Vanity Fair Sep-14

Though contributing photographer Mario Testino has worked with model Natalia Vodianova (at the Paris shoot, top, and with Testino, above, left) on numerous occasions, for both high-fashion editorials and commercial campaigns, he still comes away impressed with the Russian-born beauty he photographed for this month’s cover and related article, “What Natalia Knows” (page 262). “This woman is a force of nature,” Testino says. “She has children, runs a charity, has a high-profle partner, works as a model. She carries on and the years don’t seem to go by.” In his portfolio for the International Best-Dressed List (page 272), Testino picks up where he left of in the last Style Issue. If 2013’s Best-Dressed portfolio was a night out, this year’s is the morning after. Set on the streets of New…

In Groundhog Day, Bill Murray plays an arrogant weatherman who fnds himself stuck in a time loop, condemned to repeat a single (and increasingly tumultuous) 24-hour period until—after doing himself harm in every imaginable manner—he fnally understands that he must change his ways or he’ll remain stuck in the loop forever. I’d never really thought of the movie as a parable of U.S. foreign policy, but waking up to fnd Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, and other Bush-era neocons on TV every morning is enough to put any sentient citizen in a Groundhog Day frame of mind. The unapologetic architects of two costly and catastrophic wars, snarling bravely from their well-remunerated and safe redoubts, want America back in the intervention business. It almost doesn’t matter where—Iraq, for sure, but maybe Syria…

For Mario Testino, real style is not necessarily about the red carpet or the gala party. Instead, it’s about what’s worn on the street —with family, friends, pets, and maybe even a new conquest. The idea behind this year’s Best-Dressed shoot, Testino explains, “was to show how people have a personal style on an everyday basis,” and to “catch people in real life, candid and unguarded.” V.F. fashion and style director Jessica Diehl, who collaborated with Testino, believes the portfolio achieved its aim of “authenticity.” Nicky Haslam, for example, wears a Savile Row suit from his own collection, and Helena Bonham Carter is tight-laced into a corset dress confected by a new favorite young designer, Miss Rosie Red. “Helena really loves costumes,” Diehl notes, “the more madcap and eccentric the…

Iapplaud Monica Lewinsky’s candor, intelligence, and chutzpah [“Shame and Survival,” June]. As a fellow victim of public humiliation—I became a lawyer after many years in the justice system as an ofender; the press decided that the front-page story about me that was most relevant was my stint as a call girl, something I did to support my child and myself—I, too, am concerned with the skewed priorities of the press and society and the liberties they in general take with subjects’ privacy. The fact that women appear to be the most critical of one another is the ultimate humiliation and degradation. We need to spend more time standing up for one another and less time judging. KATHRYN L. SMITHEN Toronto, Ontario Iread with compassion Monica Lewinsky’s article about the humiliation…

Whatever our politics, most of us agree that our nation's greatest ethical misjudgmcut (to put it mildly) was slavery, followed by our treatment of Native Americans. We also agree that misconduct by physicians is the worst form of malpractice. (Stockbrokers who defraud investors place a distant, though solid, second.) And that Edward Snowden did not act ethically (but barely: 54 percent). Beyond that, at least on some matters, our ethics seem to break along party lines. Significantly more Republicans than Democrats or Independents among us would turn in our neighbors if we found out they were in the country illegally. The ethics of fast-food restaurants also turn party-specific: Republicans say there's nothing worse than sei-ving unhealthy food. Democrats say that, yes. there is: underpaying the workers who serve that unhealthy…

From her office in New York City, Jenna Lyons, J. Crew’s 45-year-old president and executive creative director, oversees everything from designs, fabrics, store interiors, and marketing campaigns to collaborations with jewelry-makers, heritage brands, artists, and perfumers. (J. Crew will debut its first two women’s fragrances this month.) Given the green light by the company’s chairman and C.E.O., Mickey Drexler, Lyons has delivered a splash of coveted cool that complements the brand’s stable of wardrobe basics. This past year, J. Crew opened its doors in Lon don and Hong Kong, ofcially marking the glo bal i zation of the beloved American brand. —PUNCH HUTTON I love the configuration of this Massimo Vitali photograph. It’s transportive. My ideal holiday is one without Wi-Fi access. We’re working on a fine-jewelry collection with Jennifer…