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| March 1956 |
Sixty years ago this month marks the first day of the rest of my life. I purchased the March issue of Glamour magazine and nothing was ever the same.
Why did I buy it? It wasn't the cover. That pageboy hairstyle would look terrible on me even if I could achieve it. I certainly didn't care what famous men expected of women (unless one of them were Elvis Presley), and I didn't need to know what-to-wear-with-what to junior high. Something prompted me to plunk down 35 cents not for a movie magazine.
I had found something I could aspire to, something to believe in. It's always been a wonder that a magazine— put together by many people— can have its own voice. Glamour spoke to me like a wise older friend, and I listened.
I was hooked. Every month I would show up at the drugstore the day the next issue was due on the shelf. I never took out a subscription for fear it might arrive late.
I thoroughly read and re-read each issue. I didn't keep them, but I have re-bought them all. I may have been ebay's earliest best customer. It took years, and I spent way too much on 58 piles of printed paper, now brittle with age. Even today, before I carefully turn a page, I can tell you what will be there.
Reading Glamour was not just an escape from high school. I knew one day I would move to New York and be that "girl with a job". Glamour was the travel guide before the trip. You know it will be a different experience when you get there, but it helps to have the lay of the land. And Glamour had NYC written all over it.
Yes, yes, you may have read before that indeed I did move to New York in September 1964. Shortly thereafter I got a job at Glamour magazine, where I worked for almost 25 years. Still can't believe my good fortune.
Yes, yes, you may have read before that indeed I did move to New York in September 1964. Shortly thereafter I got a job at Glamour magazine, where I worked for almost 25 years. Still can't believe my good fortune.
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| Have scarf will travel |
Interesting story! Have you written about your years at Glamour? Magazines just don't seem the same these days...I used to devour and reread Seventeen as a schoolgirl and later on Glamour. At sixty-nine, it's hard to find a fashion magazine so the shelter and food mags will have to do.
ReplyDeleteI wrote about my years at Glamour (particularly those early years) in three parts. Apologies that I keep forgetting to ask my son how to make a link, but you can cut and paste the following:
Deletehttp://allwaysinfashion.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-way-we-were-when-that-was-way-it-was.html
http://allwaysinfashion.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-way-we-were-etc-part-two.html
http://allwaysinfashion.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-way-we-were-etc-part-three.html
Enjoy!
Lovely post. The Glamour we remember was a practical guide for young women like us, not a Vogue fantasy or a jumble of whats-in-the-stores images. I live near several great libraries, but their Glamour and Mademoiselle back issues have been converted to black and white micro film/fiche. Can you hear my teeth gnashing? Your collection is a treasure!
ReplyDeleteBoo... wonder what they did with the originals and where were you??? Thanks for reading!
Delete