Rihanna for ELLE Magazine

Posted on Apr 5, 2012 in Fashion

Ri straps on the Versace and Armani and shoots her critics in the face.

Rihanna featured in the May 2012 issue of ELLE magazine photographed by Tom Munro and styled by Joe Zee.

On her breakup with Chris Brown: “It gave me guns. I was like, well, fuck. They know more about me than I want them to know. It’s embarrassing. But that was my opening. That was my liberation, my moment of bring it. […] Now you know that, so you can say what you want about it. I don’t have anything to hide.”

On the backlash over their reconciliation:
“The bottom line is that everyone thinks differently. It’s very hard for me to accept, but I get it. People end up wasting their time on the blogs or whatever, ranting away, and that’s all right. Because tomorrow I’m still going to be the same person. I’m still going to do what I want to do.”

Far be it for us to waste time ranting on blogs – by the way, whenever a celeb mentions blogs derisively you can bet it means they read them religiously – but she’s got a point. People need to get over the Chris Brown thing as if she personally betrayed them. If it’s a fucked up life choice on her part, well… she’s got a lot of company among her fellow celebrities. Hell, she’s got a lot of company, period.

Versace Spring 2012 Collection

Emporio Armani Spring 2012 Collection

Also, she was built for that Versace – and not many ladies on this planet actually are. And that Emporio Armani looks better on her than the model.

[Photo Credit: elle.com]

Tags:

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KEYJDIENR5MRK2NXJYKNOLWDFE Alexandria

Magazines are just loving that Versace collection for covers and spreads. No complaints, I love it too.
Thathoodwink

Beautiful!
http://www.facebook.com/charlotte.horseman Charlotte Horseman

Can’t argue with that. She looks amazing.
Maria Rosenfire

This is pretty much the only situation in which that fugly bit of Versace can even come close to working, and that hair is mind-bogglingly awful.

The Armani is fabulous, though, and the hair is a major improvement over the cover. Girl is giving capital-F Face.
kingderella

oh rhi. you can sell me anything looking like that.
alyce1213

The leather studded suit is great Versace (hate the wig) and the white dress is cool, but if Miss Thang raises her arm to brush that fake hair out of her eyes, I see a big nip slip.
http://joyouslifesf.wordpress.com Kiltdntiltd

Not many can pull off the odd shade of yellow without looking jaundiced. She brings it on! As to the Armani, I’m glad they cropped the shot where they did, cause I don’t think the skirt of that dress would be her bestie.
gdougs

So glad she dyed her hair darker!
http://www.djplaw.com/ Tadiana

Great outfits; great pictures. I’d love to see natural hair on Rihanna, but hell will probably freeze over first.
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Jessica-TallGirl-Freeman/1043623567 Jessica TallGirl Freeman
  
  Google when she first came out. It short and natural and she is utterly gorgeous. It makes me sad to see her with these shitty wigs.
  - ballerinawithagun
    
    Yes, she was absolutely gorgeous with that short hair!
MilaXX

Another case of better than the model. In this case I think it’s because this feel more like her own personal style.
LesYeuxHiboux

Even her fierce face looks vacant. Having a great body for certain clothes doesn’t make her an engaging entertainer, and she still “sings” like an alarm clock.
- Spicytomato1
  
  Yeah I’m noticing the vacant look more and more. Girlfriend seems to phone it in more often than not. Love the Armani, though.
TheOriginalLulu

Yeah what you said.
And can I just add that I’m so glad she got rid of that awful blonde hair?

She looks amazing here, as usual. Both of these outfits look better on her than on the model.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Julie-Chase/731391326 Julie Chase

That Armani is so gorgeous.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jessica-TallGirl-Freeman/1043623567 Jessica TallGirl Freeman

I hate the cover shot but damn if she’s not WERQing that Armani dress.
Corsetmaker

I just want to say… how much type is on that cover! That’s ridiculous! They’ve got the entire contents on there.
guest2visits

Yeah; she looks wonderful in the Versace and the Armani;……but what will it matter if those life-choices take her places
no one wants to go. She has beauty and talent, but I think when given a choice; she prefers rolling around in scanky-land.
Some of her tats, some of her lyrics, some of her partners; needed an intervention. And she’s not gaining wisdom.
TieDye64

Far better than the model.
dorothea_brooke

She’s a minor-talent twit with terrible taste in men and no ability to give soundbites, but very beautiful. (Said beauty is gave you your career, dear, so enjoy it.)
- http://eclectictsunami.blogspot.com/ Cassie
  
  But with a metric tonne of charisma. You have presence, nothing else matters.
http://profile.yahoo.com/J2VE4NE2FY2BP4QD2XOYKJGLPI Laura

Looks great!
kimmeister

What in the world is hanging out from the bottom of the Versace bra top? Is that a necklace under her top?
marilyn

So, she is blonde today. Well, she does look better than either runway model. She is edgy, and the clothes work on her. i still think she looks a little mean, which is her thing, and it works here.
CatherineRhodes

She was born to wear Versace.
holdmewhileimnaked

this is among the best she’s looked.
i know why people hate the blonde w/ roots, but, you know, somebodys gotta like it & it sure looks less boring than the plain dark.

edited to add:
& she’s really young. people seem to think about her like she’s thirty but i dont think she’s even close. if she’s made life mistakes, in truth, the person that they are gonna affect is her–not anybody out here who’s never met her & never will meet her–& she’s got plenty of time left to rectify them. i hope she does, they are hard mistakes to make. & people make them over & over, no matter how brilliantly they think, no matter how brilliantly they shine.

also:
ps. i’d like to smack her father. not just me, it was my friend who cares even less about celebrities than i do, who somehow still read the interview & then was so outraged, for reason, she had to get us both all deservedly livid about it.
- Lisa
  
  I do see your point, and god knows, I did plenty of dumb stuff when I was 22 – many of us did. I”m lucky enough to be sitting here at age 48, able to look back at what a complete squirrel I was when I was her age.
  
