>> Speaking of Mario Testino... and Vogue... the May 2006 Cover for Vogue Paris has shown up, looking like an eighties Cindy Crawford throwback.  Meet Anna Mariya Urazhevskaya (or just Anna Mariya), who you will also be seeing in upcoming Blumarine and Kenzo ad campaigns.  I have to say, I'm not usually a fan of close-ups, but if I'm going to be looking at someone's face this close on a cover, it might as well be Anna Mariya's.  Yeah, it's not my favorite cover ever, but it will do -- we have to pick our battles, right?

I apologize for the lack of pictures, but I was requested by Vogue to take them down due to copyright issues.  Thank you for understanding.

>>  I thought I would take a closer-up look at why I really can't stand much of American Vogue anymore, since I complain about it so much. 

In the May 2006 issue, we're off to a bad start with Anna Wintour's letter from the editor -- she comes off as cold, stony, curt.  She says things like: "I am most sympathetic."  Who talks like that?  First sign that Anna needs to loosen up a bit.  She also comes off as pretentious -- granted the letter is an account of her London Fashion Week, but it just seems like she needs to inform the world that she knows lots of important people.  In fact, the whole issue seems like that -- a veritable display of the fact that Anna knows a lot of "important people."  The whole issue is about everyone involved in the Costume Institute Gala.  Sure, I like to see what everyone wears to the Gala as much as the next person, but whole freaking articles on every single person involved -- is that really necessary?  I personally don't care.  Sorry.

Not to mention the stories are always by the same people: Hamish Bowles, Plum Sykes, Andre Leon Talley -- Anna's little posse.  I know Hamish Bowles and A.L.T. are important editors, but that's the point: they're editors.  Writers write.  Editors edit.  Fine if they want to write every once and a while but... a little variety of opinion could perhaps be nice?  And Plum Sykes, she doesn't really have an excuse... as contributing editor, she's supposed to be a writer.  But here I am, tapping my foot, still waiting for a display of writing that convinces me that she is indeed the writer she purports to be, and that she deserves the position of contributing editor at Vogue.

While we're on the same people doing the same things over and over, Mario Testino does like every Vogue shoot ever.  And Caroline Trentini -- she has an editorial for the SEVENTH MONTH in a row.   

As for the feature -- Keira -- well, you've seen that.  It looks like they picked out the same outfit from as many different designers as possible.  That's creativity at its best.  And the catch of the Keira interview -- the first sentence -- the part that's supposed to make you read on, goes a little something like this: "Grand Bahama Island is a curious hybrid of pastel-painted toy-town architecture, great wastes of mangrove forests, and highways with romantic names like Doubloon Road, Spanish Main Drive, and Midshipman Road."  Wow, Hamish, you passed your SAT vocab section with flying colors!  Other than that... snore. 

Sorry, I think it's going to have to stop there.  I just got too bored.  But I hope you can get the general idea. 

Don't worry -- there were a couple of things I liked.  There was a good interview with my favorite Erin Fetherston, and a Dior Haute Couture dress on Stella Tennant that is absolutely beautiful.  Oh, and the article by Marina Rust about eyelash extensions -- that was actually an enjoyable read.   

>>  This editorial, "Morph," is one of those that I hated at first.  But then I let it sit with me, because I have confidence in Inez and Vinoodh and their abilities.  And while the clothing may not be much to look at (most of it is black), and Daria's hair is offputting at first, both together give this a very avant-garde feel.  And the movement -- that's what gets you about this editorial.  It's not the usual "Oh me, I'm laying on a chaise lounge and making my pouty face for the flashing light" stereotypical pose -- it's very jerky, very puppet-like.  It's nice to see a model do some out-of-the-ordinary poses, to get dragged out of the picture frame, to contort her face into something a bit grotesque.  Because as they say, different can be beautiful, too. 

From May 2006 W

>>  A leather messenger bag in a cool minimalist shape (I love the placement of the strap) to start off your manic Monday...