The Lost Glamour of the Fashion Magazine; How Fashion Magazines Are Losing Their Prestige in the Pursuit of Relatability

    Fashion Magazines are now considered a dead art. Something quite sad and I advocate for the return of the fashion magazine. Nowadays, it’s all about articles and tiktoks, and no one really opens up a Vogue magazine anymore. Or any of the successful magazines of the 90s and 2000s.  Fashion magazines were peak fashion, with beautiful high-budget spreads and glossy adverts. I remember growing up in the late 2000s and whenever my mom would take me to the salon where she’d get her hair done, there would be fashion and beauty magazines on the table that I would look through. Child me was immediately transported to a runway of trends, and glamour. Something that was chic and felt like I could not possibly grasp. 

And truly, the prices reflect the glamour. Entering my local shoppers, one magazine is above 30 CAD. I usually just read the magazine there in the store without buying, like I was secretly entering this world for free. But now, when I open a magazine, all I’m greeted with is millennials trying to appease the masses using broken slang and reporting on every fashion trend using gross buzzwords like “That Girl” “Slay” etc. 

    “The panel agreed that, while it might not suit luxury or high-end fashion, a relatable and relaxed tone is often the most successful. Magazines like Glamour aren’t afraid to use emojis or write in the first person because they know that the audience does too.” Jo Elvin, editor-in-chief of Glamour magazine 

    This was an excerpt from a panel discussion at Web Summit to hear how fashion magazines adapt to the growing digital influence. The speakers were Jo Elvin, editor-in-chief of Glamour magazine, Christene Barberich, co-founder & global editor-in-chief of Refinery29, and Laura Bradley, editorial director of Dazed Media. Now. by listing out these names, are we surprised that one of the names is from Refinery29? An outlet whose writing was the very first I criticised? The fact that fashion magazines were willing to steep so low as to use emojis in their writing honestly got a visceral reaction out of me. This is the problem I want to highlight here in today's blog.  Once bastions of sophistication and high style, many fashion magazines are now lowering their standards, veering away from their iconic, exclusive allure in favour of a more relatable, yet arguably less distinguished, approach. 

When we stop holding ourselves to high standards, wanting our writing to be the best of the best, and wanting our magazines to be revered, we end up with less than mediocre writing with magazines including printed emojis and writing with no substance. Glamour magazine (isn’t that ironic?), alongside other magazines that have embraced the digital approach, criticised Vogue for their disapproval of fashion bloggers (oops), and the general consensus was that Vogue appears wildly out of touch. But in the end, there’s a reason why people say something is “En Vogue” and not “En Glamour”. 

These “relatable” fashion magazines are using the BuzzFeed method, as I like to call it. BuzzFeed, the factory constantly churning out “relatable” content, got its success off of being pleasing to the masses. It is for that very reason that BuzzFeed articles are not known for their literary prowess, rather, quite the opposite reputation. As the New York Times reports:

“A few years later, BuzzFeed became a factory farm of virality using Peretti’s theory as its working principle, fueled by that which was “relatable” — a word BuzzFeed has stamped onto hundreds of articles, from “17 Times Oprah Was the Most Relatable Billionaire Ever” to “21 Relatable Tweets You’ll Need to Immediately Tag Yourself in and Comment, ‘Me.’ ” The “relatable” tag houses a collection of stories that suggest a mass Liz Lemoning of American youth. The “you” these articles point to is always the same: quirky but smart, introverted but friendly, shaded with a charmingly pathetic love of spreadable cheese.” Why Do We Obsess Over What’s ‘Relatable’? New York Times

It’s as if the quirky Pixar main character girl was turned into a magazine, that would be BuzzFeed.

Another thing I wanted to touch on that contributes to the loss of elegance in the reputation of the fashion magazine, was the indulgence in politics. Now while we all know there is a specific agenda being pushed out by people (ahem) all the time, I was surprised when I found out Teen Vogue was also involved in this. I wholeheartedly agree with the statement that fashion is political. From the clothes of a person, you can understand and get a grasp of the type of society they live in, and clothes are often used to make a political statement. But that’s where I draw the line in the presence of politics in my fashion magazine. I only want to see it when it’s related to fashion. I don’t want to read about Roe V Wade in my 30 CAD Vogue magazine!

“Fashion magazines are often seen as frivolous or shallow, so political coverage is probably their attempt to position their readers as more modern, progressive women who like more heavy-hitting subjects. However, there’s nothing shameful or “unfeminist” about being interested in traditionally feminine topics like clothing or beauty. To some, fashion is purely materialistic, but to me, it represents well-curated taste and a good eye.” Going Rogue: Fashion Magazines aren’t the Place for Politics, the Harbinger

This is an excerpt from an article by the Harbinger which I recommend all you guys reading to check out as it perfectly captures how I feel about politics in my magazine. Like I genuinely cannot wrap my head around why I need to be aware of the upcoming pride parade in my fashion magazine, that’s not why I bought one in the first place. 

The move towards relatable content and user-generated material blurs the lines between professional critique and amateur opinion. This erosion of editorial authority weakened the magazine’s influence and ability to shape fashion trends, reducing its role to just another platform in the vast sea of online content. While the move towards relatability in fashion magazines may be a response to changing reader demands, it also represents a significant departure from the elements that once made these publications so revered. The shift towards everyday fashion and simplified content risks compromising the prestige and sophistication that have long defined the world of high fashion magazines. As the industry navigates this new terrain, the challenge will be to balance relatability with the timeless allure that once set these magazines apart.

Sigh. There go millennials ruining everything once more.