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About (fashion and style) magazines

Runcarla

Veteran

Personally, I’ve always enjoyed magazines on many subjects - gardening, home decor, science and history, fitness and sports, food - but especially fashion and style. The short stories or editorials are easily digested when settling down for a long read isn’t possible, and they are full of visual inspiration and eye candy, and sometimes useful advice or tricks and tips of the trade.

Selection at the newsstand has been diminishing, and some have succumbed completely during Covid. (Where have the Hairstyle periodicals disappeared to?). After getting very thin during the past 18 months, I’ve noticed the ones that have hung on are plumping up a little. In the past 4 months I’ve picked up editions of In Style (July, August, September, October). I’m considering another favourite called Red (from the UK) and maybe Vogue. I’ve seen Bazaar, and Elle, but where are Allure and Glamour?

Do fashion periodicals feature as style inspiration for you? Do you read any fashion magazines in paper form? Do you subscribe to any digital versions, and how do you find them?

General

25 replies

Latest reply was from lyn67

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

None, anymore! The only mags I look at are cooking and recipe magazines.

I browse Vogue.com online.

Cardiff girl

Veteran

Like you l really enjoy a paper magazine .Since the pandemic started ll have Prima and Good housekeeping delivered monthly.It’s a real treat to have them every month.They are not the most stylish of mags as far as fashion goes compared to the likes of Vogue but a good mix of fashion,lifestyle,cooking ,sewing,gardening etc.

cat2

Veteran

I read Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue online

Tanya

Veteran

I used to be subscribed to all the major fashion magazines, in paper form (6-7 of them). I have been slowly reducing the number, and for the past couple of years, the only only remaining is In Style. I still read some of the free access articles online from the others, but not very regularly.

RoseandJoan

Veteran

I used to love a fashion magazine, especially at this time of year for the new trends.

I stopped buying then a long time ago and only skimmed the pages at the hairdresser.

I think with magazines the number of pages correlates to the number of adverts in an issue, so it shows a level of optimism among the retailers if the magazines are thicker.

Sloper

Veteran

I used to subscribe to Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, InStyle, and W at various times. I've slowly dropped them for various reasons - sometimes the content didn't speak to me anymore, sometimes I was going through a budget-tightening period and didn't want the temptation.

I like Vogue online now (except for the celebrity fawning). Retail sites like Matches, Net-A-Porter, and Moda Operandi have editorial content.

I miss picking up magazines at the grocery store check-out. The more expensive way I know but fun for a relatively cheap one-off impulse buy.

I had a gift subscription to the Food Network magazine for a year - that was fun. I also like Food & Wine and Fine Cooking. Especially at Thanksgiving time!

kkards

Veteran

I miss old fashion paper fashions mags!
It’s been forever since i subscribed to them, but i always bought them for travel, and loved reading them at the salon…but alas, even the before the current times, the last time i bought one to read on the plane, i was highly disappointed, it was skimpy at best…
i currently subscribe to Apple News which is $9.99 a month and gives me access to tons (a little bit of an exaggeration) of magazines, newspapers and select features from interesting sites. I like it in that its always with me, and there’s usually something new and interesting to read….but i miss a good old fashion photo spread, and i miss holding the physical magazine in my hand.
Anyway, i browse features from InStyle, Vogue and Who What Where and TZR (also known as The Zoe Report) quite a bit. One thing that’s interesting is that i often read the American and the British versions of Who What Where, and its fun to see the differences and the similarities

Sal

Veteran

I subscribe to a weekly current affairs magazine. If I head away for a weekend I often buy one - food, fashion or home related.

There is a lot less choice here now and more recently I have been disappointed.

I am also trying to decide what to do with my old copies…

Anonymous

I check online occasionally but don't subscribe. I think last time I subscribed to a paper magazine was nearly 30 (really?! Sigh...) years ago.
Even the medical offices don't have paper magazines now, but we all have our noses in our phones.

Style Fan

Veteran

I used to love reading fashion and interior design magazines. I don't remember the last time I bought a magazine. It has been years. There is so much available online now, and I prefer to look at blogs like YLF now.

lozz_oz

Veteran

I don’t subscribe to any magazines, but a friend of mine does, and she passes along her copies of In Style and Vogue to me!
Like others have said, there are so many online options now .....obviously YLF, TNMA (UK), occasionally WhoWhatWear etc

Jenni NZ

Veteran

I was ambivalent about them for some time: one of my very earliest posts here on YLF in January 2017 was “Are fashion magazines mean?” because I felt some of them were and it wasn’t helping my self-esteem at the time. One of our 2 home-grown NZ ones felt particularly so and I stopped subscribing.
The editor changed though and later I subscribed again, finding it better. I still like holding the physical magazine in my hand, makes a change from my phone that I read YLF on. I like seeing our local designer brands and the inspiration even although I don’t tend to buy those brands. I enjoy the Trends pages.
Sadly since the pandemic the clothes shown are mainly even more high-end international designer brands like Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton etc, I think advertising in the guise of editorial, so I am disappointed about that. I suppose perhaps they are some of the only ones that can still afford to advertise heavily and thus are being given editorial space? It’s quite obvious to the reader.
However of our two best local ones to my mind, ( for the Kiwi Fabbers I mention them, Simply You and Fashion Quarterly), they both stopped publishing during the early pandemic and my favourite one Simply You has gone under altogether Fashion Quarterly has been revived so I am subscribing with my loyalty scheme points even though I don’t like it as much, I am supporting what we have and do get some enjoyment still.
Sorry for the novel Carla!

