Here are some advanced scans from Emma Watson’s July 2011 Vogue cover and pictorial, photographed by Mario Testino. I have to admit… I don’t hate it. Vogue and Anna Wintour have been mixing it up lately, and while seeing Emma on the cover of a magazine is nothing new, this isn’t the standard Emma photo shoot. Plus, I think this is the first time she’s been on the cover of American Vogue. She got her strong, dark eyebrows under control, and they tamed her hair into an interesting style. But the biggest styling change is the lip color. Who knew Emma would like a completely new girl with this strong, beyond-blood-red/burgundy hue? It’s very… interesting. It’s not very “July” but from what I can see, Emma is styled in advanced Fall collections anyway. It’s totally a great photo shoot, no question, but it would have been ever better in September or October. In the cover shot, she’s wearing Prada, by the way.

Meanwhile, there are some reports out of the UK claiming that Emma has decided to go back to college/university, although not in America. The Mirror (which is as reliable as The Mail, which is to say there’s a 50/50 chance they got a decent scoop) claims that Emma is enrolling or has enrolled at Oxford University’s Worcester College for the coming school year, where it is believed that she will continue to study English. The Mirror doesn’t have any confirmations or quotes from even unnamed sources (Emma‘s spokesperson said “No decisions have been made yet.”), and I tend to think the report is based on the idea that Oxford’s Worcester College might be affiliated with (or one of the sister colleges of) Brown University, where Emma dropped out a few months ago. I also think The Mirror has the times wrong – didn’t Emma hint at the idea that she was taking a longer “break” from university? If she goes back to school, I don’t think it will happen until next year. I hope she does go back, to Oxford or Brown or wherever she wants, just because I think it will help her figure out who she really is and what she really wants to do, away from the glare.

UPDATE: Emma’s interview is here at Vogue.com.

Vogue/Testino photos courtesy of Styleite.