With so many fashion magazines on the shelves these days, it can be hard to know which one will give you what you’re looking for. Some feature glossy pictures of models wearing all of the latest style trends and minimal written content, while others ‘talk’ a lot about fashion with detailed write-ups about style and clothing, but don’t give the reader much to look at.
However, as hard as it may seem to differentiate between the good and the bad, provided you understand the basic principles behind the top fashion magazines, you should find it easier to choose the right one for you the next time you go shopping.
To help you, here are some of those basic principles to look out for:
Eye-catching editorials
Typically both insightful and engaging, editorials help readers gauge the theme of each fashion magazine issue, and this is usually achieved with a series of images and some written content, the length of which may vary.
When selecting a fashion magazine, study the editorial theme and the reason behind it, to see whether you can understand and appreciate it. Look closely at the images and see whether you enjoy looking at them, and how high quality they are. While the photographer is creating the images, some fashion magazines retouch images with the help of professional services, and if this is the case, you should find credits for this listed somewhere within the magazine.
Gripping content
It’s easy for some cheaper magazines to focus their content on gossip and stories that may or may not be true, and while it isn’t always the case that a more expensive magazine has a higher quality content, this is often the case. Either way, when you pick up a fashion magazine from the shelf (or browse its pages online), you should be able to see images and words that tell a story when combined, and which may reflect the latest trends or issues within the industry, for example.
Image and text placement
A magazine should flow well as you’re reading it, or even when you’re just looking at the images, and how image and text are combined can have a significant impact on your enjoyment of the magazine as a whole. The magazine may have some great photographs and some interesting captions or stories, but if they’re not placed coherently on each page, and you aren’t able to view them easily, your attention will soon wane, and before you know it, you’re wishing you hadn’t wasted your money it, and are set to toss it into the recycling bin. Typography and image placement should have been well thought out with the reader in mind, and you can get a taste of this just by flicking through the first few pages.
Partners and sponsors
Do you recognize any of the faces photographed throughout the magazine, or are you familiar with any of the brands being mentioned as partners or sponsors? The higher the quality of the magazine, the higher the chances are of celebrities and well respected people being featured in them. While this isn’t the only reason to choose the best fashion magazines, few can deny it’s what they want to see when browsing for a new read.
Fashion magazines may not be essential, but they remain just as popular today as they ever were, even in light of the digital age. Nothing quite compares to the glossy finger-feel of a fashion magazine, and that delightful smell when you first flick through the pages. To find your perfect fashion magazine, try looking for the elements listed above before parting with your hard-earned cash.
