Scoping Out September Issues: Elle

The issue weighs: 2.8 pounds

Issue thickness: a robust three-quarters of an inch

Who’s on the cover: Lindsay Lohan, rocking a dead-eyed stare and hair and skin that are the same color. Not attractive!  Love the dress, though.

Number of words on the cover: 127 (Guess the “newly enhanced” design by Joe Zee, making its debut in this issue, doesn’t involve reducing the amount of text crammed onto the cover.)

Who bought the back cover: Chanel’s Coco Mademoiselle fragrance, featuring Keira Knightley

Number of ad pages between the cover and the table of contents: 80. Celebs appearing in those pages include Scarlett Johansson for Louis Vuitton; Kerry Washington for L’Oreal; Sarah Silverman, Selma Blair, Lucy Liu, Regina King, and Twyla Tharp for Gap;  and Rihanna for Cover Girl.  Also up front, not one but two Kate Moss campaigns, for Versace and David Yurman.

Total number of pages: 592

How many of those pages are ads: 398, about 67 percent

Most schadenfreude-inducing cover line: Duh.

Exclusive! The Lindsay Lohan Interview

“I’m glad I went to rehab—I need to get away from everyone, and I didn’t know how”

Subscription cards: a measly 3

Cosmetic samples: 2 fragrance testers (Dior J’adore and Fendi Palazzo)

Is it portable? At nearly 3 pounds, we say no.  And even if it were a more purse-friendly size, would you really want to lug Lohan’s prematurely aged mug around?  We certainly do not. 

Comments

[T-Bone]

For someone so young, she certainly looks leathery.

[Lizzy]

Ugh. Elle is probably my favorite fashion magazine, but this cover is sooo disappointing. Not only could I not care less about Lindsay Lohan, but at the very least, they could have made her look pretty. And the cover colors? Blah. The gold, black and blue just don't work. :(

[shart]

I also like Elle, but agree: Why the poor color scheme? Too monochomatic with beigy hair, skin and titles. And, sadly it reminds me of that unfortunate Cosmo cover of Gia Carangi that Scuvullo shot, where he was attempting to cover her bloating and track marks from drug use. Gia appears very uncomfortable with a pose that looks forced. I saw it in Gia's bio, and it notes that this was her last cover before her death. Lindsay and Gia share the same "dead eyes" look, forced smile and stiff pose. Here's a link to the Cosmo cover:

http://www.gia-carangi.com/gallery/covers/cover-18.html

Lindsay is very pretty. I'm mystified as to how they could make her look so awful. I would imagine that it's not that hard to make certain celebs such as Fergie or SJP look awful, but another thing entirely for Lindsay to look so used up and uncomfortable (even given her current hobbies).

[Lizzy]

So I got back this evening from the bookstore and picked up a copy of September's Elle. Because scan of the cover didn't pick up the sheen of the gold ink, the magazine does look a smidge better in person, but not too much. Also, I have to politely disagree with the Glossed staff and say I still hate the dress.