Reese Witherspoon for ELLE

Posted on Jan 6, 2012 in Fashion

Looks like Reese felt it was time for an image shakeup.

Reese Witherspoon for ELLE magazine Reese Witherspoon featured in the February 2012 issue of ELLE magazine photographed by Carter Smith and styled by Mario Grauso.

That doesn’t even look like her. At first glance, it looks like an Olsen twin. She even sounds a little harder-edged:

On aging in Hollywood: “Nothin’s going north. It’s all going south, might as well put it on film now. But not without a lot of padding and a push-up bra.”

On earning a reported $15 to $20 million per film: “Every time they call and talk to me about money, I get embarrassed about it. A couple of women finally made me feel better: ‘To get what you’re making, do you know how much money people are making off of you?’ I’m like, ‘Oh, oh, okay.’”

On living a less-than-perfect life: “I want to not perpetuate any more of this kind of garbage that’s out there in the media about women falling in love blindly. No one’s life is perfect, and I’m sick of whatever tabloid stuff or this or that story tries to portray. My life is just as realistic as everybody else’s. Whoever thinks someone has a perfect life, I’m so eager to dispel that.”

Is it us or does she sound a smidge defensive?

Reese Witherspoon for ELLE magazine Reese Witherspoon wears a white viscose jersey dress with black trim from Emporio Armani.

Reese Witherspoon for ELLE magazine Witherspoon wears a silk chiffon dress from Dior, with diamond earrings, bracelets, and ring from Harry Winston.

Reese Witherspoon for ELLE magazine Embroidered jersey bodysuit, Bottega Veneta, $3,800.

Reese Witherspoon for ELLE magazine Yellow gold necklace with antique bronze coin, Bulgari, $4,400. Sequined satin dress, Gucci, price on request.

Reese Witherspoon for ELLE magazine Embroidered canvas and cotton dress, Miu Miu, $2,350. Yellow gold bangles, some with diamonds, all, Roberto Coin, prices on request.

We’ll tell you what: these are the best pics of her we’ve seen in a while. We don’t know if the heavy eye makeup is something she should be doing more often, but something here is working for her. It’s just nice to see her break away from the Avon Lady persona.

[Photo Credit: Carter Smith for elle.com]

Tags:

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_EDI2DLE7DE3YPW2ONIHBWOVHMA ecallaw

It almost looks like they copied her face from the first picture and put it in the second picture. Weird.
- Anonymous
  
  haha i was about to be like “THEY TOTALLY DID” except her hair looks verrrrrrrrrrry slightly different on the right side around her boob in each picture. i guess she’s just super good at making the same face.
- foodycat
  
  That’s exactly what I was going to say! It’s like those catalogue photos where they just photoshop the different colours in. I like the beachy close-up with the Bulgari necklace though, even if I suspect they were thinking of Kate Hudson when they took it.
  - Anonymous
    
    I like that one too
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1468295759 Connie B. Verzak
  
  I was just thinking the same thing, along with “Holy hell they photoshopped the bejesus out of her waist!”
- http://twitter.com/almcafee Alison McAfee
  
  I think they photoshopped her face behind the hair. it’s definitely the exact same face. magazines are creepy.
  - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=523566011 Dawn Grimes Stough
    
    the pic of her in the black dress looks worthy of a submission to psdisasters.com… so out of proportion :/
    - Lauren Maier
      
      Thank you for that link, now I’m not getting ANY work done this weekend!
  - Anonymous
    
    She’s creepy about her facial poses — for years she did this thing where she bit her tongue when smiling/posing for the camera so it looked like he had a bigger lower lip and probably did something she liked with the jawline. But it was so bizarre and clearly deliberate. I really think she’s found some new trick she likes to do with her face for photos.
- Anonymous
  
  That was exactly my thought! Thank goodness they changed the face for the other shots. Beyond that–yes, this was the best I’ve seen her in some time.
- Anonymous
  
  Beat me to it! OR they have one of those Flash computer games where you can make your own doll, using a photograph of your face
- Anonymous
  
  I immediately was sucked in by the creepiness of this, too.
Anonymous

Yeah, she changed her image from Reese Witherspoon to Mary Kate Olsen.
Sam Corbett

I’ve always been jealous of her skin. I know she’s only 35 (and likely photoshopped here), so it’s not THAT surprising, but she always looks smooth as a baby’s bottom.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=811053804 Stacy Parker Cole

The first two look exactly alike face wise, even though it’s still a good pic. Love the one on the beach and the “windblown” one.
Anonymous

I’ve always been pretty neutral about Witherspoon, and I do find her style to be a little staid, but this is a great editorial. In terms of her career and public perception, it is doing all the things she needs it to do: showing her looking sexy but not hoochy, soft but not too girly, intriguing but still approachable. All without pushing it over the top and making her look ridiculous. Well done editorial staff, agent, and PR machine. (Didn’t mean that to sound so cynical.)
http://twitter.com/marared Jaime

