Jennifer Lawrence for W Magazine

Posted on Sep 14, 2012 in Fashion

Jennifer gives it her best shot, but we’re left thinking high fashion editorials really aren’t in her wheelhouse. Tilda she is not.

Calvin Klein Collection Feather and Organza Dress

Jennifer Lawrence covers the October 2012 issue of W magazine photographed by Tim Walker and styled by Jacob K. Hair by Malcolm Edwards at Streeters. Makeup by Sam Bryant for Chanel Beauté.

Alberta Ferretti Fall 2012 Collection

Alexander McQueen Fall 2012 Collection

Vivienne Westwood Gold Label Fall 2012 Collection

Prabal Gurung Fall 2012 Collection

The garments are gorgeous and the photography is beautiful, but it’s just not working for us. She can rock sportswear and Hollywood-style glamour, but the standard W mag editorial just isn’t where her strengths lie.

Agree/disagree?

[Photo Credit: Tim Walker for wmagazine.com, style.com, vogue.it]

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Linda Tredennick

Agree. But, she is doing better than I would have thought she could have!
http://twitter.com/Kathy_Marlow aka Darth Mommy

Almost, but not quite.
BuffaloBarbara

Preview of the Mockingjay get-ups, is all I can think…
- AlinaValero
  
  YES this is what I imagine the crazy photo shoot of Katniss in the different wedding dresses would look like!
  - BuffaloBarbara
    
    Yup… though Cinna’s surprise feather reveal seems to have come early. (Wonder if they’ll bother with the designs Cinna does for her to pretend are hers.)
- tallgirl1204
  
  Oh, exactly. Is her confused face an attempt at being in character?
- Vickiefantastico
  
  You’re completely right! For some reason, I find it all off putting.
TonyGo

Love that white peacock picture!
Judy_J

I think she is too young to carry this off. Give her a few years to mature.
Sam Corbett

Agree. She looks lovely (though the makeup doesn’t much suit her), but completely lost. The peacock is smizing more than she is!
tereliz

Maybe she’s just freaked out by all the dead birds? I know I would be.
- http://twitter.com/TheMaygoon Meghann
  
  Agreed. Having a peacock in the same room as a taxidermied train is upsetting me.
Sobaika

Agree. There’s not a whole going on in the Giving Face department.
- AudreysMom
  
  Agreed. I like JL as a performer but I look at this and consider of the likes of Tilda, Cate the great and most recently Emma Stone and think, ‘stop trying to make [Jennifer Lawrence in a high fashion editorial] happen. It’s not going to happen.’
  - SassieCassy
    
    Hmmm give her some time. OR maybe a different styling/setting
    
    Isnt black swan sooooo 2010?
Clueless_Jock

Ostrich is kind of hard to pull off with dignity.
MilaXX

I like the flamingo and the peacock, but the ones that really require her to give face don’t really work.
- http://twitter.com/urban_gypsy Tess Danesi
  
  Exactly!
- poggi
  
  Yes, the cover is the worst by far. I actually like the final peacock shot quite a bit. I wouldn’t normally picture her as delicate and ethereal but she is pulling it off in that one.
Stefanos Mantyla

Definitely agree 100%.
A. W.

I disagree. I think she looks stunning, and is pulling off these looks very well. Whoever contoured her face for these shots deserves a medal.
Diane_G

She just needs to work on her face. Every look is of a bewildered child overwhelmed by her surroundings, staring blankly at whatever the director was telling her to look at.
FashionShowAtLunch

Agree. She looks out of her element. Gorgeous, but slightly confused and uncomfortable.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1183772509 Jen Hughes

I think the one with the flamingo is a gorgeous picture.
- Tatiana Luján
  
  So do I. She looks so delicate.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=751285857 Sally Brownson

Yeah, I agree. She’s gorgeous, but she looks scared shitless in most of the shots.
hughman

The only time I’ve ever actually thought “smizing” was relevant.
Trisha26

The clothes & photographs are beautiful, but she does nothing for me here. I also find the juxtaposition of those feathery gowns next to real/fabricated birds very unsettling.
S_Swift

The picture of the Vivienne Westwood model on a bike is hilarious. Did Big Bird ever ride a bike? That’s where my mind went.
- mshesterp
  
  My first thought at seeing that picture: “…wait, what? Why…what?” I don’t know what’s going on there, but the model looks awesomely blase about the whole thing.
  - S_Swift
    
