Wednesday 13 April 2011

Magazine Addiction....

My life is dominated by magazines. I work for a magazine publisher, my mother publishes a magazine and I avidly read pretty much every women's monthly (actually to Mr P's disgust I pretty much subscribe to every women's monthly magazine - well it is so much cheaper!)

Each magazine represents a different side of the person I think I either am or aspire to be...

For example Grazia this is my guilty fashion pleasure. Jam packed full of clothes and bags and shoes I would love to be able to afford. It is also an upmarket "gossip" magazine so I can indulge my curiosity of how the celebs live without resorting to Heat style reporting of hiding in toilets with a camera phone (or at least that's how it looks sometimes).

Then there is Red which represents the me I want to become when I'm a grown up. Chic, professional and sleek. No wayward fashion choices or hair that isn't perfectly coiffed. Should I ever want to become a yummy mummy this is the bible to live by.

Next up is In Style again purely for the fashion lust it is a simple post work flick through that doesn't involve any serious thinking.

Of course this line up wouldn't be complete without Marie Claire now this magazine includes the De rigour aspirational fashion spreads (well the advertising has to come from somewhere) but also very well written in depth interviews and social comment pieces so you feel you are actually reading something worthwhile in between lusting after shoes.

She is the final in my glossy line up - and probably my favourite. I like the sometimes random mix of articles and fashion. This is the magazine that probably most reflects me at the moment (bar the children section) as the emphasis is on career and life balance something I think any woman with or without kids is acutely aware of trying to balance. Recent favourites have been some really good articles on how to get started with running (I've extracted all the articles and read them fully even if I haven't actually started the running part!) and the what to wear to work feature with proper clothes that don't either require a pop star budget or size 0 frame.

On top of this somewhat excessive amount of magazines I also subscribe to Wired I love the mix of techie articles with the clean graphics. And I learn something new every issue that is so irrelevant but compelling I can fascinate bore my friends stupid. The cover of the magazine also feels strange in a good way too!

I have the BBC Good Food magazine every month as I try to 1) gauge what the marketing team are up to for inspiration and 2) try and start cooking slightly more adventurously.

Then there is BBC Focus which again I get to compare with our title but also because the articles and images are so fascinating and indulges my inner scifi nerd with the space sections.

Then there is Slimming World magazine and BBC Knowledge and of course I love our own titles especially SciFiNow and How It Works...

Eek I think I'd better stop counting, is anyone else out there a magazine whore or is it just me?

Lx

4 comments:

  1. Nice post! I am a magazine junkie as well :-) My favourites are Psychologies, InStyle, Vogue, Marie-Claire Home, Runner's World and Intelligent Life. I think I should check out Grazia as well. It sounds pretty cool.

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  2. My problem is that my frequent flyer miles (and those of my family) are always in danger of expiring and one of the things you can "buy" with these miles are magazines. And boy, do I have a lot of magazines/periodicals coming to the house! Sometimes, the subscriptions can run as high as 30 magazines coming to the house every month or so! However, I now inundate my immediate family with them and my niece/sister/father/nephew-away-at-college now get these magazines, too!

    Mine are of the usual fashion variety (Vogue, InStyle, Marie Claire, Glamour, Bazaar, etc.) as well as weekly news (Time, Newsweek, the economist, USnews&world report (though this went digital very recently so I just download on my ipad to finish out my subscription) and still others like Architectural Digest, Traditional Home, PC World, Entertainment, and SO MANY MORE including a lot of travel magazines (Conde Nest Traveler, Travel + Leisure, etc). I also get newspapers through this frequent flyer miles program: Financial Times & Wall Street Journal - these get donated to local schools for the weeks I am away from the home (like on vacation). One of the magazines which I buy (*gasp*) is Veranda.

    What do I do with all these after I peruse them? They get boxed and donated to local area hospitals - did you ever notice how the magazines are so out of date at hospitals' waiting rooms? When I was in physical therapy for some injury or another, that office got all my magazines for that year.

    Between magazines, newspapers, ebooks, audiobooks and my vast collection of books, no wonder I am an insomniac, I am always reading something or another!

    ~AspireToBe

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  3. AspireToBe you are my idol!! I do love magazines (and books) easy escapism that can be educational as well it's just finding the time to read them all x

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  4. Wow Aspire and Loulou you girls read A LOT of magazines!
    I subscribe to home magazines, 25 beautiful homes and ideal home but as I finished decorating my house a while ago I will not renew the latter.
    I also get medical journals, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) and the Journal of Public Health but not sure if they count as magazines.

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