(Photo: Essence Magazine, September 2011)

Our favorite girlfriend is back!

This fall Tracee Ellis Ross will star in a new BET comedy series Reed Between the Lines, and Essence magazine sat down with the charming TV star to get all the dish on her new role and more in their September 2011 issue.

There has been a transformation in the actress' life since she charmed us with her earnest and hilarious role as Joan Clayton. “On Girlfriends I had become a woman, but it wasn’t until three or four years later that I really began to embody who I had become,” she told the magazine.

Still something remains the same, namely Tracee's graceful beauty and impeccable style. With an enviable closet and inspirational fashion sense, she's the perfect choice to lead Essence magazine's style issue, which also packs pages of fall fashion and beauty finds. The cover girl looks effortlessly chic in a splashy dress and inside the issue she talks her love of all things fashion as well as personal lessons she’s learned from her legendary mom, Diana Ross.

It's an issue you won't want to miss! Pick it up on newsstands August 12.