All the September issues of my favorite fashion magazines have landed on the doorstep— with a thud. Our postal person deserves a pat on her must-be-very-sore back for that. The blessed event totals 15.5 pounds of wood pulp. The smallest (Lucky) checks in at 236 pages. The largest (Vogue) at 902. In between there are Marie Claire (428), Harper's Bazaar (599), Elle (658) and InStyle (716). Yes they are mostly ads, but if you're obsessed, the ads are part of it.
The issues are difficult to read. One can't tote them around for casual perusal during an odd moment in the day. They don't lay open flat, are hard to balance and seem to have an inordinate amount of blow-ins floating floorwise.
Eric Wilson in yesterday's New York Times carped about how the September issues seem like plugs for online content. That 6-point type directing the reader to Vogue.com and the black-circled "B" icons leading to ShopBazaar.com are so much white noise. If magazines think they need to do this stay relevant (i.e. stay alive), it's okay by me.
Did you expect a tart review of these crisp fall beauties? Sorry; I have yet to begin the feast.
I'm with you -- no carping if it keeps the magazines going 'cause I love their glossy fat goodness. I even grudgingly love the way they force me into an armchair with them, being to big to read on the fly. . .Feast on!
ReplyDeleteI must say that the big brand ads are beginning to annoy me. They are the same in every magazine and you have to wade through them to get to what little editorial there is.
ReplyDeleteI'm loving all my September issues ... more on my Kindle Fire 8.9 than the paper editions! Never thought I'd say that, but I do, I do!
ReplyDeleteBut e-edition or print, I love the new ideas, page after page of them. I even love the ads, sometimes especially the ads. I don't feel in the least intimidated by the impossibly high cost of the individual pieces or by the impossibly beautiful women. Since I am neither well heeled or beautiful, I can just feel free to interpret the concepts that I wish, in the way that's possible for me, and the older I get, the more freedom to enjoy what I can do. Nor do I feel that it's all for the young. I recently read in a Vanity Fair profile that Michael Kors said "everyone is 35." By that, he meant that the young are more sophisticated and the old feel much less constrained. I hope he's right, because it's what I'm seeing in this fall's idea-books. You're quite right, Michelle ... they take some lovely time to enjoy and digest.
I've been really looking forward to you next post Michelle. The issues must be really great (or not). I haven't bought them so I'm counting on you. I hope you're doing good !! Best Wishes.
ReplyDeleteAlso I do not know how to sign up for your posts or network without joining Google... which I'm not wild about. Also I'm not advanced social networker. If you have instructions for me, my email is kari.vitaletti@gmail.com. :)
Thanks so much for your kind words. I've yet to plow through them all and have just returned from vacation when a stopover at Heathrow meant I bought 24 pounds worth of British fashion magazines (they weighed 13.5 pounds). I will literally need strength!
ReplyDeleteShould you wish, I believe by filling in the box request along the right side of each post you can "subscribe" by email. That means when there is a new post you will receive an email link.