Supermodel Amber Valetta on W Magazine, November 1995
How I miss W when they were a monthly publication with stun models & talented celebs that everyone knew serving it all on their covers…
Also, this is just me, but bad girls really to come back, and not just in fashion!
Cindy Crawford on the debut issue of George magazine, October/November 1995.
There was something both fun yet absurd about George magazine. I understood why the magazine wanted to marry politics with celebrity/pop culture stuff of the time, but given what became of politics since its debut issue 30 years ago, maybe they should’ve left politics as usual aka boring, but functional and for the people. I have one back issue (the February/March 1996 issue, to be exact, and I’ll try to find a scan/post on this soon) that talked about how each of the 1996 would-be presidential candidates would benefit from some plastic surgery. Only in this country did (and still do) we need our politics to go the sensationalist, tabloid-esque route to get people’s attention, even if the issue at hand does not benefit the average American. Like, OK, Bob Dole would look better with “$6K veneer caps”. And what was his stance on universal health care again?
However, I cannot tell a lie: George had some fire covers, their debut issue included. Cindy Crawford as George Washington in a midriff-baring outfit is just genius. Her wig game was even on-point!
Shalom Harlow and Amber Valetta on US Vogue, September 1995.
I was too young to remember what the average woman was wearing 30 years ago. (I was eleven and was more focused on building my pog collection than what Vogue wanted me to wear that season.) It’s a given that the well-to-dos had the latest from the Paris and Milan runways, but I don’t recall my mom or aunts or teachers sporting Gucci’s silk shirts or Calvin’s satin dresses. For those who still own one or a few of those pieces from that season, I legit envy them because those clothes are classy and ageless. Some 90s pieces look dated, but almost everything from Fall 1995 could be worn today and still be stylish. Cases in point:
Outfits from Calvin Klein’s Fall 1995 show
Ralph Lauren’s Fall 1995 show
Dolce & Gabbana, Fall 1995
Yves Saint Laurent ready-to-wear, Fall 1995
And since pics won’t do justice, three of my favorite collections from that season…
OK, Mugler’s collection may not be for everyday wear (unless you’re Bai Ling), but everything about that show remains STUN to this day!
Yasmin LeBon on the cover of the premier issue of US Elle magazine, September 1985
Though Elle magazine had been in existence since 1945, the publication was only sold in France before expanding to other countries in the 1980s, with the States getting its own edition in September of 1985. Their minimal use of cover blurbs and promoting models of color on their covers were big reasons why I once favored Elle more than Vogue, especially in the 90s when Vogue gave the same two or three white models a cover four times a year. And while many 80s fashion mag covers look dated nowadays, the simplicity of this cover (simplicity in 80s fashion?), with that pop of yellow in a backdrop of black and Yasmin giving FACE, makes it quite the timeless image.
Happy 10th (and five days) anniversary to when I got to see THE Queen Of Soul Aretha Franklin perform live! 🤩 The show took place three years before her passing, and it was my one and only time I got to see her. To hear her sing (the mic was definitely ON) remains a moment I’ll forever be grateful to witness. I still vividly remember seeing a lady two seats down from me bawling with emotion while Aretha belted a lovely gospel song. Babyface (lower left pic) also opened for her, and I’m always down for some classic Babyface. Two icons in one night, and I only paid a little over $50 for it! 😱
Keanu Reeves by Annie Leibovitz on US Vanity Fair, August 1995
I’m keeping this short for this month’s throwback cover because seeing 90s Keanu (and especially this cover of his) still does things to me. 😘 (And can you blame me? With all the ugliness going on in this country alone, I deserve some eye candy here.)
Christina Aguilera on Rolling Stone magazine, Double Issue, July 2000
This cover is oh-so 2000. The first Best New Artist Grammy winner of the new millennium on the cover, wearing low-rise bottoms and a playful smile with a CD player in tow, and headlines on Napster (IYKYK) and Slipknot. And if you’re wondering, yes, a Boy Scout can be gay.
Seeing that Christina has been reviving her Genie In A Bottle days lately, from bringing back her wardrobe from that era to revamping her debut album on its 25th anniversary last year, I wonder if she’ll do something for the 25th anniversary of her first Rolling Stone cover this month.
Also, I want her shirt!
Madonna, photographed by Herb Ritts for Interview magazine, June 1990
Once upon a time, magazine covers featured celebrities with some actual talent and substance, and everyone and their grandparents knew who they were. Some celebs got bold in their portraits, and no one took more brazen pics than Madonna herself. This could very well be my favorite mag cover of hers. It just POPS. You don’t get more in-your-face than grabbing your crotch. That a female celeb did *that* made it more ballsy; I bet the incels and prudes in 1990 sent hate mail to Interview then. I can’t imagine what the reaction would be if, say, Taylor Swift or Sabrina Carpenter struck the same pose on a mag cover these days. Although it would be pretty cool if either of them did that.
Nicole Kidman by Irving Penn on US Vogue, May 2004
Y’all. I was there when this cover dropped, and the jaws of many fashion hounds dropped when we saw this cover. It was simple, all the way down to the singular cover blurb, yet elegant AF. This is not your Zoomer’s Vogue, but what Vogue used to be when they were the fashion bible. An actual fashion icon in Nicole (who had gotten another cover just eight months before this cover), giving fashion. No absurd photoshop, no hints of anything tabloid-y, and no need to look for the Playboy rabbit head on the cover because this was a true fashion magazine cover, dahling. And that’s on period.
Vanity Fair, April 1995 issue, with *takes a deep breath in* Jennifer Jason Leigh, Uma Thurman, Nicole Kidman, Patricia Arquette, Linda Fiorentino, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Jessica Parker, Julianne Moore, Angela Bassett, and Sandra Bullock
Thirty years ago this month, Vanity Fair did that and gave ten of the top actresses of the time the cover. All at once! Their multi-star covers and star-studded portfolio would become a spring tradition for the publication, albeit a tradition that’s gone awry recently. Never forget the first, however, where it was just straight-up star power that sold the issue–no weird setups or questionable photoshop. (Placing queen Angela in the back of the fold-out cover will forever remain a choice to me, though.)
Lex Writes On 
