Selena Gomez for Nylon Magazine

Posted on Jan 18, 2013 in Fashion

Y’know… without getting all grumpy and moralistic about it, we’ll just say we feel bad sometimes about the things young female stars are expected to do.

Selena Gomez covers the February 2013 issue of Nylon magazine photographed by Marvin Scott Jarrett.

Don’t get us wrong. It’s not skanky or anything – and we’re not talking about a highly accomplished actress here, but this just feels so … downscale, y’know? Ironically and with a wink, to be sure, but still. She looks like a backup singer in a music video.

Justin Bieber will never be asked to pose for a magazine cover looking like this. You can bank on that.

On auditioning to Spring Breakers:
“It was my first audition in years. I definitely felt that with my first stepping-out role, I should choose something that I could understand a little more. I was really nervous, but Harmony took a chance with me. He said, ‘You live in this bubble, and I’m going to take you out of it, but you have to trust me.’”

On her everyday life:
“I’m having fun. At the end of the day, love is such a normal thing, and everyone deals with it. Just because it’s a different lifestyle doesn’t change the meaning of what I’ve been raised on, which is fairy tales.”

On her relationship with Taylor Swift:
“We both experienced the same things at the same time. But we’ve never once talked about our industry. She just became the person I’d go to for an issue with my family or boyfriend. It’s so hard to trust girls, so I’m lucky to have her.”

To be fair, it’s all standard hipster cute on the inside:

[Photo Credit: Marvin Scott Jarrett for Nylon Magazine]

Tags:

http://twitter.com/emilyf007 emily

Enh. I feel like she’s never going to grow out of that cute phase no matter what she wears or how she poses.
- H3ff
  
  I was just thinking the opposite. She DOES seem to be growing out of girlhood. Girl isn’t such a lollipop anymore.
  - http://twitter.com/emilyf007 emily
    
    I just think she still has the round/heart face and that’s not going to change. I’d do damn near anything to look the way I did at 20 (or however old she is now).
- formerlyAnon
  
  Hers is a tad less pronounced, but she has a “sweetheart” face similar to Valerie Bertinelli. She’ll be blessed/burdened with that young cute vibe right up until she’s middle-aged.
A. W.

Is that what hipster is today? I live in Wicker Park, the hipster capital of the midwest, and it’s a whole lot of half-shaved heads, lumberjack shirts, and bespiked booties.
- http://twitter.com/emilyf007 emily
  
  Apparently. In the bottom photo she appears to be wearing pajamas (or at least sweats with a coordinating top) with a jacket over them. Granted I live in San Francisco where hipster has many, many, many looks, this isn’t hipster that I can relate to.
  - Carly Warnock
    
    Agreed. This is Hollywood hipster which is kind of bland hipster. In Ottawa hipster is all studded jean jackets and wool socks and ankle booties and thick framed glasses and giant parkas (at the moment).
- http://robot-heart.tumblr.com heartbot
  
  I live in Portland, which is some sort of hipster Mecca. I know zero hipsters who look like this.
  - PaulaBerman
    
    Hipsters look to me like over-styled neo-grunge. This doesn’t look hipsterish to me either. It looks like teen-wear to me.
- MK03
  
  Denver hipsters kind of dress like this. Just swap the shorts out for drainpipe jeans. Though I haven’t seen anyone in a basket-weave basketball jersey, thank God.
charlotte

She’s taking her issues to Taylor Swift? Good heavens!
And she looks so much better in Linda Ronstadt clothes.
- DeborahJozayt
  
  If Taylor makes a song about Selena’s love troubles, and the song makes millions of dollars for Taylor, do you think that’d cause a rift in their friendship? The complicated lives of celebrities.
  - charlotte
    
    Ha, and Selena’s revenge will be hitting on Michael J.Fox’s son and/or young Kennedys.
    Their reconciliation: a People cover story with big bucks for both. Problem solved!
  - ankali
    
    This made me laugh b/c it sounded a little like a word problem: “If Taylor makes a song about Selena’s love troubles, and the song makes a million dollars for Taylor, and the million dollars are traveling at 60 mph, but Selena is traveling at 30 mph, at what time does Selena wig out that she’s on the cover of Nylon while Taylor is covering Vogue?”
    - Karen Maslowski
      
      The answer, of course, is purple.
MilaXX

Let’s not forget the obligatory “bad girl” movie role to break out of their Disney kid mold.
LinXGUA

Cover photo: Augh who wears that?!
Photos inside: 9 year old Selena Gomez.
http://twitter.com/foodycatAlicia foodycatAlicia

