The fabulous movie star (and recent Broadway star) Jessica Chastain hits the pages of Marie Claire.

JESSICA CHASTAIN
Marie Claire December 2012
photographed by Tesh

dress and pants by Christian Dior

It’s a good cover shot, if a little on the dull side. And there’s something a little cloyingly “easy, breezy, beautiful: Covergirl” about it. Maybe a touch of jewelry and a stronger brow would have helped.

bra by Calvin Klein, headpiece and earrings by Armani Privé

It’s sort of cool, but the headpiece hides the fabulous earrings, so I’m not sure what this editorial is trying to sell me other than Jessica’s makeup artist. (That is, whoever made up her eyes; the eyebrow artist’s penchant for erasing her brows is still bothering me.) Also, could someone maybe have placed the veil so it doesn’t look like one of those little white strips is coming out of her nostril? I know I’m being picky, but there’s approximately a zillion people on the shoot whose job it is to care about these details. And I’m doing this shit for free.

dress and headpiece by Jean Paul Gaultier, bra by Calvin Klein

Fun and gorgeous, but all the fabrics are so beautiful that I wish I could see what the dress actually looks like when she’s not interpretive dancing in it.

gown by Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci, earrings by Wilfredo Rosado, ring by Repossi

I think with that neckline and that draping and her exposed, hunched shoulders, she looks freezing and starving and basically miserable. The wrinkles and lines in the skirt are distracting and kind of make her look like she only has one leg. And what do I have to do to get some eyebrows on this woman? The only thing I like about this photo is the hair, and Jessica’s hair is naturally fantastic, so that’s not much of an accomplishment.

dress by Valentino, earrings by Solange Azagury-Partridge, bracelets by Lynn Bann

It’s a really severe picture of her face, but the rest of the pose is lovely, like we caught her in the middle of a Victorian-era curtsy or something. I don’t think the cuff bracelets were a great choice for this look, and EYEBROWS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, but the earrings are adorable.

dress and mask by Maison Martin Margiela, bra by Calvin Klein

I couldn’t help but smile at this. Seems a waste to include a photo in which you couldn’t identify the star if you tried, but it’s somehow incredibly charming.

dress and pants by Maison Martin Margiela, bra by Calvin Klein, gloves by Gaspar

The stylist should have chosen either the lace gloves or the lace stockings; choosing both was a mistake. And the front of that dress (is it a dress? It more closely resembles 1920s lingerie, I think) is just too busy. Also, is it me, or are her hips and legs pointed in biologically impossible, photoshopped angles?

dress by Elie Saab

The stylist got a little carried away with the props and masks and veils and shit, and I’m afraid the entire shoot suffered as a result. There’s no way to make Jessica Chastain look bad, but I didn’t see anything original or any photographs executed in a particularly interesting or beautiful way, and that’s a disappointment. Jessica, I know this is part of the job, but when someone comes at you with a pair of tweezers or some eyebrow bleach, JUST SAY NO.

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© Democracy Diva, 2012.
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