Anna Wintour & Lucky Mag

rachylou

Well hey now: Maybe I owe Anne Wintour some more respect. She brought on Eva Chen for Lucky Mag. I far prefer Lucky to Vogue these days, and Eva is taking Lucky digital, which appeals to me.

Sooo... what's up with Vogue then?

11 years ago

General

34 replies

Latest reply was from rachylou

K.M.

Veteran

I know!!! I'm another fan of Lucky under Eva. Fun, relatable and yet often high-concept. The right mix.

What I do find bizarre (and forgive me for the tangent) is to see Anna Wintour on the staff of Bon Appetit. Their stories now are all dolled up not just with pretty food, but with fashionable pretty people wearing fashionable pretty things (duly captioned, too). I like both fashion and food and I can see the opportunities for crossover, but not the way they're doing at B.A.

Sorry for the tangent!

11 years ago

Anonymous

I loved the old Lucky even though I was far from their target audience. I stopped buying it (or even flipping thru it at the magazine rack) after Kim France got fired. The next editor dulled it down overnight, turning it bland and generic. Thanks for alerting us to Eva Chen's re-energized version.

11 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

gauche - ya, Lucky has had a bit of a roller coaster ride.

K.M. - I didn't realise Anna Wintour was consulting on Bon Appetit. How weird. I don't know that I want to see clothes with my food. But then again, she does have a general consulting role for all of Conde Nast, so maybe I should have guessed. Well, I don't read Bon Appetit or Food and Wine anymore, anyways. I'm not a big fan of the new food scene. Far too much cleverness for my tastes.

11 years ago

Anonymous

When Anna Wintour was briefly editing House & Garden (waiting in the wings for Vogue's editor in chief to be given the boot), she renamed it HG ... which led to people calling it "House & Garment." She featured a lot of fashion for a shelter magazine.

11 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

I did not realise that. I've also dropped HG from my list.

Yeah, I don't know about, Anna. Aside from Lucky, it seems like most of the magazines I liked, she's been killing off slowly. But that's about my personal tastes. I don't know about actual circulation. Maybe she bumped it?

11 years ago

Anonymous

I also don't get the iconification of Anna Wintour -- except as an eccentric character who's fun to satirise. Vogue under her regime turned celebrity-driven, outlandish without being fun, and boringly written. I suppose she did turn the September Issue into a big thing, which made Condé Nast very happy. (I just realised I've been buying or looking at Vogue for nearly 50 years! Yikes. I'm old enough to remember the Diana Vreeland years. Wish I'd kept my back issues.)

11 years ago

UmmLila (Lisa)

Veteran

As far as I understand, Lucky is going digital, but it is going to be more of a shopping site than an editorial site.

I miss the Kim France days. I feel like the current version of the magazine is too much like the Eva Chen fan club look.

11 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

UmmLila - that made me laugh, *Eva Chen fan club.* Truth is funny. But I still like Lucky; all I want from it is pics, shopping info, and some styling suggestions. And I feel I can see the clothes at least shown in Lucky. Vogue always does these murky, blackout layouts, which are very small these days and sandwiched between articles I enjoy reading more in Woman's World.

gauche - Now, Diana Vreeland. She was brilliant.

11 years ago

Anonymous

I think Anna Wintour is now editorial director for the whole Conde Nast group, isn't she? I'm scanning the publishing masthead in a recent Vogue but can't read it without my glasses - argh. Anyways, she now has a broader role within the whole company. I like Lucky, although I am always somewhat embarrassed to be "caught" reading or buying it as I am most definitely outside of the age demographic. Vogue under Wintour has firmly tipped over to the boring side. I still buy it each month, because, well I just have to, but I much prefer Bazaar now.

11 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

Oh, I haven't seen a Bazaar in ages, lisap. I'll have to check it out. I think of Bazaar, I think of Grace Kelly.

Funny about Lucky - I can't imagine anyone in their target audience having the money to buy what they show. Lol.

ETA: I just googled for Lucky's target audience. Someone asked the question on Yahoo Answers. A response they got:

The target audience for it is most likely middle aged women. Maybe women in their late 20's, early 30's onwards.

Hahaha! ... Hahaha! All I need to do is lie back in my grave. Hahaha!

11 years ago

K.M.

Veteran

rachylou, that's so true about the target audience! Or maybe they're getting a generation of young women into debt with their tempting stuff.

I've gotten lots of great ideas from Lucky under Eva--beauty products, outfits, and even more personal discussions of fashion. Funny enough, to me the least interesting are the fashion editorials--not relatable, not seasonal. But their other fashion features (shorter pieces, etc) are great.

I used to love In Style for fashion--that was my go-to. But I stopped liking it in the last couple of years and haven't seen one since.

Wintour-era Vogue... I just never could relate.

11 years ago

Anonymous

HA! Ok, now I'm officially stopping buying it. I won't give my money to anyone who considers 20-30 year olds middle aged. Ah, I need a laugh today, thanks rachy. I know that answer likely came from some doltish intern, but still? Yeah, Bazaar is a good magazine. I like their feature articles too- good writers on board there.

