Innehållsförteckning för December/January 2024 från ELLE

Sheer Brilliance There’s nothing to hide when every layer from top to toe is as pretty as can be. Tux Redux From maxed-out hems to precious metals, these tweaks give tuxedo dressing a twist.…

Barbie made progress look so painless. In Greta Gerwig’s $1.4 billion-dollar-grossing worldwide blockbuster, the Barbies of Barbie Land operated under the blissful belief that sexism didn’t exist. The presidency, the Supreme Court, Nobel Prize winners, construction workers, doctors — all female. This was a fantasy sold by a toy company, of course, but an eerily convincing one. And its magic seemed to translate directly to our world when, in July 2023, Gerwig celebrated the biggest debut in box office history for a female-directed film, after years of well-publicized industry initiatives on behalf of the post–#MeToo, post–Time’s Up, post–#OscarsSoMale era. Gerwig’s extraordinary success seemed the sort of bellwether women behind the camera in Hollywood had long awaited. “I cried, because I feel like a new precedent has been set,” says director,…

IN A BLACK HOODIE, HER CARAMEL hair corralled into a ballerina bun, Jennifer Lopez is giving her dancers a priceless piece of advice. “Part of being a great performer is being aware,” she tells them. That moment, from her documentary Halftime — which narrates her progress toward her 2020 Super Bowl performance with Shakira — crystallizes who she is as an actress, too. Lopez began her multipronged career, of course, as a dancer, and acting, for her, always starts “in the body,” she says. “Blocking a scene is choreography; even looping is choreography.” When she’s preparing for a role, she thinks about movement before anything else: “the walk of the character, the way they use their hands, the way they choose to move from one place to the other.” That…

LILY GLADSTONE RECENTLY DEBUTED in Cannes, posing alongside her friend and Killers of the Flower Moon costar, Leonardo DiCaprio, wearing Valentino: a devastatingly beautiful black cashmere cape with abstract floral embel-lishments that seemed made for her alone. The cape was from Valentino’s fall 2022 couture, part of a collection that, per the brand, “broadens the spectrum of beauty” by centering the formerly peripheral, turning “into protagonists those who, once, did not even have supporting roles.” That’s Native women in a nutshell, especially in Hollywood. We’re rarely portrayed as people with scope or dynamism, but Gladstone, who has Blackfeet (Siksikaitsitapi) and Nez Perce (Nimíipuu) heritage, never makes herself smaller. “I’m not sure I know how to dissolve in the background,” she tells me via Zoom, leaning in so close to the…

WHEN I ASK TARAJI P. henson what her biggest career goal is, I’m surprised that her answer is retirement. “Well, not retire all the way,” she reassures. “I will always work. I’m talking about the grind—feeling that I have to take an acting job. I really want to start enjoying the fruits of my labor more and be in a position where I can rent a yacht and call my family and be like, ‘Meet me in Spain.’” After more than 20 years of hustle, the break would be well-deserved. Born in Washington, DC, Henson studied drama at Howard University, began acting in the late ’90s, and made her feature film debut in John Singleton’s Baby Boy in 2001. The cult classic introduced her to a wide audience (“from the…

THE COVER LOOKS JENNIFER LOPEZ Dress, Ralph Lauren Collection, $5,990, ralphlauren.com. Earrings, Schiaparelli, $1,100, Schiaparelli, Paris. For Lopez’s makeup look, try Dior Forever Skin Glow, Diorshow On Stage Liner, and Dior Addict Hydrating Shine Lipstick. All, Dior. Photographed by Sølve Sundsbø (styled by George Cortina; hair by Jesus Guerrero at the Wall Group; makeup by Scott Barnes at SixK.LA; manicure by Tom Bachik for Tweezerman; set design by Din Morris; produced by Dana Brockman at Viewfinders). JODIE FOSTER Blazer, $698, pants, $448, Ralph Lauren Collection, ralphlauren.com. Bra, Intimissimi, $59, intimissimi.com. For Foster’s makeup look, try Les Beiges Healthy Glow Bronzing Cream, Le Gel Sourcils, and Rouge Allure L’Extrait. All, Chanel. Photographed by Zoey Grossman (styled by Alex White; hair by Adir Abergel at A-Frame Agency; makeup by Pati Dubroff for…

THE BAG Part of Rabanne’s brand-new Paco leather line, this bucket style channels the house’s space-age roots with sculptural leather discs. THE WATCH In warm yellow gold with sunbeam-like engraving, Van Cleef & Arpels’s Ludo Secret timepiece brings a much-needed dose of light to the winter months. THE SHOE In the mood for a new piercing? You can now get the look without the sting, thanks to Tory Burch’s edgy-meets-modern pierced mule.…

Countless origin stories are set in garages. The germ of the idea for Apple came while the founders were hanging out in Steve Jobs’s garage. Bands from Weezer to the Ramones used them for early jam sessions. For Anine Bing, her Silver Lake garage space generated not a personal computer or a series of radio hits, but a fashion line that would travel further than her wildest dreams. “I didn’t have plans to have a bunch of stores around the world” at the outset, she says. Instead, she wanted to design the kinds of clothes she would wear: 10 simple pieces. “I thought everything was so overcomplicated,” Bing explains. She took a page from L.A.’s rock’n’ roll history with faded, vintage-feeling rock tees and whittled-down leather pants that looked straight…

Looking down into a massive water tank meant to mimic the depths of the Straits of Florida, director Chai Vasarhelyi watched Annette Bening swim across its length and back again. Bening spent a year training to swim at a world-class level in order to play the long-distance champion Diana Nyad. The believability of the biopic hinged on her stroke being effortless — and on her ability to spend up to six hours filming in unheated water. Until that first swim, all Vasarhelyi could do was hope it would come together. “When she first got in the water, I felt a sense of relief, a sense of awe,” she remembers. “It was one of those wondrous things.” Codirecting Nyad, with her husband Jimmy Chin, required Vasarhelyi to plunge herself into a…

