Some month’s ago, Vogue Magazine set up shop in San Diego to shoot Blake Lively with Cardiff local and surf icon Rob Machado for this month's cover of Vogue. Vogue, arguably the bible for fashion lovers everywhere, had it’s favorite photographer, Mario Testino, shooting a starlet in San Diego. San Diego’s backdrop is on the June cover of Vogue. A San Diego local is in the fashionable pages of Vogue.
Just wanted to make sure you understood.
Nothing satisfies this fashion forward personal stylist more than knowing Vogue Magazine chose San Diego for a cover shoot. A milestone in the San Diego Fashion Argument.
The Vogue team visited for three days hitting a few different spots including La Jolla, Cardiff State Beach, and San Onofre State Beach where writer Hamish Bowles and Blake Lively were taught how to surf by Machdo and friends. “My goal was to keep her hair dry!” Machado joked. “I failed, but she never actually fell. We rode every wave to the end.”
As you might have guessed from the beach location and active surfing, Lively was styled in mostly beach wear, which unfortunately, wasn’t all that exciting. I was hoping for a less obvious and more forward idea displayed across San Diego’s scenery. But, I did enjoy the fun Hervé Léer by Maz Azria bandage slip dress and an elegantly skanky Versace dress.
As I flipped through the rest of Vogue’s pages it occurred to me why Vogue went with that chic simplicity for Lively's shoot. Vogue is leaving their days of extravagant, unrealistic fashions on leaping models. There was not one model in mid jump in the entire issue - something Vogue’s fashion spreads were notorious for. It seems the recession and the readers has forced Vogue back to earth - bringing their feet firmly to the ground. Time for some realism.
Ergo, one of the pages has Livley in a simple Michael Kors Tee and fresh looking bikini bottoms with two inches of clear plastic on each hip. Beneath this photo reads, “Plenty of skin is inevitably on show - but ocean days also require a measure of practical thinking. A Tee keeps the sun off her back.”
Practicality brought Vogue to San Diego’s beaches, but keep in mind when you get ready for your day tomorrow: practical and comfortable can still be fashion forward and opulent.
