Category: Magazines

LeBron James and Gisele on the April 2008 cover of Vogue

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This picture of basketball star LeBron James and supermodel Gisele Bündchen (so well known that’s she’s called by her first name only) on the April 2008 issue of Vogue has become controversial:



One African-American commentator said it played upon stereotypes of the sexuality of the African-American male that appears threatening to whites. He also said that the photo reminded him of King Kong and the woman whom King Kong takes captive!

I am ill-equipped to address the African-American experience. It’s hard, for example, to accept Michelle Obama’s comment that she is proud of her country for the first time in her life. I try to explain it as more a sense of alienation (despite her privileged Ivy League education) than a lack of patriotism.

I’d like to hear from readers what they think about the cover of the April 2008 issue of Vogue. Do you see a subtext here?

Now that’s more like it!

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After the travesty that was the cover of the March 2008 issue of Vogue, it’s nice to see Drew Barrymore, well, looking like Drew on the cover of the April 2008 issue of Domino:

I love the royal blue blouse with sheer sleeves. The necklace is incredible. I then checked the credits: the necklace is from Amrapali of Jaipur (India). No wonder I like it. Jaipur is as well known for its jewelry as for its block-printed textiles.

Also, look at the decor: elements such as a settee upholstered in contrasting fabrics and the Chinese garden stool.

BTW Drew’s called Domino’s first cover girl. Seems that Domino might have had the same problem its sister publication Lucky had: you need recognizable faces to sell magazines.

And now, another gratuitous picture of Drew in ET:

She’s so adorable!

The Three Graces

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I’m amused by the post by Beauty Addict about the cover of the April 2008 issue of Vanity Fair and comments on the post.

They totally don’t see that this cover is modeled after paintings of The Three Graces. No, I am not talking about The Graces, the short-lived band that featured Charlotte Caffey of the Go-Gos, Gia Ciambotti, and Meredith Brooks (whose song Bitch was prominently featured in the Mel Gibson-Helen Hunt movie What Women Want). I’m talking about The Three Graces, goddesses from Greek mythology. Here is the depiction of The Three Graces from Boticelli’s Primavera:

Now tell me if you can’t see the similarities.

Drew Barrymore en Vogue

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Drew Barrymore on the March 2008 cover of Vogue

Both Beauty Addict and Christopher Drummond are aghast about this horrid Photoshopped picture of Drew Barrymore on the cover of the March 2008 issue Vogue. Beauty Addict notes the changes to Drew’s facial contours, while Christopher notes how thin her arm looks.

I’m aghast, too, as it looks nothing like Drew, and I don’t like the overly arched eyebrow.

Drew has brought new glamour to Cover Girl as that brand’s latest face. It’s easy to forget that she first made a name for herself playing Gertie, the little girl in E.T. When I last watched E.T., I was blown away by how this five- or six-year-old girl (which is how old she was then) took direction.


Gertie encounters E.T. for the first time

What gives?

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For me, sitting around at the hair salon is an opportunity for me to catch up on magazines. I was waiting as my husband got his hair cut, and picked up the current issue of Allure, with Britney Spears on the cover. It was surreal. The photo spread, which featured a topless Spears (with her breasts discreetly covered by her hands or arms), was accompanied by Judith Newman’s article about her unsuccessful efforts to get an interview with Spears. Then, there was Editor-in-chief Linda Wells’s tortured (and ultimately lame) justification for putting Spears on the cover. What gives?

Just go to the Allure web site – it’s all about boosting magazine sales.

PS I didn’t watch MTV’s Video Music Awards, but by all accounts, Spears’ headliner performance was a disaster. While Kanye West’s insistence that he should have been headliner is proof of his overweaning ego, he was probably right when he said that MTV “exploited” Spears for TV ratings.

Does this woman (Spears) have anything else to offer than exposing her body? Are Allure and MTV so deficient in imagination that they must exploit this woman’s tabloid-worthy escapades and problems to promote themselves?

Design*Sponge: r.i.p jane

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The premiere issue of Jane (L) and the current issue

The Style Page has reported on the demise of CARGO (Lucky for men) and SHOP Etc. (Lucky rip-off) magazines. Now comes news via Design*Sponge that Jane magazine will cease publication with its August 2007 issue.

The New York Times also reported on the demise of Jane in its article A Women’s Magazine That Tried to Be Otherwise. The authors described Jane as the grown-up version of Sassy, the groundbreaking, but now defunct, teen magazine. Detroit-based conservative columnist Debbie Schlussel has her own take on Jane’s demise: So sad, too bad …

I find the way that titles such as Glamour, Marie Claire, Vogue, and O conflate articles on fashion and beauty with articles on social and political issues jarring. Moreover, these magazines don’t reflect my views on social and political issues. I also dislike the way that magazines geared toward women in their 20s and 30s are obsessed with sex. No wonder I prefer magazines such as Lucky and InStyle, which don’t contain such articles.