…when I saw the original picture on another site, I thought it was Diane Kruger.
- Anonymous
  
  And I thought it was Elin Nordegren, Tiger’s ex-wife!
Anonymous

Usually I’m not a big fan of her “nice girl” look, so I’m loving this makeover. She looks great!
Anonymous

Seems like a bitchy entitled hausfrau to me….except in the awesome “Freeway”. That’s the Reese I love.
- Anonymous
  
  I will always have a soft spot for her because of “Freeway”
  - Anonymous
    
    Yep, Freeway and Election. Once she started doing the tart-but-lovable shtick she became a less interesting actress. I keep hoping, though, that she’ll do a real role again someday. She can play intelligent, which ought to be worth something.
    
    Oh, and the loose hair’s a massive improvement–balances out her slightly sharp features.
Anonymous

Her famous chin was been radically photoshopped into a point in that fourth photo! Incredible. Why these actresses feel the need to be constantly talking about their bodies is beyond me. I get Hollywood’s obsession would become their own since they are Hollywood but if they want to change the channel on this kind of thinking, why not just stop talking about it in every magazine spread? Seriously — she’s young and beautiful … Why on earth all this cliched, done to death jazz about nothing moving north and the need for foundation garments at every pass? Enough already — say something interesting, girl.
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KLKIE5KG4N2DBAZ4GNAXTSQGXE sepi
  
  News for you: that’s a chin implant. Like Amanda Seyfried’s and that Hough girl’s. Looks like you could pry off a bottle cap with it.
  - Anonymous
    
    Amanda Seyfried? Really? I think of her face as being so soft.
  - Andrea Rossillon
    
    I don’t think it is an implant–she’s always had a prominent chin. You can see it in her early photos. The reason it’s so prominent now is that she’s older and leaner than she was as a soft 16-year-old girl. I found a picture of me the other day from high school–it’s been 20 years, and I weigh the same, but my face in high school was a lot rounder and my chin much less prominent than it is now. And I didn’t start with a pointy chin like hers to begin with.
    - Anonymous
      
      Yep, Reese has always had a major chin. It’s strong enough that it’s influenced the types of roles she got.
- Anonymous
  
  The are repetitive about their body -and hypocritical, if you let them give you that waist- but I think those are the things the interviewers are sent to ask.
  - Anonymous
    
    I agree. They aren’t just randomly talking into a recorder. They are being asked specific questions by a beauty/fashion magazine.
- http://twitter.com/rtsinc1 rtsinc
  
  Transformation of Reese Witherspoon: www.instyle.com/instyle/package/transformations/photos/0,,20290122_1049208,00.html
Martha Deutsch

is it me or is something up with her right eye? bad surgery? bad photoshopping?
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_64HSRZWCSJ5RBFGCWDLFQOICYM G

“That doesn’t even look like her….something here is working for her.”
What’s working for her is that it doesn’t even look like her. I would love a post on the photoshopped, without names. We could all guess who they are.
Anonymous

Have to agree, she looks great. I love that Miu Miu dress. Have heard she is super smart.
Anonymous

She looks awesome – funny, she struck me more as looking like Carrie Underwood!
Anonymous

Carrie Underwood maybe.
- http://www.facebook.com/charlotte.horseman Charlotte Horseman
  
  Yes, that is what I was seeing too. She looks great – but not like herself.
- Anonymous
  
  Cheryl Crow.
Anonymous

Wow–I wouldn’t have even recognized her. I like the looks–sexy without being trampy. LOVE that Bulgari coin necklace.
Anonymous

it’s cuz she’s supposed to be some hot girl in that new flick where two dudes fight over her. which is ridiculous. so she’s trying to get people to believe that now. i find it odd.
- Anonymous
  
  I just posted the same thing! So strange.
Anna Maria Diamanti

Love it. She needs an image makeover anyway. And I want that Armani dress.
MilaXX

She’s definitely shedding the Avon lady/girl next door image. I think I like it. My fav had to be the sort of California girl with the subtle smokey eye look. Can’t wait to see what this translates to in terms of movie roles/choices.
Anonymous

her ginormously out of proportion head/face is scaring the beejezuz out of me in those first few pics!!
- emily mcginnis
  
  exactly! the only natural-looking pictures are the ones that appear to be outdoors. those two studio shots are ridiculous!
Anonymous

Agreed they are among the best pics of her. Love the makeup, but I’m not digging the long hair. And the jewelry is perfect! Note to celebrities: when it comes to jewelry, think “Dripping.With”. It’s what separates you from the Great Unwashed. Otherwise you’re just another pretty girl in a pretty dress.
Anonymous

