She admits that she�s no style expert, but TV girl-next-door Jennifer Aniston has become one of America�s most influential trendsetters�without even trying.
By Merle Ginsberg
Photography by Michael Thompson
W Magazine
November, 1999

Jennifer Aniston never wanted to be a poster girl. Really she didn�t. But somehow, she has become the Nineties� answer to Farrah Fawcett: TV�s prime-time paragon of feminine beauty, imitated everywhere from the halls of high fashion to the most mundane suburban malls.

Aniston and Fawcett do have a few traits in common: the bountiful hair, the perfect teeth, the well-scrubbed face and the very lithe limbs. But while Fawcett came to exemplify a bigger-than-life, Cosmo-girl sexiness, Aniston�like her character, Rachel, on �Friends,� which is now in its sixth season�is comfortably anti-glam. She�s funny and self-deprecating and, no matter how well-coiffed and toned, devotedly girl-next-door�more Donna Reed than Madonna. Maybe that�s why Aniston�s face sells more magazines than any other star�s. She may have the so-called Sexiest Man Alive as her boyfriend, but she�s still a woman others can relate to.

�I wonder what that is,� she says when asked about her influence on fashion and beauty trends. �Isn�t it funny? Your image of yourself is so different than other peoples.� I�m not good at hearing positive things�I can accept criticism better. I�m very critical of myself�which gives me something to work on. I want to evolve.�

Of course, it�s not easy to evolve when you�re required to do so in public. Aniston�s efforts at self-improvement aren�t always a big hit with her critics or her fans. Most recently, she�s been lambasted for getting too thin, working out too much and wearing her hair too big at this year�s Emmy Awards. �Lately, I�ve been reading that I�m too skinny,� she says with a sigh. �A few years back, they said I was too curvy. I guess when I was rounder, I was easier to relate to. The media builds you up and tears you down. What the magazine readers are missing is that the glamour they see on the cover isn�t real, and it isn�t easy. Those pictures take a lot of work. Being thin is hard work!�

Aniston insists that her thinness is not due to obsessive calorie-counting. �You can get into an exercising zone where it feels so great it�s addictive,� she says. �I swear, I eat more now than I ever did in my life�I just work out more, because it feels great. And if that old cheeseburger and fries start to look irresistible to me, I�ll eat it. I never wanted to be a spokesperson for weight loss. In fact, I feel the same now as I did five pounds ago.� She says she hasn�t lost weight to please anybody except herself, declaring, �If someone loves you more if you�re thinner, get rid of them!�

As for her famous mane, Aniston has gladly abandoned the now-classic Rachel layered �do (�All I have to say about that, looking back, is, �What the hell was I thinking?�� she says) in favor of this year�s longer, sleeker, blonder look. �Sometimes I lose perspective on how light I�ve actually gone,� she says. �You go out in the sun and suddenly you�re Summer Blond. But it�s fin to change. Michael Canale (In Beverly Hills) highlights my hair so well�he�s got that touch, the natural touch. And if I want to look funky, he won�t do that. For a while I had dead, trashed, burnt hair�they ironed it so much for the show. I�m trying to let them go with my natural wave this season. But I�m always thinking, when I change it a little, am I ready for the beating I�ll take in the press? You never get used to it. It always bruises your ego.�

Despite all the attention that�s been paid to her look, Aniston comes right out and declares that she doesn�t have much style. �I remember thinking �couture� was a designer,� she says. �I thought, wow, this guy is everywhere�on every label! That�s how much I know.�

She has been learning quick, however. �I�ve worn Prada and Dries Van Noten, and I love Susan Lazar�s clothes�they�re for real people, and accommodate all bodies,� she says. �I like everyday clothes. Even at award shows, I don�t like feeling like I�m being at all showy. So sometimes for big events I hire a stylist�I�m not great at pulling clothes together in the �proper� way. And you certainly don�t want to piss Joan Rivers off.�

For a second, it seems like she means this. Then she adds, sarcastically, �Now there�s a woman with taste! I stay far away from her. To me, personal style is whatever is the most comfortable. Heels are my nightmare�they make me break into a sweat. I pray for lawn events, so I can wear flats�

Not that Aniston doesn�t enjoy the occasional shopping spree. �Iadmit I love clothes,� she says. �And I buy clothes. But they sit in my closet.� Both she and Brad Pitt are unapologetic �homebodie,� she adds. �I like a pair of comfy pants, flip flops and a T-shirt. And when we pick a restaurant, my criteria is: Where can I wear this?�

What about the legions of paparazzi hiding in the bushes, waiting to catch her in the least favourable circumstances?

�Oh, it�s happened where they�ve taken a picture of me looking like a slob,� she says. �I�m used to it. I just give up. You can�t control it. As long I�m not bending over with my crack showing, I don�t care.