    Right?!! I love it! I’m surprised none of the feathers got stuck in the chain.
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Jessica-TallGirl-Freeman/1043623567 Jessica TallGirl Freeman
  
  Yes, I was scrolling, scrolling, scro…pause, wait, what? I just want to see the video of said model turning around at the end of the narrow runway. Or two passing at the same time.
- aeg66
  
  Its the epitome of WTF???????
- NC_Meg
  
  I had to do a double take on that photo. Vivienne Westwood, you crazy bitch. Don’t ever change.
meowing

These pictures are just “oh my” bad. Maybe she has other strengths, as you say, but those strengths are not in evidence here.
Sara__B

Her face doesn’t have the planes and angles needed for high fashion shots, no matter how much contouring is applied. It’s a pretty editorial, but she’s not quite pulling it off.
Spicytomato1

I gotta respectfully disagree. With her undone eyes and pale lips she gives me a Rooney Mara-as-Lisbeth vibe. I think she does great here, really no worse than other starlets who step out of their usual box to pose for W. I think the shot where she’s holding the blue bird is pretty fierce.
http://melaniesuzanne.blogspot.com/ Melanie Suzanne

Bless her heart.
kelsita421

eh… no. and the cover is really not working for me. pretty feathers, those are not. blech.
kschwarting

I’m inclined to agree. She’s really lovely and is a talented actress, but this just isn’t going to be her strength.
Lindsay Koenig Manoogian

Anyone else seeing The Childlike Empress from Neverending Story?
Pants_are_a_must

She’s got a strong face, and that usually works for more artsy photoshoots, but she’s a bit stiff and awkward for this, yes.
tallgirl1204

Things Katniss might wear to inspire rebellion in the Districts. These look to me like interpretations of the Mockingjay dress hidden under her wedding dress that Katniss is forced to wear in the second book of the trilogy. Is she attempting to pose in character? (I didn’t see the movie so am just guessing.) I just read the second book of the trilogy and the description of the wedding dress and its disintegration into the feathered Mockingjay gown was stunning.
- MilaXX
  
  HA! Aren’t you just waiting for them to transform into something else?
Christina Tinglof

Maybe this is because I’ve seen a bunch of her interviews, but she doesn’t look scared to me…she looks like she’s about to crack up laughing. Like, “WTF am I do with these BIRDS?”
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Jessica-TallGirl-Freeman/1043623567 Jessica TallGirl Freeman
  
  Right? She has a really awesome personality, so I guess I”m not sold on all of this based on the interviews I’ve read.
mjude

she has to start somewhere. tilda she is not. but i do like this photo shoot.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_YVVJ5LZ7Y4OZDTFEWSAFTTWAJU Purple Fish

Kudos to her for trying. It’s definitely not working, though. I don’t see the point in doing a Jennifer Lawrence editorials if you wouldn’t even be able to tell it’s her.
- Spicytomato1
  
  That’s what W does, though. They tend to transform recognizable people with looks that are completely unexpected. I’d say they succeeded here.
- mshesterp
  
  Definitely–I give her a “aw…you tried, sweetie!” vote of confidence. She didn’t quite make it, but she did her best! And came closer than probably other bland actresses might attempt. I love me some Lawrence, but she definitely has a low-key sensibility to her that doesn’t work in this mode.
Megan A Pugmire

I think she looks stunning. I’m always amazed at what a chameleon she is. The camera loves the planes of her face, no doubt.
Carla_Charlton

There’s something about her face that always seems a little expressionless — I think maybe her eyes don’t change much when she smiles. That being said, I think the photo of her in the Alexander McQueen is quite good.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KFD4YODYT6N2NNTE7ZAHJWQXCM Deirdre

I don’t like the first two images, but everything else works! The photo of her in the Vivienne is the best, I think. She’s no Tilda, but she can pull off an ethereal prettiness better than I would have guessed.
formerlyAnon

The end result is so-close but not-quite – though I give the stylist, photographer and (possibly – I never know how much involvement they have) the art director, if there was one, a TON of credit.
choco

I actually love it. Esp the one with the flamingo and the veil
another_laura

I like the white peacock better than any of the clothing. Maybe it’s just my mood today. She is not able to pull this off, such glam clothes need more presence than she can bring to the shoot.

