What is your favorite and/or most useful fashion mag? - YouLookFab Forum

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What is your favorite and/or most useful fashion mag?

goldenpig

(website)

Veteran

I recently got back from a trip and indulged in some fashion mags for the long plane ride there and back (three each way, woohoo!). I was thinking about subscribing to a couple, but wondering which ones you all find to be the most useful in terms of actual pieces that you would wear? Elle and Vogue seemed to be filled with totally outlandish unwearable pieces and/or "price upon request" items...I was flipping through all the pages of fetish gear and thinking, "Who wears this in real life?" I mean, other than perhaps in your bedroom or the Castro district? I couldn't imagine showing up at the office in 90% of the stuff in there. Marie Claire, In Style and Lucky seemed to be a little more practical, but still pretty pricey. Sadly, the one magazine I found most helpful was Redbook--there was an article in there about buying six pieces and mixing them in with wardrobe basics that most people already have. They had pictures of 30 different outfits you could make mixing all the pieces. I could see myself wearing pretty much all of those items and it was useful to see all the different ways of putting outfits together. Most of their stuff in there was actually affordable (H&M, Target, AT, Banana Republic, Nordstroms type stuff) and I wanted to get a lot of those pieces, like the Target Missoni shirt. I never thought of myself as a Redbook reader--I hate the feel of the thin paper and I always equated it with the "Good Housekeeping" type of mag filled with "how to spice up your marriage" and "what to cook for your picky kids" and ads for cover your gray hair dye and Chico's & Coldwater Creek. Previously I would never have picked it up because it had kind of a frumpy image in my mind (I just got it because I couldn't find anything else left at that magazine stand). But I was really surprised it appealed to me. I guess I am one of those "older moms" in their target demographic now. Sigh. LOL

39 replies

Latest reply was from Carole

Deborah

Veteran

Hi Goldenpig, I am not sure what Redbook is but will google and take a look.

I buy Australian Marie Claire each month which I enjoy for the fashion and social justice and human issues stories. The fashion to me is more wearable and really for me it's about ideas. Rarely would I buy clothing I see featured in the magazine, but it can inspire my choices, sihouettes etc. When on holiday I might buy Vogue etc but not often. I also enjoy InStyle as well but don't buy it regularly.

We have a magazine here called Grazia which is a combo of gossip and fashion and the fashion is often more streel level, what normal people might actually wear and not necessarily high end (with the high end price tag) I sometimes take a look but not regularly.

Really I find more and more I am looking to the beautiful and real women on YLF for most of my inspiration these days.

goldenpig

(website)

Veteran

Deborah,
I forgot to mention, I do subscribe to Marie Claire already. I used to get In Style but I had let it lapse a couple years ago--I may renew it though.

Great idea about looking up Redbook online! I found the exact article I was referring to:
http://www.redbookmag.com/beau.....ll-outfits
Here is a picture of the new items, plus the "already have" items. I love that Missoni shirt!
And an example of the shirt in a work outfit, casual outfit, and date night outfit!

ETA: OK, now that I posted the photos, I'm kind of embarrassed--you guys probably think these are pretty basic combos and can do this sort of thing in your sleep, but this mixing and matching is pretty new to me (I always wore the same sweater with the same skirt or pants), so I love the wardrobe expanding ideas!

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Anonymous

I read French Glamour. Not only do I brush up my French, but I also find it more challenging, more woman oriented ( once it featured some body image bloggers - naked , such things are unheard of in more conservative mags). I like more the fashion and the recipes. I also sometimes like the British Glamour.

