Please...this cover is scary...period.
Oh, please with this controversy about the new Elle magazine cover photo featuring Gabourey Sidibe. Yikes. First of all, Essence magazine must be kicking themselves for not putting her on their cover first. Say what you want, she ain’t pretty enough to be on the cover of a fashion / beauty magazine. And I am dying to see how many more issues will sell (such a poet) with Gabourey gracing (for lack of a better word) the cover. W magazine did something like this a couple of years ago by featuring Ugly Betty‘s America Ferrera when that show was popular. And yes, Anna Wintour put Jennifer Hudson on the cover of Vogue post Oscar win…but that was a bit too Entertainment Weekly for my tastes. I just wish all the top fashion magazines would go back to putting models on their covers in the hopes of recreating the glamorous supermodel era of the 70’s and 80’s. Say what you want about our industry today, but it does not hold a candle to the unending elegance and chicness of that time period. Actresses were watched and models were everything.
Yes, I was happy for Jennifer...but this is not what Vogue is all about in my book.
Now just a word or two about the retouching drama that Elle is accused of. I am sure Robbie Myers, Editor-in-Chief is being truthful when she says that the lighting and make up for a cover shoot garners completely different results than some red carpet paparazzi shot. That’s comparing apples to oranges. Might I interject that Gabourey is so loud on any red carpet interview that who can even see her. You have to turn your head from the shrill of her voice. The make up and lighting for a cover shoot is so precise and detailed, that you will naturally get a fresh, brighter result. And what’s so terrible if they did get a result that looks somewhat different? Huh? I am sure Gabourey is thrilled to bits to be in the company of the actresses and supermodels that have graced the covers of Elle. Controversy over now please bring me Chanel Iman, thank you.
Now this is a cover.
I was in my teens, when I saw Beverly Johnson on the cover of Vogue. It was memorable because suddenly there someone who was beautiful, smart, fashionable and black. It altered my point of view of who could be all those things. I wasn't subjected to movie tie-ins, or how many children they've adopted or had with their movie star husband. I just looked at fashion and style. I miss those days too.
I hope we can start a revolution. Thanks for the comments.