Hello, friends!
I’ve got a giant stack of fashion magazines at home right now, as usual. I can’t keep up with them all. I was thinking about them the other day and how I “read” them.
Vogue is my absolute favorite. I subscribe to American Vogue, Vogue Paris, and British Vogue, and they each have their own personalities. I don’t like the other magazines nearly so much, and I think there are two reasons for this. First, most fashion magazines tend to focus on trends. I despise those lists of what’s in and what’s out. Instead, Vogue focuses on styling clothes–both classic and newer styles–in interesting and unusual ways, and on showing a point of view. After all, clothing is all about what we communicate about ourselves, isn’t it? We don’t necessarily need a big wardrobe or a lot of new clothes to express who we are. We just need a few key pieces that work well together, and we need to wear them in ways that work for us. Sometimes you just need to see how someone else pairs two pieces to make an outfit in order to get ideas for your own clothing. And yes, sometimes the styling in Vogue is completely outlandish. But it’s creative, and that’s what I love.
I read fashion magazines to see how silhouettes are changing. Because no matter how classic your clothing choices, those classics change over time. A collar or lapel might get wider, shirts fit snugly or oversized, trousers grow and shrink. Those aren’t trends, to my mind; those are changing silhouettes that affect everyone. They’re slow-moving style changes that stick around for a long time. But they’re still changing, and they affect how we dress and what we wear over time.
The second reason I prefer Vogue is that I don’t read fashion magazines to shop. I’m not interested in actually buying any of the pieces featured in the magazines (or almost any–in a moment of weakness I occasionally drool over a Bottega Veneta handbag), so shopping and the more trend-oriented magazines really don’t hold my interest. Most of the other fashion magazines seem to be moving toward selling direct to their readers. Lucky magazine bills itself as “the magazine about shopping” and tells you what to buy and where to buy it (and sometimes how to wear it). Harper’s Bazaar enables you to shop direct from their picks while also telling you what the latest trends are. InStyle tells you where to buy all the styles the celebrities are wearing. And I’m sure most fashion magazines would be chagrined to know that I’m not interested in buying, since they exist largely to sell these days. I’m interested in ideas and creativity, and Vogue has that in spades.
What about you? Do you read fashion magazines? And if so, how do you read them? Which are your favorites? Or do you think they’re just a waste of time? I’d love to hear your perspective on them.
We’ll be back next week with all sort of great things for you: a much-requested V-neck tutorial for the Metro Tee, more insights into our business from Todd, and don’t forget the Butterfly Skirt sew-along that begins on Monday!
Pinterest Picks
Is this not the cutest cactus pincushion? Follow the link for a tutorial if you’re interested in making one for yourself or a friend.
As you read this I’m on my way to Nashville to teach a fit workshop at Anna Maria Horner’s new shop, Craft South. Have you seen Anna Maria’s new fabric line, Loominous? It’s all yarn dye fabrics, and I think they’d be perfect for our Girl Friday Culottes this summer. Kind of like this:
How completely adorable is this Library Dress? Everything about it is so sweet and Scandinavian feeling.
Sara Fielke posted this darling Gallery Tunic from Nani Iro double gauze the other day. I’m considering this one for a Gallery Tunic of my own.
Art Museum Vest and Trousers as shorts for summer? What a cutie! Perfect wedding attire, by the way.
Weekend reading links
- I find this article about mail-order wardrobe stylist services, particularly the algorithm behind the clothing selection process, to be completely fascinating. Aren’t we lucky we can sew our own personalized, customized wardrobes?
- If you aren’t already, chances are good that you’re going to be wearing more polyester in the future. And why that’s not necessarily a bad thing. (No, I’m not entirely on board with this. I suspect you aren’t either. There are so many things I don’t like about polyester, and not all of them can be refined with new technology and processes.)
- Looks like I’m not the only one who thought Beyonce’s Met gala dress was a bit like the emperor’s new clothes.
- The ins and outs of the second-hand clothing market.
- You may already know that I’m a big fan of Pocket, which allows you to save items you’d like to read for later. Pocket is the sole reason I don’t have about 300 open tabs on my internet browser right now. And this article makes me so happy: it turns out, Pocket has shown that our attention spans haven’t completely disintegrated. We’re still reading long articles.
Have a wonderful weekend!