what could've been

As songs from Scarlett Johansson's album of Tom Waits covers trickle onto airwaves, the PR machine has spun up. I may not be a big fan of Johansson's foray into music (I'm a firm believer that to deserve the opportunity to record an album, one should be either a talented vocalist or a songwriter. She is neither), she is an absolutely gorgeous young woman. So to see her looking this haggard on the cover of the June/July Nylon is a major disappointment. She looks like Lucinda Williams, who is totally gorgeous, but also 55 (Johansson is 23). It's just an awful, awful cover shot. The photos inside are a vast improvement, but I can't help imagining the cover that could've been.

Inside, my favorite Gossip girl, Beth Ditto, looks more gorgeous than ever. I'm a long-time fan of Ditto's (we do have the same name, after all), and it's disappointing to see this cover-worthy spread relegated to the back pages. I already have a bajillion back issues of Vogue, W and Harper's Bazaar with Johannson on the cover. Putting Ditto on the cover would have been a refeshing change of pace, and considering how photogenic she is, she practically guarantees a gorgeous cover.

images: nylon