  But if she’s with someone who has already beat her badly at least once, then that means she’s with someone who could potentially kill her. She might not have time to rectify those mistakes if she’s with a person like that. So no, while I don’t take it personally, it does sadden me to see such a young woman go back to someone who beat her up.
  - holdmewhileimnaked
    
    i know, i agree. but knowing & agreeing isnt gonna make her do anything. famous as she is, she’s still gonna have to make her own way. & she knows what the world feels about it. in truth, it might only make her dig her heels in further. i dont know that it will, but it might.
    
    i also know cos i’ve gone through it. even more, my mother went through it. & my mother was a clinical psychologist, a psychoanalyst–a well known one &, even more than that, a good one–which is rare. i remember when some schmuck on here got angry at me & asked me what my father would think of my [very decent] behavior & i just, you know, felt like laughing. cynically, mind. but it takes a while to get there. rhianna doesnt bother me, she’s very pretty & she doesnt figure into my world at all. but i surely hope she does what will keep her out of danger. or, at the very least, she has enough people close to her that will help her if she falls into it.
    - Lisa
      
      I know, and again, you’ve made a lot of valid points. She’ll do what she’s gonna do, and we just have to hope she comes through it okay.
      
      And I’m so sorry you went through that as well. (*A hug for my fellow Bitter Kitten*)
    - sleah_in_norcal
      
      the image of rihanna digging her heels in further- in a cemetery with a shovel. oops, i seriously didn’t mean that to tie in with the domestic violence theme.
boweryboy

I don’t even know her but I hate her for some inexplicable reason. I just hate her.

I only hope she isn’t making a mistake with the Chris Brown thing. Even though I totally can’t stand her and could care less about her personal life it would seriously break my heart if she ended up becoming a fatal statistic of domestic violence.
- kcarb1025
  
  It’s not inexplicable… she’s a talentless idiot oversaturating the media. There’s nothing about her to actually *like*.
butterflysunita

Oh no. The blond hair is back. But the clothes do look great on her.
leave_Blake_alone

Wow I am getting a major fierce overload from this. She is KILLING IT. And I thought that Versace collection was really tacky, but it makes for a great cover (at least on her it does).
Susan Walker

Love the Armani dress – so classic and pretty. Don’t care for her or her life choices.
poketom

El Le magazine asks, “Where kern we put Rihanna’s face!?”
elzatelzabelz

I’m not a Rihanna fan, but you took the words right out of my mouth. She wears that Armani better than the model.
PantherontheRunway

LOVE IT!

Oh Ri-ri, you’re stilling hanging on to that awful hair though
Bozhi

She looks better than the models in both outfits.
http://twitter.com/qrter Alexander Peterhans

I don’t think people are getting upset about the Chris Brown ‘reconciliation’ because they feel ‘betrayed’ or something like it, but because it seems to set such a bad example. I’m sure Rihanna never wanted to be an example, but you can’t pick and choose what fame brings, and part of it will be that people will look up to you and reflect what you do upon their own lives. And I think people were relieved to see a famous victim of abuse giving a firm no to their abuser.

I mean, she’s right, in the end it’s completely her business, but.. with fame comes great responsibility, you know.
glennethph

Here’s my take: the first time, it’s his fault. Now, if he hits her again, it’s all on her. She chooses to be with him so don’t expect me to feel sorry if one day soon, she comes out in black and blue and sports black eyes as accessories.
- Bree The Vole
  
  You are free to feel however you want, but deciding that certain kind of victims deserve help and sympathy while others don’t damages ALL victims in the end. Given how many people reacted to CB abusing Rihanna in the first place with mockery against Rihanna and the way society at large does anything to undermine victims of violence and make up excuses for abusers, rapists etc., I’m not at all surprised that in the end, Rihanna must have decided that the violence committed against her mustn’t have been that bad. Stopping to care about one victim only means that one more abuser wins.
ccm800

I’m at critical mass as far as exposure with this one. I think shes a crazy bratty twit, and as far as doing what you want - go head and the public will do what it wants with its music buying money. Moving on.
formerlyAnon

Your comment sums up my feeling on the Versace perfectly. And wow. the Armani.

Gotta admit she’s purty and can wear the heck out these.

Ya know what one of the markers for this end of the 20-teens is going to be when young’uns yet unborn are holding retro dances in the cafeteria? That god awful contrasting roots look. Mark my words.
http://twitter.com/moodring54 Rachel

Well, if I ever again look at an OTT Versace collection and think, “Who on earth could wear that?” I will I have my answer.
bitterk

I hate Versace clothes but these clothes were made for Rihanna. She looks great in them. Part tacky, part glam, part rock star.
http://cheekypinky.wordpress.com/ Rebecca

Fierce.
bitchybitchybitchy

For some reason that cover photo is giving me a Victoria Beckham vibe-the face, not the clothes. Must be time to get some new meds!
lilazander

She started to annoy the HELL out of me to the point that I do not even care how she looks in clothes.And she expresses her(effing)self in such a classy and elabrate way, I’m simply jealous, RIGHT? Feh…
BigWhiteGrannyPanties

Why does she remind me of Michelle Pfieffer? I know, I know, it’s crazy – but I keep thinking of Michelle P whenever I see this woman. Does anyone know why?
judybrowni

Where do you get a wig with black roots?

Just curious.

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Rihanna for ELLE Magazine

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