lesley jane seymour

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Stella McCartney Is Eager To Dress ScarJo In Virginal White
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sybann
04/27/09

In reply to Less Is More
She looks... pale.

Seriously. This woman is one smart cookie. Read the article. She's intentionally presenting a warm fuzzy domestic side of herself which hopefully will allow her to actually DO more (now that she's not a scary angry black woman). It just bothers me to no end that she has to do this in this day and age.
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Kilotwat
04/27/09

In reply to Less Is More
I find the article more interesting for the parts on how Michelle Obama is interested and even involved in policy and legislation, but chooses not to discuss any of those activities with the media, preferring to focus on other things. Maybe make a new entry on Jez about it, eh, editors, and squeeze one more out of the same article? :-D
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Sodypop
04/27/09

In reply to Less Is More
This past weekend I bought the prettiest shift dress. I love a well made shift dress and they are so hard to find. Michelle just rocks shifts dresses!
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Rooo sez BISH PLZ
04/27/09

@Sodypop: You're going to tell us how pretty your dress is, but not where you bought it? Share, share, plz!
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ZemarSea Urchin
04/27/09

In reply to Less Is More
After reading the article I feel rather disapointed. A powerful, capable, strong, multi-dimensional women is being softened. The only image that a public can swallow is a motherly fashionista with no other attributes. Gah! and they day femminsim isn't necessary anymore. It is necessary when you see that only a caricature of femminity is an acceptable representation of a First Lady. There goes your female role model. Here's the message ladies: Never upstage your man! Be the LADY behind the man. A proper lady does not advertise her intelligence, independent spirit. A proper lady is a mother with good fashion sense.
End Rant.
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Rooo sez BISH PLZ
04/27/09

@ZemarSea Urchin: Personally, I don't see why you Ended Rant. By all means, rant on.

P.S. I PM'd you.
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JerseyCurl
04/27/09

In reply to Less Is More
Some years ago, I worked for a state treasurer who was super-smart, dynammic, intelligent, creative, and a great boss. Like all state cabinet members, she had to have a portrait-style photo taken. The photographer, who worked for another state agency, actually said, "Could you tell her to wear another suit this time?" And, as young and under-confident as I was, I was horrified enough to say, "NO! I'm not telling her what to wear! Got that?" She's the frickin' state treasurer! Jeez!

This is exponentially worse. I can't imagine the audacity of anyone telling the First Lady -- especially this First Lady -- what to wear or do. She's more than capable of making excellent choices, as she's already showed us. Trust Ms. Obama's judgment, More. You won't regret it.
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Rooo sez BISH PLZ
04/27/09

@JerseyCurl: I was horrified enough to say, "NO! I'm not telling her what to wear! Got that?" She's the frickin' state treasurer! Jeez!

What did they say in response?
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tscheese
04/27/09

In reply to Less Is More
For some reason the little purple bow on her neckline is fucking hilarious to me. It's like "serious dress. Serious dress. EXTREMELY SERIOUS DRESS!" and the bow is like "HAHAH O HAI GUISE I AR INSOUCIANT!111one"
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ellaesther
04/27/09

@tscheese: That is one articulate LOLcat, that's all I can say.
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LBB
04/27/09

@tscheese: I love that you used the word "insouciant" in LOLspeak.
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Rooo sez BISH PLZ
04/27/09

@tscheese: You and the First Lady are so For The Win here.
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ellaesther
04/27/09

In reply to Less Is More
Dear producers of magazines,

I am a middle aged mother of two with an advanced degree, living firmly in the upper middle class. Here's what I want from a magazine:

- genuine humor, not a recycling of cliches

- thought provoking coverage of issues that are in the news, from an angle that will shed actual-factual new light

- coverage of what is happening right now in the worlds of art and music and literature and (some) fashion -- it might not all speak to me in my "niche," but hey, guess what? I want to know about it, anyway.

- regular acknowledgment of the fact that many if not most women of any age have many different things going on in their lives at any given time, and all of these things matter to them. My kids, my job, my friends, my politics, my cultural pursuits -- it all matters to me, every day.

- rock and fucking roll! How old are we, people?

Oh, a girl can dream....

Sincerely,

ellaesther
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Brigit
04/27/09

In reply to Less Is More
Why did they Photoshop her armpits (among other things)?
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Maritsa
04/27/09

In reply to Less Is More
An ex-colleague of mine worked for Lesley Jane Seymour and had zero good things to say about here, FWIW.
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EkaterinaBallerina
04/27/09

In reply to Less Is More
I think I'm more offended by how whitened she is on the cover. Her skin looks like four shades lighter than it should be. So what was the deal, More? You'll put an accomplished, brilliant and intelligent black woman, who also happens to be the freaking First Lady, on your cover if you get to tell her what to wear and make her look white? Fail. Automatic FAIL.
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Sister Toldja
04/27/09

@EkaterinaBallerina: I was waiting for someone to point that out. Not that any Black women should be digitally lightened, but when it is done to a woman who is browner skinned (as opposed to Beyonce who is already light), it gives her a really creepy grayish tint. Fail fail FAIL!
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LaMorena
04/27/09

@EkaterinaBallerina: Agreed. That pisses me off. "You didn't wear the clothes that we wanted, so we'll just compensate by making you the color we want!"
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oh.geez.
04/27/09

@Sister Toldja: The grey tint that results is not the epic fail to me- it's the underlying psychology of why this is done. There may not be a more powerful medium than the visual image. Every single time a famous, darker black person is successful, they're skin is lightened when their image is placed on any vehicle for mass consumption (especially when they're female). I truly believe the purpose of this is an underhanded way of enforcing the thought process that makes every attempt to connect legitimate success with whiteness. The only time the press can't wait to publish some black- assed pictures of an actual black person is when said black person was just arrested for something, or said black person is being linked with something distasteful in general. It's like when someone tells a black person that they're really articulate, or pretty, or you have pretty hair- and then that same motherfucker asks are you mixed with something, like there's no way you could "just" be black. Assholery to the max (yes, I took it back to '82).
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Rooo sez BISH PLZ
04/27/09

@oh.geez.: "I truly believe the purpose of this is an underhanded way of enforcing the thought process that makes every attempt to connect legitimate success with whiteness."

I'm not so sure it's even that underhanded. It feels like the more competence both halves of the First Couple demonstrate, the more blatant it gets.

Of course, I could just be paranoid, and imagining things and taking them way too seriously. *eyeroll*
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Shotrock
04/27/09

@oh.geez.: Here's her magazine covers lined up in a New York Times slideshow. Looks like Vogue was the only one that didn't Photoshop her skin tone -- it's just got that professionally-lit gleam.

The cover from Essence is one that's particularly....interesting.

[www.nytimes.com]
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Sister Toldja
04/27/09

@oh.geez.: I agree 100%, I just wanted to point out that lightening her is made even more bizarre because it doesn't make her look Whiter, it makes her look less human-of-any-race.
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Sister Toldja
04/27/09

@Shotrock: The Essence cover doesn't look lightened in person.
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Devonna
04/27/09

In reply to Less Is More
That NYT article was fascinating - I love that she doesn't let the mags call the shots on her clothes. I think Michelle Obama exhibits much more confidence in herself, physically, than most women. I envy that. Not a lot of women are that physically comfortable in their own skin (including me!).

but this photoshopping effort is quite cringe-worthy. It's very Madame Tussaud's.
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casi nadie (loves MCC forever)
04/27/09

In reply to Less Is More
All this furor about Michelle Obama being made into a style icon makes me wonder: What did people think about Jackie O being made into an icon in her day? Or Queen Elizabeth the first? It's not a particularly new phenomenon. While it's ridiculously frustrating that so much media coverage focuses on her arms (the scandal!) or her outfits (how dare she wear a sweater to meet the Queen!?), there will always and forever be fluff coverage of celebrities. Like it or not, the Obamas are celebrities. But that's the reason sites and sources like Jezebel exist-to call them out on talking about fluff and to actually talk about real stuff that is being accomplished.

Anyhoo. Thanks, Jezzie, for showing me awesome pictures of what Michelle is wearing, for telling me about how awesome she is in taking control of her own image, and for calling out the idiocy in society that's obsessed with her arms.
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tscheese
04/27/09

In reply to Less Is More
"You're fat! Wear makeup! Oh, look, your uterus is fucking your shit up again, ha ha! You spend too much on stupid shit. Buy stuff!"

Oh, ladymags. Your message is pitch-perfect at any age.
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lalaland13
04/27/09

In reply to Less Is More
I think they did something to her arms. Or is that just me? They're not that skinny. They're toned and lovely, not sticks like they appear to be here.
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midwesternmom
04/27/09

@lalaland13: Her lower arms look like they belong on Sasha or Malia. The upper arms look strange because they don't flow naturally into what used to be her neck. Their photoshopper must have been a Hillary supporter.
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MissyMcCLung
04/27/09

@lalaland13: I think they did something to her entire body.
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ellaesther
04/27/09

In reply to Less Is More
Dear More Magazine,

I am your target demographic -- 44 years old, masters degree, upper middle class -- and I couldn't find your magazine less interesting.

Take a note from Michelle Obama: We do not want to do what you tell us we should be doing.

(Indeed, someone of us want to be headbanging, but I will agree that Ms. Obama is probably not with us on that).

Sincerely,

ellaesther
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vamusical
04/27/09

@ellaesther: My mom gets this and the funny thing is, the clothes they picked for her were probably more expensive than her own. The stuff they choose to showcase in there is OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive, my mom and I look through and scoff at the $300 tunics and beach totes.
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ellaesther
04/27/09

@vamusical: Because we're all rich, now that we're middle aged! Didn't you get the memo? Dearie me.
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Rooo sez BISH PLZ
04/27/09

@ellaesther: Heh. Nice. I think you are now officially a role model.
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