ETA: By liking the white peacock, I mean the bird, not the shot!
AuntieAnonny

I think this has more to do with editing than anything else.
LLuL

The white dress, white peacock shot is gorgeous. The cover shot looks silly. I think she could pull off editorial, but I agree this attempt is not a success. Try again. I would love to see her get it right.
- holdmewhileimnaked
  
  the flamingo isnt there. i dont even think the peacock is.
cheesebomb

Is that model riding a bicycle down the runway?
VicksieDo

The cover and the first picture look awful to me, like she’s playing dress up. The others are okay.
Thea Churchill-Robson

She looks SO MUCH better in a nude face and dark hair than she does all made up – and with light hair too.

She’s a natural beauty, even the best done make-up looks awkward on her – who ever does her red carpet looks has it all wrong.

Editorial aside, this is the prettiest I’ve seen her.
http://needtherapy.tumblr.com/ skadi1

I think she’s doing it better than some models I’ve seen. I’m not sure Tilda is a fair comparison, given their difference in age/experience. But I admit, I’m horribly biased.
gabbilevy

Agree. I like the McQueen image and the Prabal Gurung better than the others, but, as pretty as she is, I don’t think her face is all that *interesting*. That seems to be what sets models apart–they’re more than just beautiful, their look is interesting. Jen, gorgeous though she may be, doesn’t fit that category IMO.
holdmewhileimnaked

agree. too bad, too. i tend to like her. but she’s tall & maybe athletic, not arty. & the photography, here, & even the gimmick are, well, just too gimmicky. just too much photoshop, too–& i dont mean done to her. the whole set is about as there as were our friends, this week, in the bakersfield version of lawrence of fauxrabia in, well, arabia & not bakersfield.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jessica-TallGirl-Freeman/1043623567 Jessica TallGirl Freeman

Agree. Leave this to the true professionals. I guess she just doesn’t have a face that sets her apart for high fashion like this. See: Iman, Kate Moss, Tilda, Kiera Knightley.
PastryGoddess

Agree,

She just isn’t quite comfortable in all of the looks yet. I hate to say it, but she is a bit to apple cheeked for the high fashion DivaLaGrandeFierceFace editorials.
TheOriginalLulu

Agreed. She’s a beautiful girl, but you gotta have some super-modeling powers to be able to pull off feathers on your head.
tereliz

How awesomely ironic is this quote from that interview in comparison? Maybe that’s why she’s not giving it her all:

“I don’t really diet or anything. I’m miserable when I’m dieting and I like the way I look. I’m really sick of all these actresses looking like birds.”
melanie0866

Why? I mean seriously, WHY???
StelledelMare

Agreed. This is just not for her. Though the best pictures of the punch is definitely the last one
BrooklynBomber

Oh, dear. Well, she’s still very, very new to all this.
turtleemily

This just reminds me of when I was a collection assistant for a museum, and one of my duties was to check all the taxidermied specimens for bugs.
nancy

The last shot, the white peacock look, is lovely.
nannypoo

I’m embarrassed for her.
prettybigkitty

She just looks uncomfortable.
KathKo

She’s a really pretty girl but she’s no model.
Sadly she feels flat, static and liveless.
I, as other bitter kittens, think it was done with heavy hinting at the next Hunger Games movie : “see, that’s how Catniss will be”.
But that lacks the fire of a twirling girl who’s going to fight for survivance.
This is too pretty failing to be edgy.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1401197785 Jennifer Peters-Ahnberg

Agree. She’s trying, but it’s just not her thing.
schadenfreudelicious

she is giving it the ole college try but..no, it’s all very awkward….best left to Tilda and Cate for the time being….
NCDFan

I’m not sure that I think the garments were gorgeous. I think the dresses are striking but the poses rely too much on the bird elements.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NMLK23QK6C7NMLMVVYA5POXKJY WhiteMage

She has the same expression in every picture, which now that you mention it, IS Tilda’s expression.
jilly_d

I don’t know, TLO. That one of her on the floor is pretty fukkin fab.
http://wipgirl.wordpress.com/ kristel

I think she has the right kind of face for it, but she doesn’t seem to know what to do with it, or with her body, to make it work.
frannyprof

Agree. Beautiful editorial but lacks the impact that a Tilda or a Gaga would provide.
joe_tey83

She looks like Rooney Mara…
Corazon Nunez

She looks like a bird nest (Which is probably the point, but still . . .).
Zippypie

