Monday, May 12, 2008

The Problem With Fashion Magazines, Or More Specifically, The Swimsuit Issue

Despite my love of blogs (one does get instant fashion instantly), I adore magazines: the texture, the ads, the glossy pages, the spreads...There is nothing quite like the experience of reading through a magazine, which I do with great care. With excitement, I espied my June issue of Elle magazine in the mail. Eagerly waiting until after dinner, I sat on my bed, pulled up the covers, and carefully leafed through the magazine as I normally do, from cover to cover. Then, with disappointment, I noted that it was "the swimsuit issue."

June is an awkward time for fashion magazines. Most of the spring items have been exhausted (how many times must I see those Dolce and Gabbana booties?), and an over-zealous Fall spread leaves little for the many cold winter months that follow. Pre-fall items are slowly trickling in, but they don't receive the same kind of coverage as the traditional Spring and Fall runway shows. Hence, the dreaded swimsuit issue.

While I am not completely bashing the need for a swimsuit spread (after all, we do need swimsuits in the hot summer months), I am lamenting the constant bombardment of swimsuit after swimsuit. Instead of a gorgeous fashion spread, we get beach wear in all incarnations: the beachy accessories (sunglasses, the tacky nylon, canvas, or plastic beach bag, the logo towel), the swimsuit for all body types, the Glamazon cover-ups (the tunic, the sheer maxi-dress, the floppy hats). Enough! And while I do enjoy reading about politics and literature, I don't find fashion editorials about them particularly enlightening or superior to the Times or a scholarly literary journal. When I read a fashion magazine, I want fashion, pure and simple.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Could not agree with you more on this topic; I concur with your appreciation of magazine hard copies for purposes of relaxation and enjoyment. (At times I will actually wait to read certain issues until I can sit by one of our bay windows to maximize the natural light for better viewing of the photographs!) At any rate, how many swimsuits must be stuffed into one issue? If I want to look at that volume, I'll seek out a catalog from LL Bean.
BTW, just found your blog. It's simply wonderful.