Evolution of Fashion Magazines
This article was written by Lonestar Writer, Natalie Lehmann.
In the past two decades not much has remained constant but the evolution of technology has. Consequently, this has also led to the demise of print journalism in actual print. Newspapers, pamphlets, magazines and other paper forms of information, used to be the most revolutionary way to release information on a mass scale — now with Google, targeted media and news apps, paper may seem like it is out of use and out of style.
Regarding style, fashion magazines in particular have had an interesting backstory. Starting more as “feminine” pamphlets in the Elizabethian age, they included anything from gossip or how-to-avoid-plague tips, to what was trending in royal courts. Acting as the 17th century Gossip Girl, the fashion magazine evolved into ways for female activists to have their voices heard for a very targeted audience. Especially today, when magazines like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar have been able to incorporate current news with fashion, the mostly female audience has ample insight and awareness to topics such as the Black Lives Matter movement and political elections. Fashion magazine editors are making their pages political and it’s important to see that fashion is more than just models and fabric, fashion itself, is political.
There has always been something mystical about the experience of a fashion magazine. Seeing models wear the most recent trend shows progress and a high society standard that women who can afford it reach for. Consequently, in the recent decade there has been a huge reflection of body-normative activism in magazines. When flipping through the perfume scented pages, there are not only the classic 5’8-and-up models who sustain very restricting body masses, but women who you are more likely to see walking on the street beside you. Plus-size models, medium-size models, short, tall, muscular, the range is endless and is only continuing to diversify.
With fashion magazines expanding their horizons, designers are too. Using slogans that encapture meaningful issues to them specifically, allows them to endorse campaigns with their latest looks and who wear them. Celebrity endorsements or brand ambassadors are an important reflection of the designer they are wearing. Artists like Billie Eilish and Lizzo have been making headlines for simply being themselves, but because being “themselves” is such a unique thing, like it is for all of us, they have been able to use the attention received by fashion designers and raise awareness about issues that are important to them. Just by making a shirt that says “go vote”, designers are putting themselves out there in a way that has never been seen in the history of fashion.
In times where showing your ankles was scandalous, fashion has always made an impact on society. It is not anything new to see political aspects of society come out through what we wear everyday, but it is special to see it in such a mass quantity. Fashion magazines will not be going out of style anytime soon — even with social media platforms providing insight and online news stands, picking up a magazine or flipping through it offers a different kind of experience that is picking up popularity. Especially in 2020 when nothing is really normal yet, having the simplicity of a standard subscription catalogue come to your house every month just as it did before, brings comfort that is very much needed. The evolution of the fashion magazine will continue to amaze us, and just like technology, fashion will never stop improving and making an impact.