Poor thing was tarred and feathered and for what? Seriously ugly dresses – I see all the feathers and can only think of old smelly old-fashioned dusters. She’s a down to earth woman – why on earth would she be dressed like a friggin’ bird? Katniss would stick and arrow in her and sell her at the Hob.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NUZ2RGIDRXKK6ADHFPPCR6S3WI MariaM

Disagree, respectfully. I think she is wearing the crap out of those fowl garments.
LesYeuxHiboux

We soft-faced girls just don’t have the angles for high fashion. Don’t sweat it, Jen, you’ll never age. The ideas were beautiful even if the execution is lacking.
- Carolyn Warfield
  
  I completely agree. Her face just doesn’t have the structure that’s needed for these type of shots. This just isn’t her art form–which isn’t a judgment of her personally. Most high fashion models aren’t conventionally pretty, as Jen is; instead they’re interesting or unusual in some way.
Presumptuous Insect

So dull. Imagine that Bella girl doing this–she’d knock it out of the park.
http://twitter.com/PhDKnitter marlie

I like this editorial enough, but the photos don’t even look like her (some of them, anyway). But the gowns are amazing. It would have been nice to be able to see more of them, though.
http://twitter.com/SparklyCasanova UglyCasanova

Agree! Tilda, where art thou?
quiltrx

It’s weird…I think she’s serving it up in pictures 2 and 4, but not in the other two!
http://twitter.com/Wint3rhart Winterhart

I don’t know… but that photo with the white peacock is -stunning-. If I could find that blown up large it would be my desktop wallpaper.
SewingSiren

I’m quite sure that if I rode my bike wearing bird feathers, state doctors would come after me with a net.
Samantha Irene

agree – the only one that works is the one where they covered her face… she’s just not strange looking enough.
marilyn

The reason it does not work for you may be the ghastly expression on her face. She is starring in a freak show.
julnyes

She is lovely and I enjoy her performances, but a high fashion model she is not and there’s nothing wrong with that
ccm800

Agree – her mouth is lacking
crash1212

She just kind of….disappears. Weird.
http://twitter.com/connectinglines Me Again

LOVE LOVE LOVE the Alexander McQueen and the Prabal Gurung. I think Jennifer looks fabulous.
http://vhanna26.typepad.com Vera

Agree. JLaw is my girl crush, but she is out of her territory. Imagine a professional model in this shoot. Actors can only go so far.
- https://twitter.com/LisaF1163 Lisa
  
  Yup, everything you just said.
fashionablylate

I disagree, I think she’s giving pretty good face. The cover is bland, but I like the rest.
LuisaNL

beautiful pics but I am getting an ANTM vibe from her.
https://twitter.com/LisaF1163 Lisa

Yeah, she’s lovely, but this is out of her element. Not that I think every actress should stay the same and get into a rut and not try new things – far from it. But she tried this, and it’s clearly not her. The photography IS gorgeous, though.
kat89

She’s not the pastel and feather type. She’s the “Girl on Fire,” which seems to suit her better.
kikisayshi

The shot with the flamingo in the McQueen dress is absolutely gorgeous. She kinda looks like a deer in the headlights on the cover. The others are ok, but look a bit forced. I’m not a fan of feathers but I am LOVING the Prabal Gurung dress.
TSkot

Agree. Her expression is full of doubt.
http://cheekypinky.wordpress.com/ Rebecca

Yeah, she’s too quirky for these. I kinda dig the last one, though.
karywin

She’s holding a bird over her tatas.
Sara Brams-Miller

Both. She is rocking the Westwood and the McQueen. The Gurung looks pretty good, but her face is too bland. I don’t think it’s her as much as makeup . . .
sweetlilvoice

Photo 2 with flamingo and shell is pretty good. It would be cool to see Tilda in this editorial too.
PeaceBang

Agree, but gorgeous clothes and photos!
HK4Seven

I think she looks really ethereal and pretty. At least it’s interesting to look at. The pink flamingo picture is particularly beautiful.
neofashionista

it is weird she looks dead or souless in these which is especialy odd because usually in interviews and on film what shines is her brilliant spirit and personaility; I think she was trying too hard or something; no bueno, dead birds seriously no bueno
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1215370929 Connie Schulte

Nope, She’s real and that just doesn’t go well with fashion magazines.
I like her real self better.

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Jennifer Lawrence for W Magazine

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