Filled with really great advice for both men and women, the issue focuses on new rules for living, a great guide to the best bars in America (which I linked to from the Wingwoman Club‘s facebook page here, if you’re actually interested), really great diagrams, and (unfortunately) pages of men that I personally think could be a little better looking. There are also articles on fatherhood, drinking, loving, and pretty much everything else – like, how you should act at every stage of your restaurant experience. It probably doesn’t hurt that the insanely hot Bradley Cooper is on the cover as well.

But why is the issue really appealing to me? Oh, you know, because I want a man. I’m all done with boys. Give me big, strong, polite, charming, witty, smart, sexy, hairy, emotionally-stable men. And give me lots to try out and choose from. #Agirlcandream

All-in-all, I have to say that I’m really impressed with the advice in the issue and would be floored if I met a man that actually behaves in all the ways they’re suggesting. Way to go, Esquire, way to go. Maybe the next issue could be How To Be Even More Of A Man?

While cover headlines such as BEST Bargains, NEW Bags & Shoes, and Affordable Luxuries didn’t really deliver (not that I expected them to), I was simply swept off my feet by the Fashionable Life feature on Max & Lubov Azria’s gorgeous Los Angeles home.

Everything about their home is stunning from the custom laser-cut chrome floral garlands hanging from the ceiling of one room, to the dramatic chandelier that cascades directly into a petrified-wood table. I wonder that maybe, just maybe, if I click my heels three times and repeat “There’s no place like Max & Lubov’s fabulous home” I might just end up there one day…

Anyway, the thing that is most extraordinary about their 60-room manse is perhaps the fabulous use of color – there are bright yellow walls, vibrant orange and red accents through out the home, and Max even has the fabulous Paul Smith rug that I’d die for in his office. Signature A accents also decorate the home, along with sunburst mirrors collected from around the world, which give the home its name: La Maison de Soleil. See below for a bit from the article written by Marshall Heyman and more images take by photographer Douglas Friedman:

The home’s aesthetic is part Jonathan Adler, part Philippe Starck. A huge orange horse stands in the living room, while giant replicas of an apple and mushrooms lead to the pool. The pool house has its own Turkish hamam, while three peaceful gardens — one Japanese, one English, one French — line the property.

“There’s a sense of humor about the place,” says Lubov, adding that she was inspired, in part, by Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland: “[Home] should be magical; it should be fairy tale.” Indeed, Max agrees. “I think I have the best house in the world,” he says.

First of all, the shoot is one of Edward Enninful’s and I simply love everything that he does. There is just the right amount of color and although there are plenty of accessories, I wouldn’t take off a single one as they balance Alek Wek’s long limbs.

It also doesn’t hurt that Alek Wek is, in general, simply stunning.

She’s captivating and interesting to look at in a way most other models are not. She doesn’t really work for me when leaping into the air in a complete Marc Jacobs look for Vogue, but she dominates the pages of i-D with her raw grace and strong silhouette.

Overall, the editorial has an electric quality to it that I am finding rather refreshing.

What do you think?
Loving this as much as I am?

LOVE’s premier issue may be sold out practically everywhere, but today I found a stack of them on the Upper East Side.

Hidden on 2nd Avenue amidst the T-line construction lies B.J. Magazines – a treasure trove of national and international magazines, including the aforementioned issues of LOVE.

Everything is super organized, displayed well, and the guy working today was ridiculously helpful (he’s even bring in one of the last remaining copies of the infamous Italian Vogue “black” issue from last year for me).

Anyway, if you’re looking for a hard to find issue, I suggest you try B.J.’s:
B.J. Magazines
1819 2nd Avenue at 94th Street
212.828.6272

Certainly not your typical fashion magazine cover,LOVE grabs your attention and packs plenty of shock & awe: the colors are phenomenal; the logo, powerful; the scrawling text, a touch of the personal; and lots and lots of porcelain-smooth flesh, courtesy of Ditto.

The cover hails Ditto as an icon of our generation – and well, perhaps I’m not as in the know as I should be – but I’d never heard of her before. Apparently she’s been named the coolest person in rock by NME, is a lesbian and an outspoken advocate of gay rights, refused to play an in-store concert for Topshop as they don’t make clothing in larger sizes (which I must admit is awesome of her to do), and writes an advice column for British newspaper, The Guadian.

She has also appeared naked on the cover of a magazine before – for On Our Backs, a women-run lesbian erotica magazine with a great name.

