2019 Holiday Issue Cover Story

On a sunny yet crisp October morning, during that week in New York when summer finally gives up, I walked the few blocks from my apartment to the studio where we were shooting Vanessa Hudgens, who happens to be my neighbor. Until recently, our interactions had largely involved cheery hallway chats between our boyfriends, who seem to rival each other for the title of Friendliest Human Alive, and brief conversations as we cross paths walking our dogs, always interrupted by Ruby and Darla barking at each other like adorable little psychopaths. If you’re imagining that it must be quite a leap

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her up either, so I’ve had to do it sparsely. But,” she sing-songs, “Every now and then, she won’t be able to run away, and I’ll get a Christmas sweater on her.” Among her friends, Vanessa’s definitely the holiday party thrower. “I had one where I hired a pianist,” she says,“and everyone sat around with drinks and booklets in hand singing Christmas carols as badly as we possibly could. It took the pressure off for people who don’t sing.” As for New Year’s, apparently going Out (with a capital O) doesn’t hold much appeal. “I’m such a homebody! I’ve never been in the center of Times Square to see the ball drop. I’ve definitely had a few New Year’s Eve parties, the kind where Frank Sinatra is played at midnight. But I’m just kind of a control freak,” she laughs. “I want my environments to be what I want them to be—if I can’t dictate that, I guess I just don’t really

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Shirt

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people's childhood and take them back to a time for them when things were simpler, you know. That’s a beautiful thing.” I feel like it must be a fine line between embracing that nostalgia and ending up pigeonholed, but Vanessa’s refreshingly not worried about stereotyping, saying, “I’ve played so many different kinds of people, I don’t think that you can put me into a box.” I really wouldn’t be entirely surprised if her occasional choice of role was a deliberate curveball directed at anyone who dared stereotype her, but Vanessa swears we’re just witnessing her doing whatever’s right in the moment, telling me, “Women are so many different things; we’re so multifaceted, so I think I should try to do as much as I can.” That being said, these increasingly bold moves, swinging effortlessly from Broadway to feel-good holiday movies to edgy dramas to big action flicks, are no mistake. “There’s something to being really specific about what you want and manifesting that. I have faith in the process of dreaming big, seeing it clearly, and making it happen,” she confides. In the new installment of the Bad Boys franchise (hitting theaters in January 2020), Vanessa puts on yet another hat and fulfills my personal dream of joining Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as they drive cars way too fast and blow things up, all in the name of fighting crime in Miami. “I get to be a part of the new team that comes in and helps solve a mystery,” she laughs, playing up the dramatics. “I had my cop outfit, I had a cop badge on, it was just really fun being a woman in that world.” It should be noted that Vanessa’s enthusiasm for dressing up, be it at work or on her own time, is honestly like nothing I’ve ever witnessed. Vanessa simply tells me that her commitment to the holidays is very real. “I’m a sucker for them in general,” she explains. “Whenever I have a theme and I’m in a costume, I truly feel like my most epic self is revealed. When it comes to Christmas, I’ll be wearing something that glitters, some sort of velvet. I just love that classic Miracle on 42nd Street vibe. I’m so there for it.” Apparently, Darla’s enthusiasm pales in comparison. “No, my dog is definitely not into it, and Austin’s not really into me dressing her up either, so I’ve had to do it sparsely. But,” she sing-songs, “Every now and then, she won’t be able to run away, and I’ll get a Christmas sweater on her.”

Vanessa hudgens Is here for the holidays

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want to do things.” Then Vanessa says the thing that confirms she’s definitely closer to my age: “Really, I just want to be home-situated with friends, maybe do my vision board, have a glass of Champagne to toast the New Year, and then go to sleep.” As she edges in on her 31st birthday this December, Vanessa is growing equally crystal-clear when it comes to how she feels about most everything. She definitely believes in her vision boards. She’s relentlessly on time and thinks you should be, too. She’s fine showing up solo to industry events where she doesn’t know anyone. Her sister is truly her best friend (the Daisy to her Minnie, you might say). She wants to be known as someone who made people feel seen and loved. New York is her home—and she really, really thinks you owe it to yourself to go to Disneyland.