Shop ETC is no more

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Shop ETC. ceased publication with its October 2006 issue.

Looking for Shop ETC on the newstand? Then read this notice from its publisher Hearst Magazines:

Due to the challenging economy and rising paper and postal costs, SHOP Etc. will be discontinued after the October issue. more

My first impression of Shop ETC is that it was a blatant rip-off of Lucky. However, Shop ETC. began to grow on me, and I became a subscriber.

Frankly, I’m surprised that Shop ETC lasted as long as it did (about two years). While its graphic design was ho-hum compared to Lucky, I did find individual items of interest in its pages, like this Spanx “Tight-End” Tights Five-Day-a-Workweek set.

PS Rising paper costs??!! Then why I am getting more unsolicited mail-order catalogues than ever?

CARGO bites the dust

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Two years after I wrote What Guys Want, my review of the premier issue of CARGO, hyped as the men’s version of Lucky, I learned through the New York Times that Condé Nast has stopped publication of CARGO: O.K., Fellas, Let’s Shop. Fellas? Fellas?

While the article facetiously suggests that CARGO failed because guys don’t like stickers, the best explanation was provided by Jimmy Jelinek, editor-in-chief of Stuff magazine:

“They [CARGO] failed to realize how men shop,” Mr. Jellinek said. “You don’t buy a cellphone based on what it does for you as much as it matches your sneakers. Shopping is about using possessions as a means to augment your power.”

Or, to put it in another way: He who dies with the most toys, wins. Readers, I put it to you: how do men’s shopping patterns differ from women’s?

Great sources for fashion styling

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I’ve hesitated to editorialize about fashion because fashion is personal. Moreover, I’m on the other side of 40 and don’t shop the trends.

Styling is key. If you want to shop the trends and wear them right, there are a few resouces that I recommend, some obvious and others that might surprise you (they surprised me).


Lucky is the best source for styling and deconstructing whole outfits.


While InStyle focuses on celebrity fashion, its Great at Any Age feature provides advice on how to wear a look in your 20s, 30s, and 40s. The looks created for women who are older than your age group won’t look frumpy.

I’ve noted that the Wall Street Journal has expanded its lifestyle coverage to the point of launching a weekend edition and even a Wall Street Journal Weekend TV show on the Fine Living TV network. WSJ articles summarize the trends and how to wear them, analyze the market, and feature the expert views of people in the fashion industry about the durability of trends.

Another surprising source for styling is the fall Newport News catalogue. I had long thought that the Newport News catalogue was tawdry, but I am impressed how it’s been redesigned as a “magalog” (magazine+catalog) featuring fashion trend reports, styling tips, and different color stories.

You’ll find sites that link to Lucky, InStyle, The Wall Street Journal, and Newport News through a search of The Style Page. We have also added new content to our Fashion pages – don’t forget to update your bookmarks!

WHAT’S NEW: Media

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The Media page on The Style Page has undergone major changes.

The media page links to three major publishers of lifestyle magazines in the U.S:

Conde Nast – publishers of Allure, Architectural Digest, Cargo, Lucky, Vogue, and Domino, the shopping magazine for the home, which will debut in April 2005. Conde Nast is already seeking charter subscribers on the basis of a sneak peak into a few of the pages of Domino.

Time Inc. – publishers of InStyle, People, REAL SIMPLE, Southern Living, Sunset, and of course, Time.

Hearst Corporation – publishers of Cosmo, Marie Claire, O (Oprah), and SHOP Etc. While I was critical of SHOP Etc., it’s growing on me, even though their style is still too frou-frou for me. I bought the first three issues at the newsstand, and then decided that it was time to subscribe.

The media page features links to Fashion and lifestyle coverage from major newspapers, such as the International Herald Tribune, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and the Telegraph (UK). Please note that access to online coverage for these publications might require registration or even a paid subscription.

Finally, the media page features links to “new” publishing ventures, such as femail.co.uk (featuring Trinny and Elizabeth of BBC’s What Not to Wear), handbag.co.uk, and MochaSofa from Canada.

For those of you who track this blog via news aggregators such as Bloglines, you can track updates to The Style Page web site by subscribing to http://www.thestylepage.com/thestylepage.xml

I hope that you like the updates to the Media page. You can subscribe to many of the magazines listed here through amazon.com.