The cover is indeed scary/ridic
Emily Giovanni

I love her sassy look in the first two pics, but the close-up one looks like a 14-year-old girl and not like Reese at all. That is kind of creeping me out. And the beach and car shots look like she just finished receiving a great pleasure and is in the initial recovery stage. I am not a huge fan of those.
Anonymous

I do like this. She is always that sweet girl girl next door type of character, even in real life. This is very vixen, but in a low key way. It is a good change for her.
http://joyouslifesf.wordpress.com Kiltdntiltd

Okay, so darken her hair and in some of those shots she becomes a dead ringer for JLo. Weirdly stupid. And she sounds asinine.
- Anonymous
  
  Asinine. Word.
http://twitter.com/VicksieDo VicksieDo

Love her hair in these.
Anonymous

I don’t know why but her persona is just so non-sexy that even with her looking like this I still just get a perfectionist mommy vibe.
- Anonymous
  
  It’s the “well-off matron who’s had a scare over her man straying into younger & sexier pastures” look, custom created from remnants of her younger wardrobe and a shopping trip with a hipper friend in trendier stores than she usually shops. Debuting for their week away from the kids. ETA: feels anal because it’s totally planned down to the eyeliner.
  
  Man, I need to get a life.
Anonymous

The cover is hid but the beach shots look great. Love the swimsuit. I am always sucker for the boy short cut, although I know lots of people think it’s matronly.

Weird but the black eyeliner works for me in the natural daylight shots but not under the harsh studio lights.
http://profiles.google.com/laura.jane.ogorman Laura O’Gorman

Did she have her ribcage removed? She is scary skinny in the black dress.
Anonymous

You think she looks good? Sorry but I disagree. I think if you put her, Julianne Hough and Ashley Olsen in a lineup, you wouldn’t be able to tell them apart.
Mariah J

She’s giving off an Olsen/Carrie Underwood vibe…I like it.
Anonymous

I seem to remember that back in the day (pre-Legally Blonde/Walk the Line, think “Fear” time) she had a much edgier look. Looks like she’s going back to 15 years ago, but I’m OK with her mixing it up a bit.
Judy_J

I’m not a fan of the unwashed, “just got out of bed” hair. And does she have any other expressions? She’s wearing the exact same expression in the top two photos.
Anonymous

She looks great, and I esp. like the Bottega Veneta bodysuit for a mere $3,800.

But her jaw/chin … and Rob Lowe’s jaw –might they be moving toward sentience together?
Anonymous

Lay off the Photoshop!!! The cover face has been cut and pasted onto the other pictures! I want to see what she looks like, not a cyber-alien.
Anonymous

She looks better because they are disguising her big chin and underbite.
Anonymous

I find her so unlikeable. Why now – after decades of success – is she adding Sexy Minx to her bag of tricks? It’s so desperate and unappealing and false, especially when there’s such a Photoshop-driven disconnect between the images and how she looks.

She plays the game of seeming to be whatever her current role encompasses with an off-putting eagerness. So in this new film she plays a sexy woman, the object of lust for two secret-agent studs? No. No way, no day.
Anonymous

The hair is so very Brittney Spears!
Anonymous

I want a better look at that Bottega Veneta body suit, time for some Internet research.

She looks way better dressed like this, younger and more appealing. You come away thinking she’s more pretty than perky, & usually it’s the other way around. Even if half of it’s photo-shoot photo-shop magic, it’s still better.

Honestly, she just doesn’t sound all that bright with that comment about her earnings. If she feels guilty about being rich and well-paid, that’s what charity (or philanthropy, as it’s known if you’re really well-to-do) is for. If it really never occurred to her that she’s well-paid because it’s profitable for others, she’s an airhead.
- Anonymous
  
  I’m right there with ya on Bottega Veneta bodysuit. My internet trigger finger was already itching to look it up … not like I’m gonna buy the damn thing. (I have seriously dreamed of buying a Bottega Veneta bag for 30 years, dating back to high school and the old “When your own initials are enough” ads.) OK, I went for it – here’s the bodysuit: http://coolspotters.com/clothing/bottega-veneta-spring-2012-rtw-embroidered-jersey-bodysuit. Eww. Far better on Reese lying down … where you can’t see the whole thing at once.
  
  p.s. Olsen twin all the way!
Anonymous

On first glance, ‘Olson Twin’ popped into my head too.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_3AJ237ND3GAHDQJZ4TLCO4WLRA Emily

I totally thought Olsen twin too. But aside from that similarity – she looks great.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jessica-TallGirl-Freeman/1043623567 Jessica TallGirl Freeman

Ok, I was glad to read the comments and see I’m not the only one getting the Olsen vibe here. Meh. I’m underwhelmed.
Anonymous

The first two photos look like she took a serious leaf outta Kate Winslet’s book of becoming a womanbot. The other photos look like she requested the Kristen Stewart treatment.