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Christopher Kane

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I actually greatly appreciate it. Most people are acquainted with me via High School Musical, so I think in their eyes, I’ll be forever 15.” Forever 15 and a Disney kid at heart, it seems, since the only thing she loves more than talking movies is visiting Disneyland and convincing everyone around her they need to go as regularly as she did growing up as a home-schooled kid living just a few miles away. “You owe it to yourself to go. Disneyland is just the ultimate place of happiness!” she gushes with sudden enthusiasm that, until now, she’d reserved for the Prada combat boots she wore on set. “Just recently, my sister and I ended up at Minnie Mouse’s house;

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dancer charlize glass on what inspires her

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Vanessa Hudgens

Gigi Burris

Hat

Vanessa Hudgens

$260

we felt like we were in a dream. I grew up watching Minnie Mouse and her house on TV, and then to be transported into a world where I feel like I'm in the cartoon—it was just incredible. It’s such a wonderful place where you can completely disconnect from your daily grind, and these characters are always making you laugh and feel good. That warm, cozy, fuzzy feeling inside is Disneyland to me in a nutshell.” Up to this point, I’d actually been avoiding talk of High School Musical, but apparently that kind of tiptoeing wasn’t necessary. “People 100% still look at me as Gabriella,” she says, “but it’s really sweet that I get to

Attico Heart Print Mini Dress ($1220); Falke Dot Tights ($38); Jennifer Fisher Chain Link Duster Earrings ($525) in Silver-Rhodium Plated Brass and Ear Cuffs x 3 ($90 each) in Silver-Rhodium Plated Brass; Prada Monolith Chunky Boots ($1450)

zara

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Christopher Kane bodysuit; Proenza Schouler Wool-Blend Wide-Leg Trousers ($779); Wolford Individual 10 Tights ($60)

In the new installment of the Bad Boys franchise (hitting theaters in January 2020), Vanessa puts on yet another hat and fulfills my personal dream of joining Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as they drive cars way too fast and blow things up, all in the name of fighting crime in Miami. “I get to be a part of the new team that comes in and helps solve a mystery,” she laughs, playing up the dramatics. “I had my cop outfit. I had a cop badge on. It was just really fun being a woman in that world.” It should be noted that Vanessa’s enthusiasm for dressing up, be it at work or on her own time, is honestly like nothing I’ve ever witnessed. Vanessa simply tells me that her commitment to the holidays is very real. “I’m a sucker for them in general,” she explains. “Whenever I have a theme and I’m in a costume, I truly feel like my most epic self is revealed. When it comes to Christmas, I’ll be wearing something that glitters, some sort of velvet. I just love that classic Miracle on 42nd Street vibe. I’m so there for it.” Apparently, Darla’s enthusiasm pales in comparison. “No, my dog is definitely not into it, and Austin’s not really into me dressing

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Christopher Kane bodysuit; Proenza Schouler Wool-Blend Wide-Leg Trousers ($779); Wolford Individual 10 Tights ($60)

dancer charlize glass on what inspires her

be a part of people’s childhood and take them back to a time for them when things were simpler, you know. That’s a beautiful thing.” I feel like it must be a fine line between embracing that nostalgia and ending up pigeonholed, but Vanessa’s refreshingly not worried about stereotyping, saying, “I’ve played so many different kinds of people, I don’t think that you can put me into a box.” I really wouldn’t be entirely surprised if her occasional choice of role was a deliberate curveball directed at anyone who dared stereotype her, but Vanessa swears we’re just witnessing her doing whatever’s right in the moment, telling me, “Women are so many different things; we’re so multifaceted, so I think I should try to do as much as I can.” That being said, these increasingly bold moves, swinging effortlessly from Broadway to feel-good holiday movies to edgy dramas to big action flicks, are no mistake. “There’s something to being really specific about what you want and manifesting that. I have faith in the process of dreaming big, seeing it clearly, and making it happen,” she confides.

