Now I know, Teen Vogue has never been the height of sophistication, and even if it were, like all teen magazines, it would be subject to the whims of youth trends. And right now that trend is "Let's forget the late nineties ever happened and lose our freaking minds over homogenous, blank-eyed teens with only nominal talent!". I get that. But seriously? Zac Effron? W...T...F?! Words cannot describe the faint stench of humiliation that trailed me as I walked to the cashier's counter to pay for magazine with his overly bronzed face slapped across the cover. Forget that I am beginning to skirt the line of being too "old" for Teen Vogue (and yes, I know I'm still a teenager, semantics), but this was just an indignity. If I hadn't gotten a peek at the fantastic editorial inside I would have never bothered.
That's not to say I have no problem with their content. It seems Teen Vogue's elitism is slowly coming into lockstep with their ivory tower big sister Vogue. The lavish sweet sixteen of some scantily clad Upper East Side rich girl on one page, and lambasting plastic surgery and poor body image on the other, touting hollywood starlets such as Ellen Page, Katy Perry (excuse me, one inane hit single and you're a star?) and America Ferrera as "unique beauties". Is it that they're actually unique, or they're just, shock, brunettes?! Not to mention, some of the only affordable clothes I've seen featured in the past few months are Kira Plastinina and Avril Lavigne's t-shirt line. *gag* What's next, suggesting Louboutins as part of our "must have" back to school wardrobe?
17 comments:
Haha, I love your description of buying this issue! I haven't read Teen Vogue in such a long time, I don't know if it's because I'm not a teen, but I just don't find it that interesting anymore. I used to be in loveeee with that magazine! And yes, I hate the way lifestyle/fashion magazines fill up their magazines with mindless content about celebrities and stupid articles, that seems like it's based on serious issues, but is really full of fluff.
Me too, love your description of buying this issue;D I've just linked you BTW.
Toodles
haha, I was thinking the exact same thing. about all of it, from efron to the upper east side parties. Teen Vogue has really been lacking lately....
Hmm, maybe they just feel intimidated because Seventeen is finally catching on to their schemes and put a little Marc by Marc Jacobs in their last issue.
zac - oh dear.
Ah I havent read teen vogue for a lnog time but I like checknig out their website!
Haha I agree, I saw Zac Efron and I was like, WTF? And I don't really care about some society girl's sweet 16. And when I say don't care, I mean get it away from me. But shhh I can't say that out loud. =P
although i agree with Zac Efron being barf material on the cover...
teen vogue uses designer clothing in their eds as a way to inspire teens. it's a fashion magazine, driven towards a younger audience. if you wanted to see more affordable clothing, something like seventeen is the way to go.
very opinionated post. i thought the parts about zac efron and about kira plasticina were really funny. i was surprised to read that zac liked vampire weekend; they're a really great band, one of my favourites.
very opinionated post. i thought the parts about zac efron and about kira plasticina were really funny. i was surprised to read that zac liked vampire weekend; they're a really great band, one of my favourites.
i'm with you, i'd be a bit embarrassed to buy this in a store, but like all of the conde nast books, teen vogue still has the journalistic integrity, strong content and incredible photography of a good magazine. for cheaper alternatives to the clothes they write about, non-vogue brands are your best bet (try Lucky, Glamour and Seventeen).
Well, thing is as many before me said teen vogue is a fashion magazine. It deals with high fashion. and no matter who will be on the cover it will still stay one of the best fashion magazines that are aimed at teens. check out cosmogirl if you want to see all that tacky (affordable though) Limited too-ish stuff.
To the posters above- Since when does dressing affordably mean you need to dress tacky?
AGREED.
I HATE high school musical
I HATE Vanessa Hudgens
I HATE Zack Efron
I just hope in a few months I won't be saying I hate Teenvogue!
Great post!
Thank you for this! I have a subscription and these last few issues have me questioning whether I should renew it. Seems like they re-cycle articles about food and body image or mean girls and I'm no longer inspired by their clothing.
I started reading Nylon and ILOVEIT! It mixes affordable clothing and fantasy and I never feel like I'm reading the same article twice. Check it out if you haven't already!
I could not agree with you more. After reading the september issue with the story about Talullah who, for the entire article, displayed her obvious lack of talent in anything besides using her mother's bank card, I got up and wrote an irate letter to the editor. Who needs to read this crap?? And last year I saw that article about Quinn Jackson (i s that her name?)'s 16th birthday party. No one knows who she is! and no one cares!
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