Honey, you are way prettier than Kristen Stewart. Don’t sell yourself short for some creepy magazine that copy/pastes your face.
Anonymous

Is she going thru or about to go thru a break-up? I’ve never seen her all sexy on the sand before.
Anonymous

That white dress is fabtastic!
http://profiles.google.com/rosatcollege Ros Clarke

I thought Kate Hudson, not Olsen twin.
http://twitter.com/MissAmynae Amy Putnam Ellinger

Never thought I’d say it, but she looks…..cougar-sexy! yes, I know 35 is a bit young for cougar, but the potential is totally there!
Anonymous

I don’t think it was an Avon Lady persona, so much as an Elle Woods persona.
Anonymous

I wouldn’t say “defensive,” more like “mature.”
Sara__B

Reese looks lovely, but not very much like Reese. Especially in the studio shots I have to struggle to tell whether it’s Reese or some other blond celebrity. If she and her handlers are trying to change her persona, it shouldn’t be such a close match to another celebrity.
http://twitter.com/mellafe natalia h

Well, then stop making stupid movies that perpetuate that notion.

I find her so boring.
bloodshothalfblind

she looks good, but the cover is a little too stevie nicks.
http://asskickingadviser.com/ Ass Kicking Adviser

I think she looks great. She’s made the 30-something change. Shedding the America’s sweetheart image and feeling powerful and a little cynical and a helluva lot smarter. I recognize this syndrome because it’s not just movie stars who go through this in their late-thirties.
Anonymous

PS or PS (plastic surgery or photoshop?)

possibly PS x PS?

either way, she is bordering on unrecognizable here.
http://asskickingadviser.com/ Ass Kicking Adviser

I think she looks great. When did any Olsen twin ever look this chic. She’s made the 30-something change. Shedding the America’s sweetheart image and feeling powerful and a little cynical and a helluva lot smarter. I recognize this syndrome because it’s not just movie stars who go through this in their late-thirties.
Anonymous

I saw an Olsen twin on the cover too and even a bit of Jenny McCarthy. Weird. But, she looks pretty good in the rest of the shots.

Her little blurb about her movie earnings made me chuckle. Poor dears, all the phony sound bites they’ve got to (or their publicists have to) come up with and spew forth.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2SYNWNMDUBJBJL66NUNMGZEIDI AnonMom

Am I the only one that thinks she looks like she’s masterbating in the last photo???
marilyn

She looks kind of desperate here. She is too well-nourished looking to be an Olsen. They look like malnourished bag ladies. Their idea of chic is extremely expensive, but bag lady-looking. Reece does not have that look. Unfortunately, I think she is getting desperate to hang onto her youth, so the pictures are more ‘hot’ than she is.
Wendy Foster

Her life is JUST like everyone else’s….eveyone else who makes multi-millions, has staff who clean their house, walk their dogs, run their errands, train them at the gym, cook their food, etc. etc. Yep, who doesn’t live like that?
Anonymous

Meh. She looks like a country singer with a HUGE head.
Axel T. Prude Super Tan

channeling CARRIE UNDERWOOD
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_BVTOKFJWRRDEOVYB2KU6LAHWUY Margaretta

BLAND. I’ve seen edgier editorials in Teen magazine. This is all still very girl-next-door.
Anonymous

What, everyone looks like an Olsen to you? No. I see more Carrie U. or Chelsea H. Either way, not much Reese.
Anonymous

…..WоW……Мy friеnd`s sistеr mакеs 69/hr оn thе intеrnеt. Shе hаs bееn unеmрlоуеd fоr 11 mоnths but lаst mоnth hеr incоmе wаs 5846$ јust wоrкing оn thе РС fоr а fеw hоurs. Read about it here ……….. C a s h M a n y . c о m
Anonymous

Gorgeous pics!! She looks great with a little longer and shaggier hair but her face (spec. her jawline) is still very much her own. And i might start sounding a little defensive too if asked such inane and persoanl questions all the time.
Anonymous

in the first two shots she has absolutely the same expression
- Anonymous
  
  she looks like a model in a look book, staring straight ahead with no expression.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=lf UltimaEsperenza

Too photoshopped.
http://profiles.google.com/phyllis.craine Phyllis Craine

Gotta give her credit for making smocking look sexy (convertible photo)
Anonymous

Looks like they photoshopped her waist too high on the cover pic. Looks disproportional.
Anonymous

looks sort of like me my first year in college. damn, that photo shop is good!
Anonymous

Wow flag on the field, –offensive use of photoshop– Who did you say this was?

Share This

Reese Witherspoon for ELLE

Archives

Follow us

Archives