It Must Be Raaaaacist!

Let the trendoid libs and artists fight it out over this one. There are no Republicans or Rush Limbaugh to blame, so sit back and enjoy the battle.

Vogue has been accused of racism for using pictures of a white girl who was 'blacked up' for a fashion shoot.

Dutch supermodel Lara Stone's face and body were plastered in dark brown make-up for a feature in this month's edition of the fashion bible.

Other pictures in the 14-page spread show her face caked in what looks like white clay, while she wears a series of bizarre hats and face masks.

The text accompanying the images in the magazine's French edition gives no hint as to why the 25-year-old model's skin was darkened.

A brief introduction merely mentions that the poses reveal Miss Stone's 'sense of humour', adding that her curvy figure marks a break from the trend of 'anorexic models'.

It goes on to describe her somewhat cryptically as: 'A real woman in body and in character for whom the pleasure - like the sense - of metamorphosis is not the least of qualities.'

The pictures received mixed feedback on internet fashion blogs.

U.S. website Jezebel branded the magazine's editor Carine Roitfeld and photographer Steven Klein as 'culturally insensitive' for publishing them.

The folks at Vogue should be ready for The Grievance Brothers, Jackson and Sharpton, to be showing up at their offices any minute now. Get your checkbooks out now.