Oh, nice! Lorde covers the October issue of Elle, and it’s actually a really great cover shoot. A year ago, Lorde probably would have been too authentic and “real” to actually allow herself to be styled like a model for a major fashion magazine, but we all grow up sometimes. She’s actually a really great model! Great face, great posing, and her makeup is exceptionally good here. You can see that’s she quite attractive underneath all of that nouveau goth nonsense. The issue drops nationally on September 23rd – you can read Elle’s early excerpt here. Some highlights:

Lorde on keeping it real: “A lot of times when people meet me, they’ll definitely try to make me feel young or inexperienced. Like, ‘It’s all taken care of’. Teenagers are such a discerning group of people. They’ll immediately sniff out anything that feels contrived. I’m, like, constantly scanning myself to see if I’m some corporate executive version of a teenager. I’ve developed something of a fearsome reputation. People know that if you talk down to me, I will roll my eyes or whatever.”

On self-constructing her persona: “It’s something people my age have grown up with. You can go on the Tumblr of any young person in the world and see people marketing themselves. Everyone my age is like that now. We’re all hyperaware of how we’re being seen.”

On the upside of being known for expressing her opinions: “People have told me that I’ve helped them feel confident, like they can say things they want to say. They can talk about feminism in class without people calling them a lesbian. That’s so amazing that I can make someone feel like that.”

Figuring out to navigate everything: “It’s very specific. I have definitely learned how to be flexible. Before, I would just be like, ‘F–k it.’ I have such a strong idea of what is cool and great for me. If I think something is s–t, I express that. But now the circle of people I work with all the time is huge and spans continents, and you have to be quite conscientious. So it’s, like, learning not to hurt people’s feelings. Obviously, I am hanging out with more people now who are not teenage; I’m in different circles. But I am a teenager. My brain is, like, a certain age. Everyone is talking about you. You have to learn not to care as much.”

[From ELLE]

Her “keeping it real” quotes are the best part. Ah, remember what it was like to be a teenager? Remember that feeling of invincibility, that you were the most important person in the world and no one could ever understand how special and unique and amazing you were? Yeah. And if people would talk down to you or patronize you, you would just “roll your eyes or whatever” and they would totally, like, KNOW that you were on to them. “Teenagers are such a discerning group of people. They’ll immediately sniff out anything that feels contrived.” Au contraire!!! You know what’s being marketed to teenagers? Miley Cyrus. Ariana Grande. One Direction. All of whom do not have a contrived bone in their bodies, right?

Photos courtesy of Thomas Whiteside for ELLE.