Anonymous

I sign up for the free newsletters. I get outfit inspiration from them

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I haven’t subscribed to a fashion magazine in over 25 years, but I enjoyed picking one up from time to time, especially in the airport before a flight, or sometimes at the grocery checkout.

I cut my print magazine subscriptions way back years ago, I think the only one I get now is Harper’s (not Bazaar, the current events/essay-focused magazine), which I’ve subscribed to for 30 years. They pile up before I get a chance to catch up on reading. And I get an interior design trade magazine still, and ROVA, a magazine about RV life. We still subscribe to Consumer Reports too — handy when we need to research a new appliance or such. But I am glad we cut back on the paper subscriptions — it got overwhelming. I used to subscribe to several photography and art magazines and had a struggle to part with them, but now that they’re gone I find content online.

All of that makes me a little sad, as I was a print publications designer for years. Makes me kind of glad I left the field — there was a lot of pressure to take on web design, which I was not interested in doing at all.

But anyway, fashion magazines are a mixed bag — some are so far out of what I can translate to real life as to be little more than a quick bit of eye candy. I haven’t checked one out in over a year, come to think of it, because I haven’t been spending any time waiting for hair or medical appointments! I do sometimes check out the online content for several of them, and follow some on IG.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

I do all my magazine reading online. I would say I get as much or more inspiration from blogs (of course YLF being the main one!). I do enjoy looking at fashion shows online too.

Aquamarine

Veteran

It’s been quite a while since I’ve purchased a fashion magazine or any magazine, really. There’s so much online now I don’t see a need to. Plus, I dislike clutter. However, I have kept many years worth of Cook’s Illustrated and still enjoy going through them.

Sometimes I download digital versions of various magazines, including fashion ones, from my local library onto my iPad. Amazon, too, has some “free” downloads each month for Prime members. That’s kind of fun and you can zoom in on that pesky small print

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Re fashion mags: what RoseandJoan said. I used to read / leaf through them regularly but have not done so (outside a hairdresser's) for a long while. I do sometimes look at online content.

I subscribe to several digital newsmagazines and read a few others others less regularly.

I also read and subscribe to a lot of literary journals, for obvious reasons.

I miss paper based magazines, but get most of what I loved online.

Joy

Veteran

I only read these magazines at the hair stylists. I am not swayed to copy the styles, just get a general feel for current styles. Once you get to a certain age those magazines start repeating what you have seen before, so you lose interest in them. This goes for food and decorating as well as style.

Sally

Veteran

Like Joy I only read magazines if I go to a hair stylist. I don't buy magazines at all (except the occasional one if they have a spate of good recipe ideas or a really good article about something like politics or current events). I much prefer street style anyway so would prefer to get ideas from here or other blogs or pinterest.

MsMaven

Veteran

Can't remember the last time I looked at a fashion magazine, even online. I started around age 15 with Seventeen and Glamour, and eventually moved to Vogue, British Vogue, In Style, Harpers Bazaar, W, More, what else? Gradually dropped them. Not even waiting at the hairdresser. I used to enjoy them, but that was before the Internet.I rarely look at them online. I'd rather look at fashion blogs and YLF. I like the Instagram posts on Paris street styles.

I do look at the NYT fashion magazine and the Financial Times as well, but these are so far removed from the life I live. I laugh at the over the top designer ads. Really? Does anyone actually wear these clothes?

I did love them back in the day. I remember when the height of luxury was to get into the bathtub for a long session with Cosmo. Like getting to go to a spa with a girlfriend.

None of my friends or family much interested in fashion these days, not even the younger family members.

I did enjoy reading them at one time, but that was a different era.

Bijou

Veteran

I have never subscribed for a magazine, but rather just bought them on an ad hoc basis. I am much more likely to buy a book than a magazine. I have way too many books and have been trying to get myself used to reading eBooks on my iPad, rather than requiring paper versions. I get my fashion advice and inspiration from online sources and only read magazines when at the hairdressers.

Helena

Veteran

I will occasionally get a fashion magazine but it's rare ... They are way too disconnected from my real life to be inspiring most of them time ... I'd rather see real women, or style influencers catering to my lifestyle and demographic, and rely on experts like Angie to distill trends in a helpful way!

LaPed

Veteran

Honestly don't miss them, and much prefer being able to curate my own style inspiration (mostly outdoor gear, nerdy textile arts/handcrafted stuff, and barefoot shoes... nothing you'd see in Vogue ) through blogs and social media. Am I the only person who got headaches from the perfume samples?

madeline

Veteran

I love fashion magazines. Have been reading since I was a teen. Now I read them online borrowed from my local library. I really enjoy reading Vogue and Elle global issues (France, Italy, Russia, India and others). It’s fun to see what the editors choose to highlight. Even if I can’t read the articles, the pictures are enough.

lyn67

Veteran

Agree 100% with Helena:- "They are way too disconnected from my real life to be inspiring most of them time ... I'd rather see real women, or style influencers catering to my lifestyle and demographic, and rely on experts like Angie to distill trends in a helpful way!".