US Vogue December 2009 : Cate Blanchett by Annie Leibovitz

[j'adorekapusta]

what i find so amusing about US Vogue is their choice of narrative. do they really feel like the only way to address escapism and fantasy through an edit is to channel some Walt Disney plot? i mean, Alice in Wonderland, Sleeping Beauty and now the Henzel & Gaga extravaganza... is this the only way to make a modern woman think of fantasy? does a modern American woman have nothing more to relate to other than the casual US Vogue's musings on superheroes/Disney world? this is really beyond me

 

[Spike413]

^ I think you're reading more into it than is intended. My take is that the fairy tale eds they've done every year for a while now are done because a) it provides a ready-made narrative, and US Vogue doesn't do many eds with an actual narrative going on in them, and b) it's a chance for everyone to flex a bit of their creative muscle. More often than not, the designs featured are almost always custom made for that editorial, the set and lighting design is to the max, and there are cameos from figures in the fashion/entertainment/art worlds.

I also think that so many people still remember that Natalia as Alice in Wonderland ed so fondly that the folks at Vogue figure it can't hurt to continue in that tradition and try (though in vain) to top that moment.

 

[iluvjeisa]

^ I think you're reading more into it than is intended. My take is that the fairy tale eds they've done every year for a while now are done because a) it provides a ready-made narrative, and US Vogue doesn't do many eds with an actual narrative going on in them, and b) it's a chance for everyone to flex a bit of their creative muscle. More often than not, the designs featured are almost always custom made for that editorial, the set and lighting design is to the max, and there are cameos from figures in the fashion/entertainment/art worlds.

I also think that so many people still remember that Natalia as Alice in Wonderland ed so fondly that the folks at Vogue figure it can't hurt to continue in that tradition and try (though in vain) to top that moment.

I have also reflected on the sad fairy tale editorials. They seem so obvious, so predictable, so boring. You would have to have an IQ of less than 70 not to get the references. And I can't say I remember the Natalia as Alice editorial fondly either.

I'm pretty tired of this type of stilted pandering to the masses.

 

[A.D.C.]

I love the Fairy Tale edits, This is US Vogue after all so it's the most we can expect from Anna, it's the type of mass appeal stuff she does best along with the Model/actor edits.

 

[eword]

what i find so amusing about US Vogue is their choice of narrative. do they really feel like the only way to address escapism and fantasy through an edit is to channel some Walt Disney plot? i mean, Alice in Wonderland, Sleeping Beauty and now the Henzel & Gaga extravaganza... is this the only way to make a modern woman think of fantasy? does a modern American woman have nothing more to relate to other than the casual US Vogue's musings on superheroes/Disney world? this is really beyond me

add the daria ed on the way to success... it was also very narrative.
i think its just a further signal of us vogue generally elementary didascalic and ultimately poor imagery...

 

[mackos]

Thanks god there's not Karlie again after all-her issue.

Thank God indeed, very refreshing after so many Vogue Kloss issues

 

[surrealseven]

.
V O G U E..D E C E M B E R..2 0 0 9




*.scan by surreal7..





L I T T L E..G I R L..&..B O Y..L O S T

Photographed by : Annie Leibovitz
Styling by : Grace Coddington
Models : Andrew Garfield, Lily Cole & Lady GaGa


O N..T H E..R I S E

Photographed by : Annie Leibovitz
Styling by : Tonne Goodman
Models : Benjamin Millepied & Cory Steams


M A N H A T T A N..R H A P S O D Y

Photographed by : Annie Leibovitz
Styling by : Grace Coddington
Models : Coco Rocha, Chanel Iman & Sasha Pivovarova


P O I N T..B R E A K

Photographed by : Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott
Styling by : Edward Enninful
Model : Daria Werbowy


H E R..B R I L L I A N T..C A R E E R

Photographed by : Annie Leibovitz
Styling by : Alexandra Kotur
Models : Secretary Hillary Clinton & President Barack Obama


C A R R I E D..A W A Y

Photographed by : Tim Walker
Styling by : Phyllis Posnick
Models : Karlie Kloss & Coco Rocha


B L O W..U P

Photographed by : Terry Richardson
Styling by : Elissa Santisi
Model : Isabeli Fontana



S T E A L..o f..T H E..M O N T H

Photographed by : Patrick Demarchelier
Styling by : Phyllis Posnick
Models : Viktoriya Sasonkina & Karlie Kloss



.

 

[FRANCY ITALY]

thanks dear

finally karma for us

and who said no karlie in the issue? poor us, that's her again inside

 

[MariyaS]

surrealseven, thank you!

 

[tarsha]

and who said no karlie in the issue? poor us, that's her again inside

 

[iluvjeisa]

I love the Fairy Tale edits, This is US Vogue after all so it's the most we can expect from Anna, it's the type of mass appeal stuff she does best along with the Model/actor edits.

But does it have to be both stilted and unimaginative? It seems to me everyone is underestimating the American public: Politicians, Hollywood, Vogue....everyone. It's becoming one of the most culturally deprived nations on earth. Nobody dares venturing into anything that could be hard to interpret for fear that will irk the American sensibilities...

But I digress...

