US versus UK: Magazine Covers, March 2012

1. VOGUE

Vogue US: Adele. Looks. Stunning. She is such a bombshell, seriously. And even though I'm pretty sure they squeezed her into a corset for her photoshoot, she looks amazing. With the voluptuous hair being blown back and her cat eyes, it's like she's in a romance novel. It's dark, moody, romantic, and I love it.

Vogue UK: This cover is very similar to Elle UK! The pastel colors, the lacy dresses (Chanel?), and in very big font, the word "pretty"! Just interesting. It's a nice cover, with the controversial Lana Del Rey. Nothing too fascinating though.

WINNER: Vogue US, absolutely. 

2. COSMOPOLITAN

Cosmopolitan US: When you look at these two covers, what is the first thing you think of? Hello boobs! The cynic in me wants to say Selena Gomez's boobs may or may not be digitally enhanced in some way… but maybe that's because every time I've seen her before this I've NEVER seen them quite so perky! Besides that, she looks sultry and the dress is lovely, besides the low-cut front. It's just weird because she's a Disney Channel girl. 

Cosmopolitan UK: It's about time Christina Hendricks was on a Cosmo cover! The fellas love her for her… assets, and the women admire her for being a beautiful and successful full-figured woman. Much like Adele, who I really love. Although I may have picked a colored background instead of white since Christina is a little bit pale.

WINNER: Cosmopolitan US. With the dress, hair, makeup, and colors, I just love the whole package. 

3. GQ

GQ US: It's a fun cover, that's for sure, but the hot pink and Paul Rudd's hair is bothering me a bit. I don't know what it is, but the cover's just not all the way there for me. I'm not sure, what do you guys think?

GQ UK: Something about Keira's look is a little dated, don't you think? The dark eyes with the purple lip and curled hair. I guess it could be seen as vampish, which I suppose is sort of an "in" thing right now. I do love the large "Keira!" though. When there is one big text element done right, I love it. 

WINNER: I'm not sure on this one… neither of them really wow me. I think GQ UK for me. 

4. GLAMOUR

Glamour US: Glamour did something weird to itself here… They had a redesign and decided on a bold Helvetica as its choice of font. And don't get me wrong-- I love Helvetica, but I've always loved Glamour's girly, cutesy fonts that were bold but not too over the top. Then they put that intense drop shadow on GLAMOUR, and paired with the pounds of make up they put on Amanda Seyfried, it's a little much for me. But it's only the first cover with the Helvetica invasion, I'm eager to see more. But hopefully without the drop shadow. 

Glamour UK: After seeing this cover, I went out and bought it at the University Bookstore (which reminds me, this is the only UK magazine I could find on the rack, in general, so it's interesting they chose Glamour UK.) I have yet to sufficiently flip through it, but it's tablet-sized, super cute, and from what I can see is a pretty legit magazine. I'll share more once I've really looked through it, but I'm like what I see. Anyway, Reese, as usual, hasn't aged a day, and I ADORE the bright colors, the way the text just lays around her delicately, and the orange. Beautiful.

WINNER: Glamour UK.

5. INSTYLE

InStyle US: There are many different things I really like about this cover: how the colors match Jennifer's eyes, the cute over-the-shoulder pose, the big text element, and the font of Jennifer Aniston's name (also how's it's cut off by the edge of the magazine). Just lovely!

InStyle UK: OK, Heidi looks really sickly, doesn't she? Yellowish. Then the odd pose in a lingerie-esque dress and stick-thin hair. Just not a good look, and not a good color combination with the pink. No no no. 

WINNER: InStyle US, definitely. 

6. ELLE

Elle US: If I could just wipe away 80% of the text, I would adore this cover. It's just so bold and condensed. But I love the white dress blending into the white background, along with the light illuminating Blake's face. And she is just so gorgeous to begin with, it's hard to make her look bad!

Elle UK: I love the composition of this cover--how Alexa Chung is positioned along the horizontal lines of the couch. The varying shades of blue and light pastel colors, just brilliant. The only thing I'm really not loving is honestly the hair and make up. It's just a little dull to me, or at least nothing special. Her style's always a little boyish, but this may be too boyish here. Especially since the wonderfully san-serifed leading line says, "oh so pretty."

WINNER: Even though the font and artistic value on Elle UK blows me away, like always, I think I'll give this one to Elle US. Blake's pose, the white, and her brightened face is too lovely to pass up.

7. ESQUIRE

Esquire US: Here's Esquire, being all innovative again, and I love it. When I got this in the mail, I was excited to see how clever the cover was when I pulled up on the flap of Jon Hamm, to reveal Kate Upton (the Sports Illustrated recent swimsuit cover model) underneath. I love how she is wearing Jon Hamm's blazer off her shoulder and the way she is looking off to the side towards him. It leads your eye from left to right, along with the arrows and text. So brilliant. 

Esquire UK: I had a peak at Daniel's editorial inside this month's magazine, and the photos are simple, minimalistic and sharp, just like this cover. Most importantly, Daniel looks like a real MAN, with a chiseled chin and jaw bone and everything, which is exactly what the cover said he would look: "Daniel Radcliffe Mans Up." A nice, clean cover.

WINNER: Just for successfully pushing the boundaries once again, Esquire US.

8. HARPER'S BAZAAR

Harper's Bazaar US: I'm really liking this cover, believe it or not. Even though text heaviness on one side is usually a no-no, the text on the right INSIDE the red boxes even it out very nicely. I love the brightness on the cover, illuminating her hair and face. She looks flawless!

Harper's Bazaar UK: This is when the high fashion side of HB UK turns from fierce, to a little bit scary. Georgia looks like some kind of alien, futuristic robot, greased-up street performer, or something of the like. Really cool, but a little bit frightening. 

WINNER: Harper's Bazaar US. Gwyneth's just fabulous here.

9. MARIE CLAIRE

Marie Claire US: What I said before with Harper's UK about Georgia looking like a greased-up street performer? Oh this is much much worse. I'm not saying she doesn't look fabulous-- she just looks TOO fabulous, like inhumanly fabulous. Like bionic woman. She doesn't have one line on her face, barely any on her body besides to show where her collarbone and boobs are. The jewel-encrusted corset though--awesome. And the va-va-voom hair. 

Marie Claire UK: I perhaps could have used some bolder colors on this cover, or at least not exclusively muted colors: the pink and blue/grey. Just compared to US, this cover is so much more organic and natural. And I think that might be more fitting for Marie Claire readers. 

WINNER: Marie Claire UK. Eva Mendes is fabulous… but the cover would be perfect if only it wasn't so unnaturally enhanced. 

FINAL SCORE:

US: 6

UK: 3

And my favorite for the month is... Adele's Vogue cover! And because she is so photogenic she had quite a long editorial in the magazine. Hope you enjoy-- what was your favorite for this month?