ELLE March 2013

"She arrived in Asia not just as a former First Lady and senator, or the wife of Bill Clinton and a woman who had reinvented herself over the years. She now came in a new, even bigger role: as America's chief diplomat, the emissary of Barack Obama, the new, promising face of America." –Kim Ghattas Tuesday, March 5 POWER TRIP Finally, a way to fill the Texts From Hillary void: The Secretary: A Journey With Hillary Clinton From Beirut to the Heart of American Power, by BBC correspondent Kim Ghattas, who had four years of unfettered access to the venerated former secretary of state. Thursday, March 7 CHARACTER STUDY To get ready to portray Texas' fiery former governor Ann Richards in the one-woman play Ann , opening tonight in…

Sunday, March 3 SHELL-SHOCKED Rose Carrarini, proprietress of fashion-world favorite Rose Bakery in Paris (and sister-in-law to Rei Kawakubo), serves up How to Boil an Egg (Phaidon), a stylish new cookbook boasting 84 ways to transform the breakfast favorite. Monday, March 4 MODEL CITIZEN Those pop-up shops never seem to stop, well, popping up. Case in point: Citizens of Humanity's temporary retail location in West Hollywood. On offer are must-have denim wares from the label, as well as home goods and objets by local artisans. (Make sure to stop by before it pops over in August.) Friday, March 8 CARRY-ON Whether you're an armchair traveler or a frequent flier, Francisca MattÉoli's book World Tour is worth poring over. The coffee-table tome contains more than 900 vintage travel labels…

STREET SMARTS The women who most inspire street-style photographers aren't those who pair runway looks with piles of noisy accessories, but the intuitive savants who understand the art of flattering proportions and silhouettes, adding their own personal touch to even the most pervasive of trends. Whether you're transfixed by the cavalcade of lips and lashes at Lincoln Center, bundled babes straight off the Piccadilly line, or vixens who transform a black le smoking with a slick of merlot gloss, we have our eyes to the street. To peruse the best off-runway looks from around the globe—and to stay inspired all "fashion month" long—head over to ELLE.com/streetstyle. THE BOARD WALK A week before models strutted down Peter Som's spring runway in watercolor-print board shorts, their tousled hair streaked with Rainbow Brite…

Here's a headline for you: IOWA COURT: BOSSES CAN FIRE 'IRRESISTIBLE' WORKERS. And it wasn't in The Onion. In December, the seven members of the all-male Iowa Supreme Court voted unanimously that an employer could fire a worker who is just too darn hot to resist. The dentist in question canned his longtime assistant—she'd worked for him for 10 years—on the grounds that her attractiveness threatened his marriage, as he might try to start an affair with her. (Before showing her the door, he also apparently gave her this helpful advice: If my pants are "bulging," that's a sign your clothes are "too revealing.") What this means, of course, is that men are beasts, and women are responsible for making sure we're not too enticing, lest that beast be unleashed.…

If you put Jessica Biel in spring's hottest looks from Paris, pair her with the iconic fashion designers who made them, and lay it out across 18 stunning pages, people will talk: How beautiful is @JessicaBiel in this month's cover shoot for @ELLEMagazine? She's fabulous in ANY designer! —@ChanLa, via Twitter @JessicaBiel rereading #Elle with your layout! Completely stunning. —@BritBurdin, via Twitter Jessica Biel SLAYED her shoot in the January '13 edition of ELLE…. I <3 it! —@Pretty_Inkd_Up, via Twitter But when you're recently married to one of the sexiest men on earth, the details of your nuptials are equally intriguing. After Biel confided to Executive Beauty Editor April Long in January's "Fantastic Voyage" a few of the "perks" of being Mrs. Justin Timberlake—such as having someone to bake her…

One of spring's best and brightest fashion trends is colored metallics in sophisticated silhouettes, and ELLE Creative Director Joe Zee immediately knew that no one could rock the sparkle and shine like Taylor Swift. After arriving at our set in New York City dressed casually chic in a Topshop jacket and Chanel oxfords, Swift took on the DJ role, blasting a hip-hop playlist on her iPod and inspiring hairstylist Ken O'Rourke to pump up the volume on the star's fine blond hair with RenÉ Furterer's Anti-Dehydrating Volumizing Mousse. Swift's long limbs and model features made her an ideal subject for Zee and photographer Carter Smith, who transformed the crossover wunderkind into a different high-fashion incarnation for each take. The singer effortlessly shifted from supercool to whimsical to daring, styled in…