Anyway, this issue was release in the UK on Valentine’s Day so why, on March 1st, am I writing about it now? Well, the kids over at Fashionista posted Editor-in-Chief Katie Grand‘s opening editor’s letter that (especially considering my wife’s initial reaction to the cover, which I’m sure is similar to that of millions of other people) I wanted to share with all of you:

Dear You,

In October of last year I did the precise total of no work. Nothing. There was a lot of work to get done; a new magazine to put together, for instance. But I did nothing apart from think. It was time for a reality check. And ‘reality’ became the first watchword of the month, then of the magazine. What, after all, is more real than love?

In the midst of all the endless media reminders of how tough times are, reality bit. Who would want to look at another collection of images and words on women that represented a perceived (and by now old) idea of perfection at an imperfect moment? Did I want to shoot one of the ten actresses or singers that come judiciously built and stripped of their flaws, just because that is what we have come to expect from them to justify their A-list status? Was I, in fact, not completely bored to tears by the modern idea of perfection? My love affair with the perfect woman was over.

I began to think not of redrawing or retouching celebrities, not of grooming them out of their personalities, but to celebrate the things that I love about them in the first place. We are so used to the idea of a certain celebrity on the cover of a certain magazine that the impulse to enjoy these people’s reality has become a memory to be dusted off, a reminder of another time and place. Everything has been Botoxed, lifted sucked and dyed out of the women that represent the absolute aspiration of real women. The life that they lead cannot be traced upon their face any longer. It began to make me feel a little sad. Was it perhaps time to redraw the boundaries? To start again, even.

I remembered meeting and falling a little bit in love with Beth Ditto, as everyone who meets her does. She became a touchstone for all of this. There are certain things I love in women and Beth Ditto has them all in droves. She says the wrong things. She looks the wrong way. But she makes you think about what ‘the right way’ is, anyway.

For a final thought on this first issue of LOVE, I think we should turn to the wisdom of Anjelica: ‘Nobody ever falls in love with you when you look great. It’s a rule. The real ones love you when you are you.’

LOVE, Katie

Let’s start with Michelle: comfortable, confident, and would you look at those toned arms! Wearing Jason Wu, her wedding ring, some simple earrings and not much else, Mrs. Obama looks perfectly at home on the cover of the world’s most influential fashion magazine.

What’s really great about this cover is that it has nothing to do with the fashion, but everything to do with the woman. The clothing is simply the backdrop and just becomes her. Even the headlines are appropriate, which is also something I feel hasn’t happened for awhile at Vogue.

See more images from the Annie Leibovitz-shoot done the Hay-Adams Hotel in DC last month, and read Andre Leon Tally‘s story Leading Lady now at Style.com

Meanwhile, designers from Ralph Lauren to Maison Martin Margiela celebrate Russian Vogue’s 10th anniversary by designing a dress for a matrioshka – a traditional Russian doll – that were auctioned for charity at a super-chic party on November 20.

The designers’ sketches were brought to life by Russian craftsmen, who hand-painted each little dolls. Aliona Doletskaya, Russian Vogue’s super chic editor-in-chief, told Vogue.co.uk that “Every matrioshka is unique and a piece of art in itself. Installation, sculpture, objet d’art – you can call it however you wish.”

Some of the dolls fetched as much as 100,000 euros, with proceeds going to local orphanages. Billionaire businessman Vladislav Doronin dropped 30K on a doll designed by YSL’s Stefano Pilati – a present for his girlfriend, Naomi Campbell, the current face of the fashion house.

For American Vogue’s next big anniversary, they’ll probably ask a bunch of the same old American designers to select a famous American woman (i.e. actress) and create a super special dress just for her that celebrate the uniqueness of American living – or some bs like that. yawn.

Anyway, see below for a selection of 10 dolls below (31 total were designed) and guess which ones were designed by which designer…

Game Time!! Match the following designers to the dolls below:
Gucci, Marc Jacobs, Prada, YSL, Burberry, Giles, Paul Smith, Dolce & Gabbana, Stella McCartney, Dries van Noten

1. 2.

3. 4.

5. 6.

7. 8.

9. 10.

With so many people being laid off lately, you can’t help but wonder what things are going to be like in a week, a month, 6 months, a year. I might be “blogging” in chalk on the new york city streets instead of in my comfortable apartment, typing away on my mac and leisurely eating a bowl of pasta, all while enjoying the ambiance provided by a newly acquired Belle Fleur candle. Let’s just cross our fingers that that doesn’t end up happening.

