate a subject she is since she's in a crazy popular show with a loyal following (ie: built in fan base = built in readership = money$$$) 


Well with natural journalistic intrigue, we went back and happened upon a nice trend: Elle has put three consecutive women of color on their covers 

Rita Ora KILLED it in couture on the May 2013 cover

And Nicki Minaj got the "natural" treatment for the April 2013 cover 

Now, it is true that Rita Ora was one of a series of covers for May 2013 featuring current musical ladies that rock, but of the three possible covers, TWO were women of color (Alicia Keys being the second and Adele being the white gal) 

And it is also true that Claire Danes, Jessica Biel and Taylor Swift have rounded out the year as thus far, but to paraphrase Meatloaf: 3 out of 6 ain't bad. 

Let's Talk about Dior, Baby

The damsels of Dior have been out and about showcasing the new looks from Raf Simons. 

But as underwhelming as the Spring Couture and Spring 2013 collections were in my humble opinion, some stylish ladies made it look hot, while some, did not. 



The best

                     (Marion Cotillard)                     (Leelee Sobieski)                              (Marisa Tomei)




Marion Cotillard is the face of Dior and she, more than anyone else, has been rocking the catalog of couture and ready to wear. This strapless and long skirt combo is French fashion's version of casual cute. 


Marisa Tomei worked choppy stripes and ankle monitor pumps, honey.


But the best of the best, HAS to be Leelee Sobieski: ladylike, sleek lines and a devil may care nonchalance. Ohh la la, darlin! 





The Yuk

              (Emma Watson)                                (Jessica Biel)                      (Jennifer Lawrence)



Emma Watson has the excuse of being too young to remember that awful 90's pants under a dress trend. However, I assume she has a mirror? 



Side well pockets? Yes, because women want girth added to their hips. And the length of this mess is making Jessica Biel look short and stumpy. 



Wow. Jennifer Lawrence. Wow. 

Justin Jumps, Jessica Just There

(Photo: People.com)

I'm not a huge fan of either of these two (with the exception of Justin Timberlake's randomly hilarious work on Saturday Night Live) but man is this People Magazine exclusive so indicative of their relationship. 

He got way too much energy, and she is... present. 

DON'T: ELLE's Drab Work of ART

One of the many boring Jessicas covers the December issue of ELLE magazine

but that's not even my main gripe here. ELLE's picked up this bad habit of denoting a theme to each issue of the year and out of nowhere (perhaps to time with Art Basel?) decided December is now "ART-ember", celebrating artists and the art scene.



Meh.




Strip me of my gay card and all, but I couldn't snooze faster at the mention of "ART". Yuk. So pretentious and preposterous the way those white folks flit about flapping hands and making wild gestures over adolescent splatter and nude self-portraits while onlookers nod approvingly and sip cheap magnum wine. Ugh






Sure enough I breeze through the front of book's tedious "we can make this tie together, I swear" pile up and into the well featuring a stunning China Chow in the most uninspired outfits

How is that even possible? This B's got style enough for all 12 issues!


Sadly the whole thing wraps up with the back cover's Dolce & Gabbana ad with Ms Scarlett Jo-Blank Stare

So bookend dull starlets, missed opportunities with actual women of (color!) style and pigeon holed, irrelevant concepts....

Isn't there a holiday or two going on, ELLE?  DON'T be such a Grinch!