Gigi Burris Charlotte Veil ($320); Marc Jacobs dress; Falke Dot Tights ($38); Jennifer Fisher Chain Link Duster Earrings ($525) in Silver-Rhodium Plated Brass and Ear Cuffs x 4 ($90 each) in Silver-Rhodium Plated Brass; Dr. Martens Jadon 8 Eye Boots ($180)

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CAROLINA HERRERA

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Satin Blouse

Balmain dress; Pelechecoco Mila Top ($150); Wolford Dots Control Top Tights ($67); Jennifer Fisher Jamma Chokers ($350 each); Prada Monolith Chunky Boots ($1450)

For this shoot, we played into the modern MINNIE MOUSE and gave her layers and complexity. Women don’t have to be one thing.

Mango

Zara

grew up on. The styling, taking cues from Minnie herself, was perfectly aligned with Vanessa’s natural inclination (both fashion-wise and otherwise) to dance right along the line where timeless classic meets big, fun, bold, and contemporary. “We played into the modern Minnie and gave her layers and complexity,” Vanessa reveals, accidentally describing herself to perfection. “We added things that are a little bolder and edgier, like combat boots and chokers. I think the message is that women don’t have to be one thing. We’re so multifaceted; the more we embrace our duality, the stronger we are.”

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Neque porro quisquam est qui

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WRITTEN BY Natalie Cantell

Amas Wrap Skirt

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that’s fascinating to me,” she reveals. “Where I was 10 years ago is so different from where I am now.” From the way Vanessa describes her look from a decade or so ago, it seems she was as Coachella-inspired as the rest of us: “It was a very Bohemian time for me. I would always be in maxi dresses with feather earrings and my long hair. I just felt so feminine and flowy.” Now, as a 30-year-old self-proclaimed New Yorker, she tells me her style has thankfully morphed into something more sophisticated. “I appreciate clean lines more. I appreciate classic things more. I love an iconic look,” she says.

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Christopher Kane bodysuit; Proenza Schouler Wool-Blend Wide-Leg Trousers ($779); Wolford Individual 10 Tights ($60)

topshop

Headband

As Vanessa stood on set in a Saint Laurent polka-dot minidress––“very classic in its print and its shape but with strong shoulders,” she says––and the chunky Prada boots she quickly developed an obsession with, she waxed lyrical with the video crew about notable cinematography of late and her dark love of “really messed-up movies.” Watching her, I genuinely couldn’t quite tell if she was my age, a couple of years older, or barely able to legally order a drink. “No one ever gets my age right,” she tells me, laughing as she adds that she doesn’t mind it at all. “I used to want to be older when I was younger. Now that I’m 30, if you tell me I look underage,

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Ganni Suiting Blazer ($360); Zara Disney Mickey License T-Shirt ($26); Alexander Vauthier Draped Velvet Mini Skirt ($729); Falke Dot Tights ($38); Zana Bayne Chrystie Studded Choker ($250); Jennifer Fisher 2-Inch Jamma Hoops ($695) in Silver-Rhodium Plated Brass, Jamma Chokers ($350 each), and Ear Cuffs x 4 ($90 each) in Silver-Rhodium Plated Brass; Prada Monolith Chunky Boots ($1450); Retrofete Gabrielle Robe Dress ($685); Erickson Beamon choker

to go from hallway greetings to spending a day together shooting this cover story for our Minnie Mouse–inspired Holiday Issue, well, you’d be right. But that’s New York for you, I suppose. It’s no real surprise that Vanessa was so into the fashion story we dreamed up to shoot with her. She is, it turns out, more than just a casual Minnie Mouse fan. “I have loved Minnie Mouse for as long as I can remember,” she shares. “To me, Minnie is legendary.” She’s also essentially the modern embodiment of the timeless character we all

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Disney x Gigi Burris 1928 Minnie Hat ($410); Saint Laurent Polka-Dot Mini Dress ($2290); Falke Dot Tights ($38); Isabel Marant Silver-Tone Crystal Earrings ($545)

Explore the Holiday Issue on social with #theholidayissue.

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Jeffrey Campbell

Vanessa Hudgens

No. 24 Dress

CREATED WITH: Disney Photographer: ADRIAN MEŠKO Stylist: Tracy Taylor HairStylist: David von Cannon Makeup ArTist: Patrick Ta Manicurist: Kelly B