In case you aren’t familiar with how dire the situation is really becoming, here are just a very few cuts being made in the world of magazines:

• Men’s VOGUE has been cut to just two issues a year and is being absorbed into VOGUE
• ELLE Accessories (which I’ve always bought but never found that ground-breaking) has been temporarily suspended for a year
• Conde Nast Portfolio is down to 10 issues a year
• RADAR and CosmoGIRL! have folded
• Time Inc (big poppa to InStyle) is laying off 600 employees

This may very well prove to be the scariest Halloween ever.

Linda Evangelista photographed by Steven Klein in October’s W magazine is almost as good as Angelina Jolie and kids intimately photographed by Brad Pitt in the November issue – if you don’t subscribe to W yet, you might want to do so…

And while I hated Bazaar’s American Dream story starring the horrible Tyra Banks, their latest (and very serious) political celebrity feature is nothing short of fabulous.

No longer in the big house, Bazaar puts Paris Hilton in the White Pink House. According to the mag, Paris has a supersize ego, is used to dealing with juicy scandals, and certainly understands out-of-control spending, so she’d be perfect as president. Read below for a selection of their Politically Incorrect article along with my much-needed comments:

Harper’s Bazaar: How would you describe your presidential style?

Paris Hilton: I pledge to support the American workforce by wearing only American designers: Calvin Klein between Memorial Day and Labor Day, Donna Karan the rest of the year. Unless I wake up and the day is screaming for me to put on a bikini for my fellow Americans. Country first.

Casey: Calvin Klein, Donna Karan? Great designers, yes, but those are the good ol’ boys of fashion. What about the small emerging American designers? You know Paris, Michelle Obama has rocked Thakoon at least twice now.

HB: Who will be your vice president?

PH: Rihanna, of course. She’s hot.

Casey: Rihanna is hot, no doubt, but seriously – what about the winner of your new MTV show? How will your new BFF feel when you drop her like she’s hot? I guess it doesn’t really matter. Maybe she could be an intern.

HB: How do you intend to redecorate the White House?

PH: In these trying economic times, I believe the White House should have a minimalist touch: open floor plan, glass and steel, throw pillows, and an infinity pool.

Casey: The infinity pool is a great addition. I also think that if you should have a rotating round bed installed and stripper poles placed in every room – you might want to beef up the camera surveillance as well.

HB: Please summarize your presidential platform.

PH: I will carry out a foreign-policy platform that will transform America’s role in the world to that of a proactive, not reactive, superpower that will use diplomacy and incentives to head off trouble in unstable regions before they unravel out of control. I will also be wearing platform shoes when I meet with foreign dignitaries to accentuate my well-toned calves.

Casey: I second the wearing of platforms.

HB: Who will you appoint to your cabinet posts?

PH: I won’t have a cabinet; I will have a closet. A giant walk-in closet with all styles of advisers, like Michael Kors, Kanye West, Diane von Furstenberg, Naughty by Nature, Stephen Hawking, Madonna, Karl Lagerfeld, and, of course, Tinkerbell.

Casey: OMG – what about Rachel Zoe?! I Die!!

HB: Who will you invite to stay overnight in the Lincoln Bedroom?

PH: I want to put an end to only large financial contributors, lobbyists, inside-the-Beltway fat cats, and corporate bigwigs getting to sleep in the Lincoln Bedroom. I will keep that room open only for people for whom it is too late to drive after attending one of my secret-underground-bunker-after-hours parties.

Casey: Come on Paris – you can tell us! Is it Benji? Who?

And if you haven’t seen her fabulous campaign video, please do so now and then vote below, bitches!

So why is their biggest issue of the entire year (September) so awful? The cover with Keira is horrible – It looks as if they glued hair that was found in the drain of a shower to her head, and somehow all that Balenciaga (clothing and jewelry) looks cheap (even though it looked amazing on the runway)

Unfortunately, most pages inside were just as uninspiring as the cover; the only spread I liked with the fairly standard editorial one with Coco Rocha; and Life with Andre was more interesting than usual.

The thing is, this is the September issue. It should set the tone for the entire fall season – I should be dying to look like the cover girl (instead of hiding her face under August’s Marie Claire). And this is VOGUE.

Many people have issues with VOGUE, but it is still VOGUE and if I ever had any piece published in the mag, you know it would go in the front of my clip book. A few years ago, I started reading VOGUE UK partly in protest to VOGUE and mainly because a) it is written in English, b) is more about models than celebrities, c) and has better layouts. Of course I love VOGUE Paris and VOGUE Italia, but I get frustrated when I can’t read about the shoes I’m looking at. But back to VOGUE UK…Prada, Karen Elson, ‘Glorious Autumn fashion special’…now that I cover I can really fall for!