11 years ago

Marley

Veteran

Huh. I guess that I'll have to check out Lucky mag. Don't think I've ever looked at it before. Of course I haven't actually bought a magazine in years - so . . . there's that. I'm a fan of Anna and Grace so if I were to buy one it would probably be Vogue. I just like looking at the pics!

11 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

Oh, no, sorry to be confusing: That wasn't Lucky staff who said that 'bout 20-year-olds being middle aged... that was tweenie trolls on Yahoo. No connection to Lucky. Just some of the many confused random people out there (like myself, confused and confusing, haha!)

Lucky actually, apparently, doesn't target age groups. They define their target audience by where they are in their careers. Which is also a little bit wonky, since the whole idea of a 'career' is now DOE.

11 years ago

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

I used to subscribe to Lucky and it was the best of the shopping focused magazines. Got a deal and resubscribed at Christmas and it's a faint shadow of what it used to be, literally (very thin) and with content.

11 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

Laura, I know. Makes me worry. Publishing like that is, I'm afraid, on life support.

11 years ago

Karie

(website)

Veteran

I still like Lucky, In Style, and Glamour, but really? Their target is the middle aged crowd of 20-30 year olds? I'm so ancient it's a wonder I have the strength to turn the pages of the magazines!

I'll just go back to reading my food magazines...oh wait, there's Ana Wintour!

11 years ago

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

I forgot to derisively LOL at the idea of your late 20s being middle aged... I do think Lucky has a bit of an identity crisis at the moment. When it was founded it was aimed at 20-somethings, but that was a decade or more ago. They can't seem to decide if they should keep the same demographics, or move with the people who read them originally.

You know what magazine is great? More. It's nominally aimed at women over 40, but honestly I'd recommend it to any woman. The fashion and beauty stuff are excellent and the journalism/feature stories remind me of old-school Glamour or Rolling Stone.

11 years ago

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

I do enjoy flipping through Lucky but haven't seen it in a while. Magazines seems so static you know.

11 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

Hahaha, Karie!

11 years ago

Carla

Veteran

I'm a fan of UK versions of Glamour and Instyle, as well as house and garden porn. There is a cheekiness to the UK writing that entertains!

11 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

Oh, good point. That's how I get my magazine fix a lot of the time: Mags from the other side of the pond.

Lucky does seem to be confused about where it should aim.

I will have to look more closely at More. I do like Redbook re-do, but that's not really a fashion mag.

11 years ago

Keturah

Veteran

With Shiva on this one: fashion and clothing magazines just don't do it for me anymore. Unless its GQ. For some reason, I find it to be so on target. Maybe because men's styles are simpler than women's? I often glean a helpful little tip or idea from GQ that i can use for my own clothing and style, despite the fact that I'm a woman have a womanly wardrobe.

I subscribed to Lucky last spring. I almost wish I had cancelled my subscription though. I leaf through an issue and toss it. I find it apathetic, boring, and uninspiring. The only issue I've held onto was Sept 2012 (Eva Longoria cover). There were was a beautiful fashion spread featuring Italian women and how they dress. It completely turned my closet around in terms of style. They featured clothes in that issue I could relate to and love.

And now...flip, flip, flip. Toss. Thud. [Magazine hits bottom of wastebasket.]

Now I browse Pinterest, pour over YLF, visit Instagram and blogs, and just go shopping and wear the clothes that make me feel good inside and out.

That's my .10 cents. hehe

11 years ago

Keturah

Veteran

interesting about More!! I'll have to take a peek. Instyle actually seems better the past 6 months than I remember it being.

I don't bother with Vogue USA. But I'll definitely a look at UK and maybe Italian versions...

11 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

Oh my gosh - another magazine I haven't had a peek at in ages: GQ

To me Lucky is a shopping catalog. Not so much about ideas and inspiration - although I do like their real way for runway styling.

For inspiration, to be honest, I've started looking at Danish magazines. Although I'm afraid there's only so many Helena Christensen articles you can do...

11 years ago

Veteran

I feel like you guys are speaking Greek. I'm tempted to purchase one fashion subscription -- and potentially ask for guidance. Maybe I need to post this question.

11 years ago

Carla

Veteran

Airports and BIG CITY go to a 'Mags and Fags' (Otttawa) or other such FABulous multicultural magazine fest and indulge in some foreign fare. Best case...inspiration, worst case über cool guest bathroom reading!

Many moons ago when visiting UK, got together with a UK friend who was considering immigration to Canada. We tied up at a pub, and for his Intel he was gifted with 6 random magazines ranging from 'newsy' to house and garden, Canadian Ed.

11 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

AM - Greek or Geek? Hehe

But I do like *cultural news*. I just find it so interesting to hear about what others are thinking and doing with fashion.

11 years ago

Carla

Veteran

Gosh. I die.

11 years ago

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