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Rachel McAdams is on the new cover of Glamour, whose writer got to be the one to give McAdams the news that her ex, Ryan Gosling, now casts a long shadow on Tumblr:

GLAMOUR: I've heard you don't read your press. Do you read about other people?
RACHEL MCADAMS: Not really, no.
GLAMOUR: So you're not aware that Ryan Gosling has become a huge feminist icon?
RACHEL MCADAMS: Feminist icon? Wow! Is that real?
GLAMOUR: There are blogs upon blogs!
RACHEL MCADAMS: Oh my God, that's great.

Insert your own, "Hey, Girl," joke here. Elsewhere in the interview, McAdams declines to give any love advice — "that's a slippery slope," — and talks about her impressions of Occupy Toronto. [Glamour]

The Atlantic, which was one of many publications to criticize Vogue for running a fawning blow-job of a profile of Syrian dictator's wife Asma al-Assad last March, has discovered that the story Vogue swiftly removed from its web site is still archived in at least one place online: a gif-heavy, puke-green-themed Bashar al-Assad fansite run by an employee of the state-run Syrian news agency. Vogue obviously erred, and seriously, in cooperating with the Assad family's desire to cast itself in a positive light in the West, but having published the piece, the magazine ought to stand by it, not throw it down the memory hole. The Assad regime enlisted a Washington lobbying firm at $5,000-a-month to wrangle the profile, and Vogue's Joan Juliet Buck and James Nachtwey dutifully reported that the Assads are a "wildly democratic" (and, not coincidentally, highly photogenic) family in charge of "a secular country where women earn as much as men," which is furthermore "a place without bombings, unrest, or kidnappings." If nothing else, as the Atlantic points out, the Vogue piece stands as an interesting artifact of how the Syrian regime sought to present itself in the West as of early 2011, just before a massive popular uprising began. As for the situation in Syria in early 2012, Arab League monitors are still in the country and are preparing an initial report for release within the next few days. Human Rights Watch estimates that the Syrian uprising against the Assad dictatorship has cost at least 5,000 lives. The head of the Arab League says, "There is no doubt that killing is ongoing, but I can't pinpoint the numbers...There is still gunfire, there are still snipers." [Atlantic]
Selah Marley, the daughter of Lauryn Hill and Rohan Marley, is gorgeous. So it's no surprise that she's trying her hand at modeling, as these test shots reveal. She is also 12 years old — a pretty typical age at which to start in the industry, but still so young it never fails to give us pause. [TheyBF]
The new issue of Vogue Italia spoofs T.V. shopping in its cover editorial. [FGR]
In the same month her sister Elle is on the cover of Teen Vogue, Dakota Fanning is on the cover of British Elle. [Elle UK]
Model Bay Berger, 18, has been working since she was 15. Her mother sent her Homecoming picture to various agencies. And then, says Berger, "My mom picked me up from school with flowers, screaming, 'You're a Ford model!' I was like, 'What's Ford?'" She dropped out halfway through her sophomore year of high school to work in Japan and is now based in New York. [WWD]
The Telegraph's fashion section Tweeted, "Saw this porcelain plate, circa 1734, at the ashmoleon [sic]. now [sic] we know what inspired Suzy Menkes' hair do [sic]." [@TeleFashion]
Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, David Bowie, Johnny Depp, and a young Karl Lagerfeld are among the fashion icons featured in this trove of previously unpublished Herb Ritts photographs. [Nowness]
Models.com named Saskia De Brauw the top model of 2011. Sui He, Candice Swanepoel, Kati Nescher — who, like 31-year-old De Brauw, is considered old for a top model newcomer at 27 — and Joan Smalls round out the top five. [Models.com]
  • Christian Louboutin and Gisele Bündchen are among the celebrities whose grasp of science has been critiqued by the U.K. nonprofit Sense About Science in its annual list of public flubs. Louboutin told the press about meeting a woman at a party, who gave him this insight into shoe design: "She said that what is sexual in a high heel is the arch of the foot, because it is exactly the position of a woman's foot when she orgasms. So putting your foot in a heel, you are putting yourself in a possibly orgasmic situation." Says professor Kevan Wylie, a consultant in sexual medicine, "It is important to differentiate causality from effect. A woman's foot may be in this position during orgasm, but that does not mean that putting her foot into this position under other circumstances will result in orgasm." When Gisele told reporters that she doesn't use sunscreen because "I cannot put this poison on my skin… I do not use anything synthetic," that was wrong, too. Pharmaceutical scientist Gary Moss rebuts her: "Cosmetic products — including sunscreens — are regulated and are tested extensively before they are allowed onto the market. Testing applies to both final products and individual ingredients. You might be surprised that you use a wide variety of synthetic materials in many aspects of your life: ‘synthetic' does not automatically mean bad, just as ‘natural' does not automatically mean safe or beneficial." Meanwhile, Christy Turlington was praised for rejecting the fear-mongering surrounding the HPV vaccine. "I was also fearful as a new mom," she admitted, "but as a student of public health, I understand the evidence-based research now." Would that every celebrity could do the same. [Official Site]
  • Bernard Arnault's rival and fellow retail magnate François Pinault, who heads the global conglomerate PPR, was named a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor, France's highest civilian decoration. His wife, Salma Hayek, was named a Knight. Arnault got his Grand Officer award last year, on Bastille Day. [WWD]
  • Aretha Franklin engagement news: "Ms. Franklin is considering Donna Karan, Valentino and the queen of wedding dresses, Vera Wang, to design her gown," according to her PR rep. We care far more about her wedding hat. Aretha will wear a wedding hat, right? [People]
  • The seven up-and-coming labels to receive $25,000 grants from Ecco Domani for 2012 are: Correll Correll, Eighteenth, Haus Alkire, Sunhee, Tim Coppens, Dezso by Sara Beltrán, and Titania Inglis. Each will put the money towards a New York fashion week show. [WWD]
  • And the Fashion Group International has announced the finalists for 2012's Rising Star award. In women's wear, they are: Wes Gordon; Nary Manivong and Alexandria Hilfiger of Nahm; Elene Cassis; Joel Diaz and Christina LaPens of Jolibe; Norman Ambrose; Nara Paz Design Internationale; Misha Nonoo of Nonoo; Stacy Lomman: New York, and Steven McDermott of Stevie Mac New York. The winner will be announced at a luncheon hosted by Isabel and Ruben Toledo later this month. [WWD]