JODIE FOSTER WON’T READ ANYTHING you post about this article. “I don’t really care about other people’s opinions,” says the actress-director-producer, who has more than 100 Hollywood credits to her name and zero social media presence. “Why do you care about what some guy in his pajamas thinks about what you should do with your life?” If there is a theme to Foster’s current era, it’s this: After more than 50 years in the spotlight, she is living like no one is watching. Meeting up at The Spaniard near her place in New York City’s West Village — her hair still wet from a shower — Foster chats warmly about her home life with wife Alexandra Hedison, her two sons, and her ladies-only fantasy football league smack chat. When we…

“HOLLYWOOD GETS TO DECIDE what heroes look like, and they never look like us,” Eva Longoria says. That’s why telling the story of Richard Montañez, the Frito-Lay janitor who claims to have invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos—the subject of her directorial feature film debut, Flamin’ Hot—was so appealing. “I looked at Richard and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this would be a great opportunity to create a hero who looks like my dad, who looks like my uncle, who sounds like my family.’” The film, released on Hulu and Disney+ in June, was a hit—Searchlight Pictures reported it was the most-watched streaming premiere in its history. It did what Longoria knew it would: connect with people, many of them Latino, who were seeking a heartfelt, redeeming story about a working-class…

“This Tasia is different. I’m ready for Hollywood now. I was not ready for Hollywood when I was 19.” “HE WHO DWELLS IN THE SHELTER of the Most High, will abide in the shadow of the Almighty”: Psalm 91 is Fantasia Barrino Taylor’s daily prayer. Among churchgoing folk, it’s called the Psalm of Protection, and it’s no surprise this is her touchstone, as Barrino Taylor has had a tumultuous life—“all that stuff,” as she alludes to her history of abuse, struggles with literacy, and early motherhood. After winning American Idol at 19, the preacher’s kid from High Point, North Carolina, felt the unrelenting weight of stardom, and by age 26 had landed in the hospital for a suicide attempt. That was 13 years ago—through which she has risen from the…

Nobody loves winter like freestyle mogul skier Perrine Laffont. The Moncler ambassador, who received a gold medal at the 2018 Olympics and has won multiple World Championships, was raised in Lavelanet, France, where she began skiing on the nearby Monts d’Olmes. She went to the Olympics at age 15 and has become one of the most celebrated women in the sport. When she’s off-duty, Laffont, 25, loves heli-skiing — off-trail skiing from points accessible only by helicopter. She wears a Chanavey Ski Jacket from Moncler’s Grenoble line, designed to be layered on and off the slopes. Her favorite spot is the Matthiol Boutique Hotel in Zermatt, Switzerland, with its breathtaking views of the Matterhorn. She loves “the mountain vibrations. I like the peacefulness that reigns on the glacier when I…

Back in 2001, Britney Spears wearing a pair of tiny hot pink bikini bottoms atop low-slung, metallic green flares felt revolutionary. The pop star’s outfit in the sweaty, sexy music video for “I’m a Slave 4 U” sent shock waves through pop culture. As with all things Y2K, the exposed thong is once again back in fashion. But in the modern iteration of this 2000s style, instead of just showing off the straps, celebrities have been stepping out with their underwear completely visible. The trend started bubbling up at Saint Laurent’s spring 2023 show, where a third of the looks consisted of sheer or semi-sheer dresses worn with just a pair of briefs underneath. The influence of Miu Miu’s last few collections can also be felt, especially fall 2023, when…

When it’s cold outside, it’s tempting to stay inside. And for beauty maximalists in particular, wintertime offers the chance to embrace being antisocial and try some products and procedures that call for rest and recovery. If you’ve heard people talking a lot about Morpheus — and then quickly realized they weren’t discussing a character from The Matrix — this might be your cue to try the micro-needling procedure known as Morpheus8. Kim Kardashian has used it to tighten her stomach, calling it a “game changer” on Instagram. Morpheus8 combines microneedling with radio frequency to address the loss of elasticity, loose skin, and scars (especially from acne) and boosts collagen formation. For best results by spring, doing three sessions is ideal, advises Loretta Ciraldo, MD, and you’ll need at least two…

IF THERE’S ONE THING DANIELLE BROOKS has learned about being in Hollywood, from her post-Juilliard beginnings in New York to her onscreen work today, it’s to have faith. In a volatile business like this, you’ll need it. “I auditioned for a ton of shows and would get callback after callback, but I was just not landing it,” she says of her early days. “Now I understand why, because what I now know is that God’s plan for your life will always be better than what you’ve imagined for yourself.” For Brooks, that plan was making her Broadway debut as Sofia in the 2015 revival of The Color Purple musical—10 years after she watched the original production at age 15, her first Broadway show ever. Her performance would earn her a…

THE KOREAN CONCEPT OF in-yun suggests nothing is coincidence, no meeting is accidental—two people are drawn to each other by an inextricable fate that tethers them emotionally in this life and others. As Greta Lee’s Nora explains in Past Lives, the A24 Sundance hit film that caused Google searches for in-yun to trend across the U.S., “It’s an in-yun if two strangers even walk past each other in the street and their clothes accidentally brush, because it means there must have been something between them in their past lives.” If you ask Lee, she and Past Lives writer-director Celine Song have in-yun. When they first met, the spark between them and all that seemed possible made them giddy: “We felt like two little girls giggly with ambition about what kind…