 

[j'adorekapusta]

But does it have to be both stilted and unimaginative? It seems to me everyone is underestimating the American public: Politicians, Hollywood, Vogue....everyone. It's becoming one of the most culturally deprived nations on earth. Nobody dares venturing into anything that could be hard to interpret for fear that will irk the American sensibilities...

But I digress...

that's exactly what i was asking about. it seems like the only thing US Vogue is capable of shoving down its readers throat is fairy tales. wow, how ground-breaking or challenging is that. but seriously, why should Vogue act like the only thing our culture can give is fairy tales? there is no mythology, no theater, no drama, no literature, no art, no sign of evolution of humanity in fact - there is nothing worth of getting inspired with, thus, celebrating. that's really frustrating.
to me it's not about Vogue being not able to get another set of motivation and inspiration, rather than totally diminish its readers and their cultural and intellectual level. this is very degrading.

 

[cottonmouth13]

L I T T L E..G I R L..&..B O Y..L O S T

Photographed by : Annie Leibovitz
Styling by : Grace Coddington
Models : Andrew Garfield, Lily Cole & Lady GaGa


O N..T H E..R I S E

Photographed by : Annie Leibovitz
Styling by : Tonne Goodman
Models : Benjamin Millepied & Cory Steams


M A N H A T T A N..R H A P S O D Y

Photographed by : Annie Leibovitz
Styling by : Grace Coddington
Models : Coco Rocha, Chanel Iman & Sasha Pivovarova


P O I N T..B R E A K

Photographed by : Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott
Styling by : Edward Enninful
Model : Daria Werbowy


H E R..B R I L L I A N T..C A R E E R

Photographed by : Annie Leibovitz
Styling by : Alexandra Kotur
Models : Secretary Hillary Clinton & President Barack Obama


C A R R I E D..A W A Y

Photographed by : Tim Walker
Styling by : Phyllis Posnick
Models : Karlie Kloss & Coco Rocha


B L O W..U P

Photographed by : Terry Richardson
Styling by : Elissa Santisi
Model : Isabeli Fontana



S T E A L..o f..T H E..M O N T H

Photographed by : Patrick Demarchelier
Styling by : Phyllis Posnick
Models : Viktoriya Sasonkina & Karlie Kloss



.

^OMG! Coco, Sasha, Daria, Karlie & Viktoriya! Love the casting! I seriously cannot wait for "Point Break", "Carried Away" & "Manhattan Rhapsody"!!! surrealseven, if you don't mind, could you please give a little description about those editorials? If it's not too much to ask. TIA! And thanks for your excellent review!

 

[mikel]

US Vogue doesn't do many eds with an actual narrative going on in them.

It thought it was Grace Coddington's strength to create editorials with a narrative. An entire section of the book 'In Vogue: The Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Fashion Magazine' was devoted to it.

Anyway, thanks for the detailed review Surrealseven. I suspect that most of the 'eds'/articles only contain on e pic though.

Good to see Karlie again.

 

[surrealseven]

.
^ Only Carried Away & the usual Steal of The Month are one-picture editorials

.

 

[MissMagAddict]

that's exactly what i was asking about. it seems like the only thing US Vogue is capable of shoving down its readers throat is fairy tales. wow, how ground-breaking or challenging is that. but seriously, why should Vogue act like the only thing our culture can give is fairy tales? there is no mythology, no theater, no drama, no literature, no art, no sign of evolution of humanity in fact - there is nothing worth of getting inspired with, thus, celebrating. that's really frustrating.
to me it's not about Vogue being not able to get another set of motivation and inspiration, rather than totally diminish its readers and their cultural and intellectual level. this is very degrading.

I get what you're saying & I do appreciate it... but the only culture we have now is celebrity culture & it's shoved down our throats 24/7. We're so deep in the sewer that I personally don't mind a fairy tale editorial to escape in for awhile.

 

[DD.-]

Sounds like a great issue to me!
Can´t wait to see Isabeli&Terry´s ed

 

[vogue28]

Daria's and Isebeli's editorials are the only ones that I'm most interested about from the review. But no doubt I will warm to some more, once seen.

 

[FRANCY ITALY]

maybe because the scans were already posted

 

[Fiercification]

Thanks for the review surrealseven...sounds like a solid issue although the early leaks makes the whole thing feel anti-climactic...great to see Tim Walker being used again in US Vogue (even if it's only with Phyllis)...and Viktoriya and Chanel being in this issue is always good news

I feel like it's everyone's favourite sport to b*tch about every tiny aspect of US Vogue (wheras whenever one of it's foreign counterparts spews out the same thing months in a row, people are willing to give it a chance etcetc)...it's not like Anna can use an editorial of starkers Lara on an Ibiza beach posing in a Birth of Venus scenario or have Jac or Lindsay smoking half-naked in some club...I don't know what distinct kind of escapism people were hoping to see but the fairy-tale eds have been memorable enough in the past to merit seeing them once a year at Christmas if that is so evil...

Mind you I think the only one to consider truly classic is the Alice In Wonderland one, it wouldn't hurt to get some other photographers to work on the stories (I actually think Leibovitz' strength was doing the couture model with celebrity eds many years ago as they seemed more spontaneous).