Are magazines a dying breed? Never. What about Fashion magazines? Is that even a question? Gen Y is too sophisticated to not read magazines. Gen X is benched between the internet and the ideals of print. And the echelon of taste-makers are too powerful. Fashion magazines are addictive. It’s deeper than the editorial spreads or designer profiles. You’re learning a library of history in the span of an article. To hold a glossy magazine, in your hands, then create a zeitgeist going as far back as 10 years (in my case, I have Vogue from 1984) – that’s a trajectory to the smart stars. When a magazine starts to discolour and pages fall out of the sockets, you hold the power. And if you’ve actually read all of the magazine in your go, even better.
When I started seriously collecting Vogue, I chose the British edition – for obvious reasons. But I had never really read it properly. There was something about it that just went over my head. It was too wordy, to cerebral. So, I went back to my first one – I had a lot of catching up to do – no wait, actually, I started reading back issues of Flare, Fashion and Elle Canada – Canadian fashion magazines. The Canadian glossies to me were stepping stones towards my growth to the more coveted titles. Once I got through them, all 50 or so, then I moved on to British Vogue. It was tedious. It was tiring, but I did it. Now, I’m amazed that I can get through British Vogue in one sitting. Well, okay maybe two. But it’s so much more digestible then it was all but a month ago. I’ve even taken to buying all the English-language editions with the exception of Vogue Paris. I’ve also moved on to various editions of Elle and Harper’s Bazaar. See what I mean? To say it’s fulfilling is too easy a world. It’s more like, emancipation.
OK. magazines don’t necessarily have the depth of books, they’re not supposed to. But now, after reading glossies by the pound, I can read a feature in Vanity Fair and have an opinion on whether the story was shit (like the latest cover on Angelina Jolie). I mean hey, Vanity Fair – I love you, I really do – is the Crème de la Crème of the mag world, no? Newspapers are now a breeze and I’m curious if books can fill the black whole in the middle of my brain.
Once the voice synonymous with the much-loved (and now defunct) 