Deborah

Veteran

Please don't be embarrassed. We probably all have the tendency to play it safe and combine pieces we know work. This is a great way to glean ways in which we can implement new ideas. I refer to this type of thing often. We all get our inspiration from somewhere

Jjsloane

Veteran

I love to read through fashion magazines (and this site of course) I think my mind absorbs a lot of inspiration from all sources (even Parenting sometimes has a useful MOTG article). Magazine subscriptions have become increasingly cheaper and are giveaways with purchases sometimes now (Marie Clare) so I get a few, but find my best ideas from Lucky and InStyle. I don't purchase the actual items they suggest, but use them as guidelines and find similar pieces in my budget. I also trade magazines with a woman at work so we both get twice the subscriptions.

nancylee

Veteran

I've settled on Harper's Bazaar as the most reliable fashion mag for watching trends. They do a good job of visually illustrating trends and, although most of the clothes are out of my price range, they tend to mix in more affordable pieces from stores like AT and Banana Republic--at least in their articles. The fashion layouts are pure fantasy, but there are some helpful articles mixed in.

For me, pushing 50, Lucky is waaaay too young and InStyle has turned into a celebrity photo mag, it seems. Vogue is too much fantasy and has way too many advertisements! I haven't checked out Marie Claire...but I suspect it might skew young.

Mamapicklejuice

Veteran

goldenpig - I love that spread! Thanks for sharing that link! I need to make some notes...what a fun read! Sadly, I agree with the rest of the points you made re: paper quality, etc...that will be a hurdle for me to get over, lol! The "high" fashion mags are mostly over my head though. I find it hard to get inspiration from them, the fashions themselves are often unapproachable, OTT, dramatic...so far from my MOTG run-of-the-mill life, that in translating them, the only thing I'd be able to copy is maybe the color combination? (I'm exaggerating, but I feel like that's often the case.)

Kelly

(website)

I subscribe to Harper's Bazaar, InStyle, and Lucky. There are things about all three I can take or leave, but what I have tried to do is not look at what they show and think "I have to have that exact item" (although sometimes that has happened, if they show something inexpensive enough) but rather ask myself "do I have or can I find something similar to what they are showing that is in my price range?" I also use it for new ideas for color combinations. It *is* hard sometimes to try to look at what they are doing with a broader view because my first inclination is that it has to be the specific outfit they put together (which I am sure is what they want people to do!). After I fold down all the pages that catch my eye, I then go back and rip them out and put them in my inspiration binder that I keep on my closet shelf. Well, theoretically that is what I do. I don't always get around to actually doing it!

modgrl

(website)

Veteran

I love Marie Claire. I feel like they get where I'm at with my style. The clothes in the magazine are expensive but they have great inspiration spreads that I feel like I can use. I don't feel like Elle or Vogue are targetted to me, but I'll sometimes buy the September issue just for fun.

Lynne

Veteran

GP, thank-you for the link. It's really a 14 outfits from 18 pieces, in this case 12 of them basics and 6 new season. Sounds like a potential YLF challenge.....

My fashion inspiration largely comes from here, but I am a magazine-a-holic, I devour several a month, not just fashion. My favourites are O (US), Red (UK), and Alt (Denmark). I am trying to reduce my consumption :).

Mamapicklejuice

Veteran

Lynne - that _would_ be a fun challenge...I'm almost at that stage with my wardrobe where I could participate in challenges like that. Fun!

Laura

(website)

Veteran

I've given up on fashion mags (get so much more out of this site, for example), but I did buy the ginormous new InStyle with Beyonce on the cover. I marked three pages that had ideas for fall that I'd like to try -- not much, given that the magazine has hundreds of pages!

goldenpig

(website)

Veteran

Oooh, Lynne, that would be a fun challenge! Perfect for me to try to incorporate some of my newer pieces into my old wardrobe! Let's do it! I'll post a separate thread!

I also wanted to add that you all are right--this website is a treasure trove of information (esp the forum!) and I am still barely scratching the surface of what it offers. But sometimes I want to come home and flip through a mindless read at the end of the day, you know what I mean? LOL

Irene

(website)

Every month my reading list contents InStyle, Harpers Bazaar, Vogue and Marie Claire, because that's what my library gets. Previously I was subscribed for InStyle, but I give it up because of overwhelming amount of "celebrities style" inside (and I know that most of them use help, so there's no such thing as their "style"). Right now I consider Harpers Bazaar and Marie Claire the most helpful, even though content of the first one is out of my price range, but HB make fashion livable in (unlike Vogue), so I see the idea - I use it with MY things.