What’s wrong with grumpy and moralistic? You’ve got a young woman who is styled to look like Punky Brewster in the inside pics flashing a pretty erotic slice of skin on the cover. That is such a weird juxtaposition.
- http://gabyrippling.tumblr.com/ Gabriella M
  
  I love me some Punky.
Kristina Toma

Is…is that a macrame sports jersey?
- MK03
  
  It looks like one of those potholder crafts they have kids do in day camp.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jessica-TallGirl-Freeman/1043623567 Jessica TallGirl Freeman

Just when she was starting to appear more grown up, she does this. I am sad for her.
j_anson

Honestly, thank, TLo. You guys are exactly right. This stuff wouldn’t really bug me if the guystars had to do it too.
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Jessica-TallGirl-Freeman/1043623567 Jessica TallGirl Freeman
  
  Let’s be honest. I”m sure half of this Justin Beiber owns.
  - MK03
    
    She probably stole the jersey from his closet…
  - Little_Olive
    
    Macrame jacket included
- ALT19
  
  I think Bieber might wear something like in real life…
  - http://tinyglimpses.blogspot.com/ Meg P. W.
    
    He might, but no one would ask him to wear that woven macrame-ish sports jersey sans pants on a magazine cover.
    - ALT19
      
      And therein lies the paradox…
decormaven

Aww, street cred “realness” for the cover. She’s ready for the remake of Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.
- alice20c
  
  If they remake that movie, it should be with 40-something stars. Dave Chappelle and Paul Rudd. It could be a spin-off of the Hot Tub Time Machine franchise.
Whever

“It’s so hard to trust girls”? Ugh.
- zuzu
  
  Yeah, she lost me there.
- Sobaika
  
  Neither is her girl Taylor Swift, to be frank.
  
  But I probably said some stuff like that when I was 14, so I’m hoping we can all just agree to not take a Disney star’s view on gender/sexuality/what-have-you too seriously.
  - Whever
    
    Still, she’s 20, not 14. And she has a lot of younger followers- encouraging the girl vs. girl mindset isn’t a very responsible thing for someone in the public eye to do.
  - SassieCassy
    
    ickk i cant believe she said that. part of a million reasons i will teach my kids not to look up to pop stars as role models.
- DeborahJozayt
  
  I also hate it when girls say “I prefer guys as friends cuz they’re not catty like me!” when you KNOW those same boys are gonna say behind her back “she’s being a bitch” on a bad day.
  - Whever
    
    Oh, internalized misogyny. You’re so much fun.
    - DeborahJozayt
      
      Please don’t think I’m a misogynist. That wasn’t my intent.
      - Whever
        
        Oh, gosh no! Sorry, I worded it ambiguously- I was speaking to internalized misogyny, not you. Bah, cyberlanguage. It’s the enemy of sarcasm.
      - DeborahJozayt
        
        Phew! It’s all good! Have a good day!
      - sekushinonyanko
        
        I think the girls that say that they hate girls are the ones with internalized misogyny.
- http://twitter.com/starrika starrika
  
  It’s so sad that I know this, but I think she was alluding specifically to her fallout with Demi Lovato here. If I recall correctly, she and Demi were very close, and Demi treated her poorly, which was all made public-ish?
  - ankali
    
    Well, that’s understandable then. If you can’t trust the girl that everyone over the age of 15 is shocked to learn isn’t you, and that in fact you and that girl are completely separate entities, no really, then what girl can you trust?
    - http://twitter.com/starrika starrika
      
      No, it’s a stupid statement, and if it was a blanket statement rather than a poorly done dig, it’s even more stupid. Just throwing it out there that I interpreted it as a veiled dig against Demi.
      - ankali
        
        I wasn’t being snarky at you! I was being snarky at the starlet! It was snark-let, if you will.
      - http://twitter.com/starrika starrika
        
        Haha, ok! I thought you might be, but then I wasn’t sure, and then I realized my statement could be taken as a defense of what she said and thought I should clarify, just in case.
- fursa_saida
  
  Right? As soon as I saw that I jumped straight to “UGH GO HOME.”
- http://vhanna26.typepad.com Vera
  
  I hated that remark too. I have always trusted my female friends.
- Anathema_Device
  
  I agree. Although, I have to believe that being part of the Hollywood & Disney machine could leave a person with trust issues. Teenagers+Ambition+Money must equal ugliness I can’t begin to imagine.
Annabelle Archer

She’s going to have a hard time finding her way into more mature/serious roles. Shame, because she is a stunner.

