Ever since one of my cousin’s stayed at our house for a week back when I was in junior high, I have been reading fashion magazines. Along with her clothes and makeup, she brought a stack of fashion magazine that were more interesting than my mom’s Women’s Day and Family Circle. I started buying fashion magazines and saving them. The fashion magazines used to line them up on my bookshelves, organized by title and date, right next to my favorite books. Growing up, I absorbed the images in the fashion magazines and studied them as if I would be quizzed on them at school.
Over the years I have found creative ways to use perfume sheets in fashion magazines, how to repurpose magazines, and how to incorporate the glossy pages of fashion magazines into collage art and into arts and crafts supplies for the kids.
Top 5 Fashion Magazines
Vogue
By far, the top fashion magazine is Vogue. Purchasing the annual fall fashion issue of Vogue is a ritual for some, including me. The September issue of Vogue is full of advertising and fall fashion. For those who devour fashion magazines like others take hold of the latest Oprah book club novel, examining each of the nearly 700 pages in the September Vogue including the advertisements is pure ritual.
Vogue is a also a rich source for strong political articles. Those who think Vogue is just about the pictures have never picked up a copy of the magazine to read it.
Vogue also has the best covers of any fashion magazine on the market. Vogue, however is not without controversy, as shown by the LeBron James cover and its fur ads.
Reading Elle magazine is like savoring a delicious and creamy cafe au lait. Elle magazine combines international flair, diverse models, fashion and art. They also publish thought-provoking features on real issues including breast cancer and motherhood.
Elle magazine seems to carry more weight in the editorial department than Vogue, although half the reason to buy Vogue is for the advertising. Elle magazine also has a knack for publishing profiles of interesting women and celebrities, who are not overly saturated in the media.
A can’t miss monthly feature in Elle magazine is the Ask E. Jean column. E. Jean dishes out tough-love, real life advice. She boils down the issues the advice-seeking letter writers to their bare essence, with the precision of a world-class chef. Her wit and humor are unparalleled by any advice columnist.
The one fault some American readers may have with Elle magazine is that some of their advertising and editorial features are not shy about showing see-through blouses from fashion shows, or baring more skin than one would normally see in an American magazine.
Glamour
Who can resist the fashion do’s and don’ts in Glamour magazine? Each month, this is the first feature some readers turn to, to find out what not to wear, through the mistakes of others. Glamour has changed the most over the years, and has perfected the art of one-page features and product reviews.
Glamour, more than Vogue and Elle also provides practical articles on relationships, health, love, romance and sex. This fashion magazine covers these topics in a fun but not seedy way, and does not reach into the same dark corners of of Cosmopolitan.
GQ is tops in the fashion magazine department. GQ is a men’s magazine, but approaches fashion better than some women’s magazines. GQ provides a trunk full of shopping ideas when you need to buy something for a fashionable guy or maybe for a not so fashionable guy who needs a little nudge.
GQ is about now, yesterday and tomorrow. The fashion in the magazine is solid, classic and yet modern.
Marie Claire
While Marie Claire has lost some of its international flair since it was first published in the U.S., it is still one of the top fashion magazines. Where InStyle focuses more on celebrity fashion and the trends, Marie Claire focuses on fashion first, with some celebrity articles.
