An August Ode To 6-Year-Olds & Supermodels

If you're like us, you're already, albeit sadly, starting to push your summer dresses to the back of your closet. Not that it's not still hot as Hades out there, but, I don't know, with all the decadent prints and plush textures taunting us in those fat September issues, our summer pieces just seem a bit dull and droopy in comparison. But before summertime checks out completely, we've got a few more steamy R29 highlights to keep the A/C — and your interest — on high.

First off, did everyone catch photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders' utterly awesome documentary, About Face: Supermodels Then & Now? Carol Alt, Isabella Rossellini, and Beverly Johnson are just a few of the stunners to go on the record about health, happiness, and Botox, and ultimately what it's like to be a gorgeous women getting older in an eternally youthful world. In addition to watching the film, which was an official selection for the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, be sure to give a listen to Terry Gross's NPR radio interview with Greenfield-Sanders and Alt, which is equally good (our favorite takeaway: 90 percent of people look better if they're photographed on their left side...weird, but we're always happy to learn a new trick when it comes to taking a great picture).

Speaking of getting older, ever wonder what your wardrobe should be saying about you as you glide into a new decade? Whether you're a fashion-forward tenth-grader or turning the big 4-0, there are a handful of critical buys that can help define who you are becoming and who you hope to be, both in your personal style and in your life. Like a sort of closet compass, that's what our new feature, Rites of Fashion, aims to guide you through — getting older while getting more comfortable in your skin and, of course, in your sense of personal style.

And, you know, wisdom doesn't always come with age. Just ask this six-year-old who, very thoughtfully, reveals what the covers of literature's mostly widely recognizable book covers (Animal Farm, Catcher in the Rye) said about their contents. In some cases, her imaginative synopses are even better than the real thing. (Umm, we'd like to have her drop in at our R29 Reading Club.)

Finally, is it us, or are you all completely dumbfounded by the whole gluten-free phenomenon? There's a lot of scary, and possibly questionable, information out there about the potential adverse effects of eating wheat and gluten these days (weight gain, headaches, and inflammation, among others). And given we have not two, not five, but 10 gluten-free R29ers in our ranks, we decided to deconstruct this new wellness topic and find out why wheat is such a hot health topic. Speaking of hot one last time….just a few more weeks before those sweet fall breezes are coaxing us out of our summer (gluten?) haze. Nope…we can't wait either.