You Won't Recognize Her On This Magazine Cover

You think you know what celebrities look like, but how can you really be sure? Case in point: Vanessa Hudgens is on the cover of Flaunt magazine looking, well, nothing like Vanessa Hudgens. This doesn't seem to be a Photoshop disaster scenario like most cases of the mysteriously unrecognizable celebrity, since Hudgens still appears to be human and everything. Just... a different human.

The image is stunning, with the alleged Vanessa Hudgens sporting a sculptural white crop top, belly button jeans, and serious distressed denim. Oh, and an entirely new face. Can't forget that part. Besides her name printed on the cover, the only real indications that this is our beloved High School Musical star (dating myself, y'all) are her ombré blonde locks and washboard abs. As Heather Cichowski of The Gloss points out, this is Flaunt's "Distress" issue, which "could be a reference to the emotion you feel when you look at the photo and don’t recognize the celebrity, or it could be about distressed jeans being a very big trend for fall 2014." So maybe the people of Flaunt are trying to throw us off on purpose?

This cover was obviously edited, unlike the Bongo ads Hudgen's recently posed for, but I actually think the angle is what makes Hudgens look so un-Hudgens-y here. The camera is shooting from below, throwing her face into high relief, plus her eyes are half closed. Hudgens or no, this is a really cool photo and a lot more interesting than most straight-on magazine covers we see these days.

Who's that girl?

If this is the new Vanessa, I'm excited to see more.

Image: Flaunt Magazine