Magazine History: A Brief Look at the Publications We Love

I don’t know if there was ever a time in my life when I didn’t love flipping through a good magazine. In the past, publications like BOP and Tiger Beat were my favorites; obsessing over photos of Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Leonardo Dicaprio took up a lot of my time. While I still very much enjoy a great snapshot of these former teen heartthrob every now and then, I’ve set my sights on the kind of reading material that correlates best with my current age group. When I was in my twenties, I replaced Tiger Beat with the glossy pages of fashion magazines and the poster-sized images of JTT, with trend-setting merchandise designs. It’s so amazing to me that these magazines have inspired such a large audience to follow their advice month after month that I’ve decided to take a closer look at their editorial history.

fashion
Believe it or not, Vogue magazine first debuted in 1892. After changing ownership, the American publication went international in the 1920s, developing great success in countries like Spain, Great Britain, France, and Italy. Vogue has featured prominent pop culture icons in modeling such as Twiggy and Lauren Hutton. Today’s editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour, is an emblem of the fashion industry, she even has a fictional movie based on her lifestyle and her work on “The Devil Wears Prada”. If you’ve done the math correctly, this year marks Vogue’s 120th anniversary.

Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan or as it is more commonly known “Cosmo”, was founded in 1886 in the United States. It began as a family-oriented magazine until around 1889, when it underwent a new management that transformed it into something more akin to a literary magazine offering book reviews and pieces of fiction by famous authors such as Edith Wharton, Rudyard Kipling, and Ambrose. Bierce. Who knows? It wasn’t until 1967 that then-appointed editor-in-chief Helen Gurley shifted the magazine’s focus away from literature and toward a new target audience of women. Gurley intended to focus on sexual issues, a still relatively taboo area of ​​American culture. It was very controversial then, however today it is one of the main magazines in the country in fashion, health, beauty and relationships.

She
Although not as old as Vogue or Cosmopolitan, Elle was founded in France in 1945. It wasn’t until the 1980s that the magazine made its transatlantic journey to the United States. It was only a matter of time before Elle became one of the largest and most widely circulated magazine companies of all time with 42 international editions. Their readership is estimated at 4.8 million and their websites average 26 million page views per month.

Fashion
With a circulation of 1.7 million, you might be surprised to learn that InStyle has only been around since 1991. Although relatively young, the magazine has made some pretty impressive and bold moves to stand out from its competitors. Instyle has been one of the first to have musical artists and actors on their covers instead of models. They also offer a celebrity home section in their magazines, in addition to other areas including fashion, beauty, health, entertainment, home, and charities.