ELLE August 2014

Friday, August 1 DOWN UNDER REDUX Sydney brother-sister folk duo Angus & Julia Stone reunite for a self-titled new album full of their signature moody grooves produced by music sensei Rick Rubin. Wednesday, August 6 SIBLING RIVALRY Cate Blanchett stars in The Maids, a psychologically thrilling play inspired by a true-life tale of two sisters who kill their employer and her daughter, which runs for 10 days as part of NYC's Lincoln Center Festival. Wednesday, August 13 NINE LIVES The Americans meets Homeland in TNT's drama Legends, with Sean Bean as a skilled undercover spy questioning his own identity and Ali Larter as a fellow operative. THE ELLE MUST-FEST LIST August 1-3 Rock out with Outkast, Lorde, Eminem, Skrillex, Chvrches, Blood Orange, and dozens more at this year's Lollapalooza. August…

First it was Jeanne-Claude and Christo's 7,503 bright orange panels crisscrossing Central Park; then came Olafur Eliasson's 120-foot man-made waterfalls in New York Harbor. This month, New York City gets its next pièce de résistance, when the Water Tank Project wraps more than 100 of the city's iconic rooftop water tanks in artists' canvases, versions of which will be auctioned to raise funds for projects in Tanzania and other places facing dire clean-water shortages. "We want to go deep with the issue," says curator Mary Jordan, a documentary filmmaker. The inspiration behind the installation—which includes Dutch illustrator Sigrid Calon's graphic fluorescent pink water droplets and conceptual photographer Laurie Simmons' image of a life-size latex doll taking the plunge—came in 2007, while Jordan was working on a project in Ethiopia. She…

Athena Calderone doesn't consider herself a design purist: "If you love some Georgian sideboard and you also love this supermodernist piece, just know that it can all work together," she says. In fact, pairings that challenge the beholder are the cornerstone of her lifestyle blog, Eye-swoon, where she posts fashion editorials, cooking tutorials with designers, and photos of interiors that catch her eye. "When things feel a little bit off to other people, that's the truest testament of your style." To that end, Calderone's two New York living spaces-a penthouse in DUMBO, Brooklyn, and a beach house in Amagansett, both of which she shares with her music-producer husband, Victor, and their 11-year-old son, Jivan-are filled with modern pieces from Danish architect Ib Kofod-Larsen, plush Dunbar sofas, and mix-and-match chairs unearthed…

A few months ago, after I appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe (a must-watch for political junkies everywhere), I got two phone calls. The first was a voicemail from a woman who told me to stick to the editing thing, going on for at least a full minute about my on-air sins. The second was from a man identifying himself as a member of the Liberty Brigade, who called to let us know that he was "none too happy" with that editor of ELLE. His tone was vaguely threatening, and after finding the Facebook page for the libertarian, gun-loving, anti-choice organization, I presumed the gentleman's unhappiness stemmed from the mention of Ilyse Hogue, the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America and a member of ELLE's fourth-annual Women in DC Power List, which…

"A life where you don't live to your full potential…is a life I'd be miserable living," Angelina Jolie told ELLE Deputy Editor Maggie Bullock in our June 2014 cover story. The supernaturally beautiful Jolie opened up about life with Brad, their children, and getting behind the camera for the upcoming film Unbroken. Readers were, in a word, enchanted by the intimate portrait of the Maleficent star: "Thank you for sharing the other side of Angelina Jolie. It felt like looking into what her life has become and what thought processes and experiences brought her to this point. You don't get that opportunity often." —Natalie Birkin, via e-mail "Angelina Jolie is a fearless and multifaceted powerhouse who unflinchingly transcends the mechanics of the conventional woman. She's remarkably bold and not afraid…

Considering Kristen Wiig's talent for creating original, out-of-this-world characters, only one location for our August cover shoot could do her justice: Grey Gardens, the legendary East Hampton, New York, estate made iconic by the 1976 documentary of the same name, where socialites Edith and Edie Beale lived—and donned whimsical outfits daily—for 25 years, rarely leaving the grounds. ELLE Creative Director Joe Zee: "Grey Gardens has never been used as a fashion shoot location or been shot at all since the original documentary." Hairstylist Harry Josh: "We wanted Kristen to look like Kristen—kind of model-off-duty, with rolled-out-of-bed hair." Zee: "Her style is very forward, so we chose cool but still feminine and sexy fashion—Balenciaga and Saint Laurent." Makeup artist Dotti: "We did lots of lashes. She's got beautiful freckles; I wanted…