what do you think of the glossies?
Natasha Hughes at SMH asks: Is it really worth buying the glossies… or are they a bit of a disappointment once you get them home?
http://blogs.smh.com.au/lifestyle/beautybeat/archives/2007/09/bag_the_mag.html?s_rid=smh:top5
From the comments, it seems many readers agree:
“I stopped reading fashion and beauty magazines when i was 20 years old and my self esteem rose significantly.”
“I work across the road from Dolly and Cleo and the self-satisfied smirks of staffers as they sashay into their office to spend another day writing about 13 yo’s getting brazilians and how to give good head…well…I wouldn’t want to know Im supporting their habits!!”
“the so called “fashion” magazines are almost 90% advertising and because of that they shoul be free. the gossip mags are so full of crap that is almost embarrassing to read the , not to mention, to be seen reading then!”
She then asks: What do you get out of the monthly glossies? Are there any you couldn’t live without or some foreign publications we should know about? Are they inspirational or just aspirational?
I have boxes and boxes of magazines I can’t bear to throw away (in boxes because I moved recently – in my last house they were all proudly on display in my bookshelves). Most of these are design and photography mags, and of course the whole back catalogue of lip, but there are a few glossies I keep around for reference. Not to reference the beauty tips or blow job tips, but to remind myself that people want more than this from their favourite mags. If I want to publish something that wouldn’t ever appear in one of these magazines, then I’m surely onto a winner.
I used to have dozens of glossies in boxes and racks all over my house, but not for professional reasons, of course. I eventually lost faith with those magazines though, the teen ones especially, and throwing them all out was such a gratifying day. Like Natasha Hughes, I didn’t want to encourage the creators of the mags any further than the new depths they were sinking to. Nowadays, I buy things like The Bulletin, Time, and Rolling Stone. I only buy ‘real’ glossies when I have an art project and need collage, or I’m feeling stressed, so I rip up the mags. It’s VERY satisfying.