I'm not normally a jealous person. I took the lessons I learned in kindergarten to heart and have no problem sharing my toys. But, after seeing the cover of the December issue of Vanity Fair featuring Kate Winslet, I found the green-eyed monster rearing its head in the most unexpected of places. Like at inanimate objects. Damn, some jackets have all the luck.

Insane jealously over inanimate objects aside, I think we can all agree that Kate looks divine or, as the magazine quipped, “Deneuvely.” If you're tempted to think Kate doesn’t look entirely like Kate, that's the point. The photo shoot was a recreation of Catherine Deneuve's character from the 1967 French film Belle de Jour, about a housewife who escapes her ennui by moonlighting as a high-priced prostitute. Yeah, I don't know why they picked that film either, but I am happy to see its results.

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Among the fashionistas like Ivanka Trump and Carla Bruni-Sarzoky (the cover model), Vanity Fair has chosen a couple of worthy women for this year's "International Best-Dressed List." I'm not talking about the obvious choices like Sarah Jessica Parker and Angelia Jolie; I mean the androgynous ones who dare to wear pants, suits, and otherwise male-identified clothing and look better than both sexes at events and in the limelight.

Actress Tilda Swinton may have been chosen "because she's a great Scot," but I can think of more specific reasons to include her as a fabulous dresser. She stands out not only because of her striking eyes, cheekbones and bright red head of hair, but her style remains classic simple to compliment her natural features. She's not afraid to wear a gown, but she always looks dapper in a button-up blouse or blazer.

Writer Fran Lebowitz made the list for the second year in a row, this year as a "2008 Hall of Fame Inductee." Before I cover her fashion, I'd like to give her a virtual round of applause for not taking this list seriously at all. Each person chosen answered a survey of their favorite places to shop, etc. and Fran's answers are, well, not really answers such as "Residence: Yes. Age: Absolutely." My favorite, however, is her answer to "Favorite Vintage Store" in which she answers "The Strand bookstore," a well-known staple of New York City where they, indeed, sell only books. … continue reading

Who you calling unfunny? Vanity Fair took its sweet time, but after more than a year of letting the anvil of an essay “Why Women Aren’t Funny” weigh down the discourse, the magazine finally issued its own rebuttal with its April cover story, “Who Says Women Aren't Funny?” And to prove that point, it assembled some of the most sparkling female wits for a photoshoot with famed photographer Annie Leibovitz.

Yes, Amy Poehler appears to be grabbing Tina Fey’s boob. You really can’t argue with comedy genius like that. Answering the call to funny alongside them were Sandra Bernhard, Susie Essman, Jenna Fischer, Chelsea Handler, Leslie Mann, Maya Rudolph, Amy Sedaris, Sarah Silverman, Wanda Sykes and Kristen Wiig. I’m going to need a moment to soak in all this concentrated hilarious. Seriously, my sides are starting to hurt from phantom laughter just looking at them.

In response to (resisting the urge to use a profane adjective) columnist Christopher Hitchens’ decidedly unfunny article about why women are the unfunnier sex, New York Times TV critic Alessandra Stanley has penned a footnote-worthy essay that touches on everything from English novelist George Meredith to Virginia Woolf to tribes in Papua New Guinea. To which I say, sure, but where do the rubber chickens fit in? … continue reading

There’s a half-funny, half-embarrassing story concerning me and women on the cover of magazines. It involves the year 1998, a newsagent, Denise Richards, a copy of FHM, and my firm insistence — to a male friend of mine who happened across me browsing — that I didn’t realize FHM was a men’s magazine. I think he believed me ... just about.

Nevertheless, for most of my teen years I didn’t dare to cast more than a furtive eye in the direction of the men’s magazine section. Fortunately, they’re not the only magazines to feature lots of glamorous women. In fact, one of my favorite magazine covers was from around the same period as the FHM fiasco, in 1997:

Now, I couldn’t care less about Cameron Diaz, but Kate Winslet and Claire Danes in the same frame? Be still, my beating teenage Titanic- and My So-Called Life–loving heart!

What I didn’t realize at the time was that this cover was part of what has become an annual series for Vanity Fair’s Hollywood Issue, by a rather well-known photographer named Annie Leibovitz. VanityFair.com is currently running a retrospective of these foldout covers (which typically entice you in with three beautiful women on the front, and then open out to reveal about seven more). That means you can time-travel all the way back to the first one in 1995:

Um. Yes. Normally I think that the expression “legs for days” is an exaggeration, but in the case of Uma Thurman (pictured second from left), it might actually be true. And I’m not even going to get started on that picture of Nicole Kidman.

Also online is the latest cover, for 2008: … continue reading