Mag Mad - Paris Vogue

Over the summer, I was set the task of reviewing some fashion magazines. From the list I was given, some looked more familiar than others. I thought I'd post them on here to get your views as well on any of the magazines I mention over the next three posts to see if you're a dedicated reader and agree or disagree with me, hope you enjoy!

Paris Vogue
Issue - September 13
Price (I paid) - £7.85
Editor - Emmanuelle Alt

Vogue’s iconic masthead is recognisable on newsstands around the world. The Vogue brand is so global; it’s available in over 27 countries, so you’d expect to see some similarities within each countries edition. Of course the first thing you notice that is similar is the masthead. The Vogue font is always consistent, however can change colour depending on who’s fronting the cover that month and what the colour scheme is. I’m glad the paper type and size is the same for the continuity again also.

British vogue varies between the use of serif and sans serif fonts on their cover and throughout, however on Paris Vogue, the cover is only serif fonts. This may be because they wanted to keep the consistency with the masthead font, which is of course serif also, which I quite like however it is nice to see a variety. This difference may be due to giving it a slightly different identity to other Vogues, to make it easy to establish as Paris Vogue.

Stylistically, it seems that they use a two/three grid system, which again is similar of British Vogue that I’m used to but I feel they’re quite afraid to fill the page still. When generally skimming the magazine, I did not come across one full page of a news feature, even the one stated on the cover that the issue was based around. Also, before reaching any sort of contents, there are about 100-150 pages of adverts; about double compared to British Vogue, which I find hard work. I don’t mind adverts but at least give some sort of content to break it up such as the contents nearer the beginning. This particular issue is based around ‘Grunge’ and seeing as September is the January of fashion I was expecting a lot of clothes, and a lot of editorial showcasing this. However I did not get this. The editorials start 380 pages in which I personally think is ridiculous. When you get to the editorials, they seem disjointed, like a couple of images have accidentally been printed in the wrong place. They have a black and white theme running throughout with the use of two models and then you turn the page and suddenly have a colourful beauty shot which looks totally unrelated to the editorial. There is a Miss Vogue editorial they have slightly earlier on from page 264, with the themes’ The Breakaway Beautiful’ and ‘Attitude’ which looks a lot more put together, but still quite ‘samey’ also.

They dedicate a huge chunk of the magazine to beauty, which I like as you get a lot in other Vogues, but the layout of it is confusing and may seem like a lot but when you strip it back, there really isn’t all that much

The overall feel of the magazine seems quite amateur-ish, with a lot of ads throughout, which may not just be to fund it but to fill space where content is lacking. Some editorial is nice but you have to fish your way through the whole magazine to get to it.