US Vogue April 2009 : Beyoncé by Mario Testino

[kahlilg]

meh...

 

[haksare]

I had a groan when seeing the title of this thread but I'll take it back. I'm not a fan of her but she does have an amazing voice - I also like the fact that her private life is not so important for her to spill everything to the tabloids

I think she looks stunning on the cover, and for once I like this composition. It's not a smiling celebrity photoshopped to death.
And I think Beyonce works on this cover because its so simple and strips away all of the "Sasha Fierce" qualitities. There are no gold Roberto Cavalli gowns or big wavy hair - I think that's my favourite part of this.

But the cover line that always rubs me wrong on every magazine cover is "real women have curves". Tha's like saying every slim woman is not ... a woman - am I the only one with this sentiment?

You're not the only one, I'm with you 110%.
As a tall and thin gal myself, I feel like this tagline is favoring the full figured women and degrading the less-than-average-weight women as "unnormal" or "deformed". Yes, women have curves; but does that constitute a real woman. What happened to the notion of being happy in your own body. Just as curvy is a body type, so it being thin. Its ironic how the American public just likes to look down on the thinner types, accusing them as a bad influence on young girls and yet it's taboo to look down upon an overweight woman.
So I'm with you on that, Tinsley.


As for the cover; I love it. It's very classic and simple and clean. I like her hair slicked back and the color of the dress looks wonderful next to her skin.
But I must say as much as I admire her for her talent and persona, she's no Sasha Fierce. That title is reserved for Sasha Pivovarova

 

[LUXXX]

I loved the styling and she looks great. I actually like it
This year Vogue has definitely been changing.

That I will say, I'm glad Vogue is taking this year to break in fresh faces and not recycling the same ones.

Katherine Heigl's rumored April cover must've been pushed back to summer since her movie is now considered a summer blockbuster.

 

[RochaLover]

Why Anna, WHY!?!?!?!?!?!?

 

[XavierRaphael]

What is Sasha wearing?

 

[user.n.]

Not very powerful, i feel depressed when look it on, but i cannot say this is ugly.
Hope that the contains will be good.
(i note that more black women on the US Vogue cover. Good message for the world i think.)

 

[mmr421]

This cover is atrocious. Oh well.

"'Real women have curves' is a silly argument at best, and insulting to all women at worst. After all, what does 'real women have curves' imply about thin women? They're not 'real' women? They don't have curves? And are curves the only factor that determines womanhood? Note that this phrase keeps the issue firmly in the realm of the physical–the mainstream claim is that women are valuable when they're thin; the 'real women have curves' backlash just turns that message around: 'women are valuable when they have curves.' It's the same superficial, sexist wolf in feminist, pro-fat clothing. http://fatsteria.blogspot.com/2008/05/real-women-have-curves-deceptively-ugly.html-FATSTERIA

 

[rinck]

she looks good, but beyonce? overrated. i wish vogue would put someone with actual style on the cover, like chloe sevigny, not someone who is styled.

 

[Jacque Marcel]

she looks good, but beyonce? overrated. i wish vogue would put someone with actual style on the cover, like chloe sevigny, not someone who is styled.

Anna will never allow anyone who soaked cork on screen to grace the cover of Vogue...

The more I look at it, the more it puts me to sleep.

 

[Les_Sucettes]

Well I simply detest Beyonce. Why is she in the cover of Vogue? She's one of the most unstylish celebs in the world.

 

[KKnardi]

oh well, i don't like the cover. but it's a shape issue... so it's all about feeling beautiful and weight loss. I'm bored to death.

 

[ponytrot]

she looks teriffic! the colour of the dress looks wonderful on her.

 

[Chitown1296]

I'm not a fan, but she looks good.

 

[tigerrouge]

I didn't much notice the 'real women have curves' line, I thought it was about Beyonce, a typical quote that celebrities use in interviews, claiming they're "real" and "love their curves" when they've got a small army of assistants to help keep their curves real.

 

[ponytrot]

i wish vogue would put someone with actual style on the cover

this will pretty much never happen. Vogue has a tendency to want to promote either substanceless teen stars with a bit of hype and zero style (or talent) or to promote cultural icons (also with little style, but sometimes armed with a decent stylist).

I think they just like moulding and casting their covergirls into their own image, constantly putting them on the conde nast "best dressed" lists no matter how utterly fug.

 

[masquerade]

Frankly, I don't get the hate for Beyonce. She is over the top in her professional career, but frankly, don't fashion people adore that sort of thing. And she definitely pushes the limit with her fashion, how many other celebs have worn Pugh?

As for the cover, I find it boring. I enjoy seeing her in a really natural, soft setting, but for an issue on shape that talks about curves, there are none! They should show off her famous figure.

 

[Gary101]

You know what i find to be an epic joke? The "NIP/TUCK Designing a Perfect Body" banner, i know all fashion magazines, Vogue including, should be taken with a grain of salt, but doing a shape issue where you celebrate all women's body types, and then having a feature like that is just silly.

My thoughts exactly. Don't they even read the cover headlines before they put it to print

However that is an excellent cover. Vogue has had a great change this year. For fresh cover stars. Finally a change. Now if Bazaar, InStyle and Elle took notice.

 

[nyc_art_style]

well vogue certainly didn't come up with the phrase "real women have curves" it's popular phrase so i suppose they slapped it on the cover to get people's attention. i'm thin and i'm not offended by the phrase. it's just something magazines say to make plus size women think that magazines care about them.

anna obviously thinks thin women are real women since she fills the other 11 issues of the year with them.

 

[American Aries]

Its ironic how the American public just likes to look down on the thinner types, accusing them as a bad influence on young girls and yet it's taboo to look down upon an overweight woman.

That has to be the funniest thing I've read all year. We live in a culture of worship when it comes to the thin figure. Sorry, but it is ten times harder (and it always has been) to be overweight than thin in this world. There are so many hurtful and false stereotypes associated with big women, while thin women are seen as the "ideal" of society. It's nonsense.

You should read the outrage in the letters to the editor of Vogue magazine (or any fashion magazine, frankly) when a bigger than average women is presented in a positive light in the fashion industry. You'd think a mortal sin had been committed.

 

[TillyBee]

i like it. beyonce deserves it.
i dont like her hair though.