***Bonus points for having a pic where she demonstrated the ability to pose with her mouth closed. That puts her ahead of her pack.***
- http://twitter.com/foodycatAlicia foodycatAlicia
  
  On the other hand, she’ll be in her early 30s and still making money playing teens.
http://gabyrippling.tumblr.com/ Gabriella M

“It’s so hard to trust girls, so I’m lucky to have her.” Anyone want to place bets on how soon Taylor Swift lays her sights on Bieber and their publicists have to figure out a new storyline?
Maybe I’m just projecting.
- http://twitter.com/foodycatAlicia foodycatAlicia
  
  Possibly. But I reckon Taylor is a girl who likes sex. Playing meccano with Bieber isn’t going to cut it for long enough to be worth a song.
  - http://gabyrippling.tumblr.com/ Gabriella M
    
    Eh I don’t buy any of these Disney teens who claim to be abstinent. I assume they’ll come out with tell-all books as soon as their fame starts to wane about how it was all an act and how they were banging everyone.
    - http://twitter.com/foodycatAlicia foodycatAlicia
      
      I just CANNOT look at that boy and think of him as a sexual being.
- PaulaBerman
  
  Taylor Swift seems to enjoy MEN, whereas the Biebs is clearly still a boy. I doubt they will hook up.
Imasewsure

Hate the cover but I love the other two shots…. nailed that slightly bored, slightly haughty CA teenage look but she still manages to show off the clothes. I think she’s cute without being the least bit annoying. Nice to know Tay Tay has a good side too.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1208138556 Sara Munoz Munoz

Harmony? Is she doing a movie with Harmony Korine? Oh jesus girl, you really DO want to change your image… Well, he gave Chloe Sevigny and Rosario Dawson their start, so maybe she will fare well.
- ankali
  
  Oof. Maybe. I could also see her career going the Elizabeth Berkeley post-Showgirls route. It would be so much wiser for her to team up with a less provocative but still thoughtful & edgy-ish director. I’m thinking a Brick-for-Joseph-Gordon-Levitt or Rachel-Getting-Married-for Anne-Hathaway kind of move.
RebeccaKW

I kind of love that floral jacket in the 2nd pic, but I wish we could see more of it. That basket-weave jersey is hysterical. And fugly.
http://twitter.com/lisledanielle Danielle Lisle

I’m pretty sure she borrowed the jersey from the cover from Biebs.
http://twitter.com/cgstott Whitney Houston

expect more of this…she has an image to promote for that new movie…which I can NOT wait to see (james franco aside)
frannyprof

I. hate. this. so much.
http://profiles.google.com/alison.sigman Alison Sigman

Bieber might look better in that top than she does…..
PrunellaV

Justin Bieber will never be asked to pose for a magazine cover looking like this. You can bank on that.

What? He already looks like this.
- http://www.tomandlorenzo.com/ Tom and Lorenzo
  
  Pantsless?
  - PaulaBerman
    
    If you can arrange that, everyone involved could make a lot of money.
  - PrunellaV
    
    Ahh… point taken.
quiltrx

Her hair in the first inside pic is magical. If I had THAT hair, I would wear it long forever.
siriuslover

I saw pictures of the set of that movie, and the cover photo here looks like something she wears in a few scenes, so maybe they were riffing on that. Still though, you’d think they could have taken it up a level and produce a sleek, sophisticated cover.
fursa_saida

“It’s so hard to trust girls”? UGH GOODBYE.
http://www.tomandlorenzo.com/ Tom and Lorenzo

He’s wearing pants.
PaulaBerman

She looks like a baby to me. She has childish features, which makes it impossible for me to see her as sexy in any way. This looks tacky to me.
http://twitter.com/emilyf007 emily

She looks slightly different but I think that’s because of styling. I think part of Selena’s problem is growing up Disney. It’s hard to shake the image. Same with Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron. I mean, I really can’t take Zac Efron seriously, I don’t care how great his abs are.
librarygrrl64

“It’s just so had to trust girls.” How sad. I wish that would stop being perpetuated.
glennethph

I’m glad that even while she’s friends with that teen black widow Taylor Swift, she’s somewhat even-keeled about things.
http://twitter.com/cristinamarieme Cristina Marie

Love the inside shots. They feel very in line with NYLON’s hipster-ness, but that cover feels so awkward. Aside from the shot itself, it just doesn’t feel like NYLON at all.
Pterodactyl111

She looks like a drunk college student in the cover shot.
xmixiex

“I’m having fun. At the end of the day, love is such a normal thing, and everyone deals with it. Just because it’s a different lifestyle doesn’t change the meaning of what I’ve been raised on, which is fairy tales.”

wtf does that even mean?
drdirection

Jen Aniston had a rounder face until her mid-late thirties
maybakes

“it’s so hard to trust girls”

when your experience with trustworthy girls is TSwift, I can understand having this perspective

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Selena Gomez for Nylon Magazine

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