Vanity Fair's Hollywood Covers

Vanity Fair has a slideshow of all the Hollywood issue covers starting back in 1995. I couldn't resist posting the images because my interest in magazines in general can be traced to these Hollywood covers each year.

I think celebrity covers are a big reason to a magazine's success. Now a cynic, I usually skip over the Hollywood profiles because I see them now as purely a tool to generate buzz about the actor's upcoming project. But ten years ago, I would devour those stories each month and held a subscription to Vanity Fair through high school because I thought this magazine, and it's photography was the epitome of glamor and style.

The first two are so 1990s....

The first one I bought, in 1997...I think they do best when going for the formal gowns

Natalie Portman was so young here...love me some tuxes

Back to the casual....it's so Seattle DotCom, don't you think?

The title of this cover is "Splendor in the Grass" a book whose theme is about the inability of a young man and woman to live up to their youthful promise in both love and life.....that in no way connects back to these actors...all of which are in such high demand today....

...and NO marrying Tom Cruise does not count as a career boost.

This was the first one I believe that used Photoshop to combine the group. I distinctly remember this cover honoring these great old actresses by placing them in between young, hot ones. How did Catherine Deneuve get on the cover over Sophia Loren? COME ON!

I would love to see the circ data on these covers. I guarantee the casual does NOT sell.

Funny how in an industry dominated by men, men rarely turn up on the cover.
Five people on the cover flap....eek!

This will always be the cover that comes to mind when I think "Hollywood Issue"

Cate Blanchette looks bizarre here. Why does Uma always get on the cover? What really has she done since Pulp Fiction?

ICK! TOM FORD YOU MISOGYNISTIC AHOLE!
What a jerk...I fell in love with Rachel McAdams when she walked out of this set after they asked her to take off her clothes.

Two inside pages of penguins? I understand the magazine was still apologizing for putting an enlarge profile shot of a breast in last year's photo gallery, but really, couldn't the magazine do better than Ben Stiller and Jack Black? There must have been a boycott...

AND FINALLY this year:

I don't mind the colors. It's going back to styling the dresses in a glamorous way, but I do agree with Jezabel when they said it was a little too Easter Eggy for them. And I don't really understand Jessica Biel on the cover flap.

One last interesting note on my favorite cover each year: I found this handy list of how many times actresses appear on the cover of the Hollywood issue. [Originally published as a comment on Hot Blog's list]

An astrick means they appeared on the front fold. For the One Cover gals, I'm just calling out front fold peeps. Who cares about the has-beens, right?

Three Covers:
Scarlett Johansson (2004, 2005, *2006)
Gwyneth Paltrow (1995, *2001, *2004)
Cate Blanchett (1998, 2001, *2005)
Kate Winslet (*1997, 2001, *2005)

Two Covers.
Claire Danes (*1997, 2005)
Rosario Dawson (2002, 2005)
Uma Thurman (*1995, *2005)
Jennifer Connelly (*2002, *2004)
Kirsten Dunst (*2002, 2004)
Julianne Moore (1995, *2004)
Naomi Watts (2002, 2004)
Selma Blair (2000, 2002)
Penélope Cruz (*2000, 2001)
Nicole Kidman (*1995, *2001)

One Cover:
Amy Adams (*2008)
Jessica Biel (*2008)
Emily Blunt (*2008)
Anne Hathaway (*2008)
Keira Knightley (*2006)
Kate Beckinsale (*2002)
Catherine Deneuve (*2001)
Meryl Streep (*2001)
Mena Suvari (*2000)
Thandie Newton (*1999)
Monica Potter (*1999)
Reese Witherspoon (*1999)
Natalie Portman (*1998)
Cameron Diaz (*1997)
Jennifer Jason Leigh (*1995)