Magazines

You see them at the supermarket checkout counter. Piled high at the salon. They collect no dust on your bedside table. They're fashion magazines, and there are about as many kinds of them, as there are of us.

In our own image

The prime purpose of fashion magazines is to show us our potential, at least as far as appearance goes. It doesn't matter that the magazines are stuffed chock-a-block with ads, the ads perform the same function as the articles. Even so, the various magazines do try to differentiate themselves from one another, perhaps in the hope that you'll buy more than one kind. Here is a short list of some of the more popular women's fashion magazines and a capsule comment on their content:

Allure - focuses on beauty and how to improve your appearance.
Cosmopolitan - gives advice on beauty and lifestyle choices.
Elle - international style for well-traveled, affluent women.
Glamour - aimed at younger women, looks at relationships and work as well as fashion.
Harper's Bazaar - fashion and style for the "above average" woman.
InStyle - what celebrities are wearing and how they live.
Jane - fulfillment and self-improvement, health and beauty.
Lucky - shopping, bargains, the newest fashion trends.
Marie Claire - an all-around fashion and beauty magazine.
O (Oprah) - growth and empowerment for the modern woman.
Vogue - the latest fashion and beauty trends, has international editions.
W - lifestyle and fashion for the upwardly mobile woman.

It seems there's a new magazine hitting the stands each week, trying to fill a niche or a perceived interest. There weren't always so many fashion magazines, however. We can trace the history of the fashion magazine back to France (of course) in the 18th century, where women and early couturiers would pore over sketches of what the aristocracy was wearing. Vogue was the first modern fashion magazine, premiering in 1892. By the 1920's, Vogue, The Queen, and Harper's Bazarr achieved mainstream popularity with American women. The mid-1960's saw an explosion of interest in fashion and a great blossoming of styles and fashion genres. Helen Gurley Brown introduced Cosmopolitan to us and we haven't looked back since!

Taking Cover

Sex sells... or in the case of fashion magazines it's used to sell. It's unusual to see a women's fashion magazine cover that doesn't feature the word "sex" in at least one of the headlines. Like it or not, that little word attracts your attention and makes you curious to read more.

A picture, it's said, is worth a thousand words. How much is a picture on the cover of a fashion magazine worth? It's certainly the place to be, if you're a fashion model. Magazines want to project an image on their covers that attracts and intrigues a potential buyer, while at the same time forming an image in your mind of what that particular magazine is all about.

Not Just a Girl Thing

Fashion magazines are not just for women anymore. Men also care about their appearance and they know it's important for their social and career advancement to look good to others. The first men's fashion magazine, "Apparel Arts", debuted in 1931. Modern magazines that try to focus on fashion often disguise their fashion focus behind a façade of a health & fitness or generic men's interest magazines. Here is a short list of popular men's fashion magazines:

Cargo - bargains and best buys on the Things men want.
Details - focuses unashamedly on fashion and appearance trends.
FHM - "For Him Magazine", pretty pictures but lots of practical advice too.
GQ - "Gentlemen's Quarterly", fashion and style, also popular with women.
Maxim - tips, trends, and T&A for the modern man.
Men's Health - health and fitness, focusing on men's issues.
Men's Journal - practical advice on fashion, finance, and lifestyle.

Style Monitor

Most of the popular fashion magazines have introduced online editions, and new e-zines are exploiting every market niche and interest. It's never been so easy to stay in touch with trends. The Internet also allows us to explore and even subscribe to the wide range of foreign fashion magazines. The world is getting smaller and moving faster. As Ferris Bueller said, "You don't stop and look around once in a while, you just might miss it!".

By Steve Levenstein

Magazines

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