MsMaven

Veteran

My favorite magazine was British Vogue until a few years ago when it changed to become too much like American Vogue. They old version featured articles on real women and how they dealt with fashion in the workplace. I still buy it now and then. I once subscribed to W, but it has gone off in a totally different direction with a change in editorship.

I just bought the September Vogue, and read other magazines at the hairdresser. The reality is that the Internet has replaced magazines for me.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I'm not big on fashion mags in general, and would usually just read what a coworker brought into the bar when she was done with them (Bazaar, Allure, Vogue). The one exception is People Style Watch. That is one of the few I bought of my own volition off the racks (way before finding YLF) and I actually fell in love with and stalked an item from it that I bought 2 years later for myself for a birthday gift (see pic). Most mags don't have things I can even think of buying!
I also like that it has it's fashion bits in 'themes' I guess you could say, which is easily digestible to me. For instance, a person photographed wearing their fave article (shoes or a bag maybe) 5 different times IRL over a season, rather than a pre planned photo shoot spread. Yes, it's celebrity focused but even celebrities are more like you and me in day to day than high fashion models on a shoot.

EDIT: here is the 'favorite pieces' layout I was talking about http://www.peoplestylewatch.co...../gallery/0,,20053264,00.html#20991102

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Barbara

Veteran

Great question! My number one is Vogue - it's PURE fashion. I always buy the Vogue Paris Designer seasonal issues too. $45 per VERY detailed and thick magazine - it has every major designer and trend for the seasons.

Lucky - it's fun and fresh. Keeps you current on trends.
Elle - great articles and useful fashion for the real world.
Bazaar - excellent magazine for fashion-forward women of all ages.
People Style Watch - this magazine is a real surprise. Minimal ads, great fashion.

I almost forgot to mention: Brigitte - it's a superb German fashion magazine. I've had a subscription for 20+ years!

Patty

Veteran

Not a fashion mag person until I get into a doctor's office and eat them up. Other wise it's Harrowsmith--I'm all about the straw bail house.

rosee

Veteran

I don't buy magazines, especially fashion mags since I think they date so quickly (and then you are stuck with them or have to recycle them). I do read them at the doctor's office and such places though.

My favorite mag was a Canadian publication that went out of print over a year ago called WISH -- it had fashion, home decor, recipes, travel, all in one cover. And it was very fashion forward and practical without being fantasy ridiculous. I still have a few old issues kicking around that I like to look at every so often.

Makrame

Veteran

I stopped subscribing to fashion magazines but I find that Wall Street Journal often has interesting articles on fashion trends, designers, and "how to wear current trends". I was also interested to see a note on using coloblocking in home decorating in the recent issue of "Better Homes and Gardens". They had a nice picture of color-blocked room next to a photograph on colorblocking on the runway. Unfortunately, that magazine comes with the ubiquitous ads for Coldwater Creek.

rachylou

Veteran

Let's see, I like...

Lucky. I don't know why I let my subscription drop. I think it's good for ideas workable in real life.

People Style Watch. To check out trends

Marie Claire. Have a subscription on both Nook and in print, but am considering letting them drop. I find it's gotten out of touch a bit, spotty, although I liked this month's issue a lot. Nice sampling of spendy ready-to-wear / look-for-less challenges.

In Style. But it really depends. Sometimes I think it can be a little boring.

W. For the fashion shoot art and society news (since you can't get it from T&C anymore, LOL).

T&C. 'Cuz.... no idea why. I don't think I do like it and just want to know when my subscription will run out.

I totally would not dismiss Redbook. An upmarket alternative is Real Simple, which I subscribe to also.

No longer reading: Vogue, Harper's, Elle, Glamour, Mademoiselle, supermarket rag sheets ("Burn calories by eating!"). Since couture and society have gone the way of the dinosaur, and been replaced by something else entirely, I feel they've taken the first three mags with them. That makes me too sad to read them anymore. Glamour and Mademoiselle - well I read them for a long time. I recognize the article repeats, and they no longer pull out highly amusing ones like "how to pack for a hook-up". The supermarket rags - I realised I don't like the recipes in those.

...Ok. I'm a magazine addict. What I've dropped, I've replaced with home decorating mags and things like "Psychology Today" for entertaining psychobabble ("are you compatible?!")

StacyJo

(website)

I subscribe to Vogue and Harper's Bazaar and get the major issues of InStyle, Elle and People Style Watch at the newstand. I LOVE magazines as I will make my own look books to draw inspiration from when I'm out shopping (oops, did I say that?!

mamaKate

Veteran

My take on fashion magazines is to remember that they are: 1. a vehicle for advertising and 2. a means to cultivate the desire for shopping, which essentially is number 1. again. So, as long as I keep this caveat in mind, magazines don't bother me, i.e., the fact that they feature ridiculous items that cost $8,000. I read Bazaar regularly as a source of style ideas and a source of images for my look book. I find it to have the largest number of combinations, the most originality, and still some relation to what could actually be worn (not item-for-item). I also love the "beautiful at any age" feature. I don't actually read any of the articles. If I did, I would probably be bored to tears. On the other hand, an article on what to cook for my picky-eater kids is actually something useful so if it had content like that, then I probably *would* read the articles!!! Have fun no matter what, Cheers!

Kari

Veteran

I haven't subscribed to anything since I was a teen - the most recent magazine subscription I held was to Flute Talk, actually.

I get bothered by the cost of the magazine compared to the vast amount of advertising and the miniscule amount of meaningful content. But I treat myself to InStyle on occasion, like before I hop on an airplane. My mom passes her O (Oprah) magazines on to me when she's through, and while not geared specifically/exclusively towards fashion (and often targeted above my own age group), I do feel that there are often some good reads in her magazines.

I get so much more inspiration and practical application out of my favorite style blogs than I ever did when I was reading style magazines.

Sylvia

(website)

I like vogue and marie claire when they review the runway shows and highlight the trends for the season. It's great to see what all the designers have come up with. You can then have another look at your wardrobe and see what few pieces you need to feel current and fashionable. Other than that I prefer to read books and all the wonderful style blogs!

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

I recently bought the September In Style and Glamour; I used to subscribe to Glamour. I still do like the fact that they do good investigative journalism stuff but the style bits mostly skewed too young for me. I was pleasantly surprised by the In Style actually - I used to hate its relentless celebrity focus but this issue, at least, had a lot less of that and a lot more great fashion ideas and spreads. I also used to subscribe to Lucky, but it'd also gotten very aspirational and young the last I read it. I've never been able to get into Vogue or any of the similar ones where one outfit costs thousands of dollars. I find couture interesting as a sewer, but it's more like art to me rather than something that's fashion, per se.

Jonesy

Veteran

I like Lucky, but I think it's going through some growing pains currently with the new editor. I think Bazaar is okay, but I wish they'd mix it up a bit--I can see a head-to-toe look by a particular designer on style.com, so I don't need to see that in editorial spreads. What I want a mag to do is show me a cool mix. I usually buy the September issue of several mags, just 'cause I'm always so excited for fall fashion :).

I am intrigued by several of you saying that In Style had become less celebrity-focused and more style-focused. I really detest the celebrity focus ("ooh, look at X and how she is wearing some jeans and a t-shirt!") so I haven't looked at that mag for a long time, but maybe I will give it another chance.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I am a total magazine junkie. I look at them all and preferably in a few languages.

MsMary

Veteran

I love magazines but it hurts me to pay the cover prices so I generally only read 'em at the hair salon or as a treat when I fly. I particularly like Vogue, In Style, Lucky, and People Style Watch.

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