PHOTOS: This May Just Be Our Favorite Kate Upton Spread Yet

by Hilary George-Parkin | 3:09 pm, January 14th, 2013

By now, we’ve come to accept Kate Upton as high fashion material — after all, it’s hard to disagree with Anna Wintour — but we maintain that she looks her best in smiley, sunny shoots, like this one from the January issue of Elle France.

Matt Jones photographed the blonde horsing around in a backyard in a slew of outfits we could actually see her wearing as a Floridian teen — you know, before Vogue laid their hands on her. The spread has the Americana vibe of her GQ cover shoot but with fewer visible nipples and suggestive popsicle poses and more swimming pools and roller skates. Plus a giant teddy bear for good measure.

Our one complaint would be that the cover feels dated, and we would have loved to see them pick one of the grinning, happy-go-lucky shots from the inside spread, but overall Kate’s outdoor antics have us looking forward to summer: