Since I could remember I was in love with the paper. But not neceserally books but magazines were the ones I wanted to read. And believe me when I say that I read them all, my grandfathers black and white, folded newspapers and grandmas glossy and shiny magazines. Was to young to understand them most of the time, but I didn’t mind.
In secondary school I got 20 zł of pocket-money, which was the right amount to spend it in the nearest newspapers store. I think the owner there still remembers me as I was the only one in my little country who bought all teenage magazines.
But content of teenage magazines soon wasn’t enough for me, that’s why pretty soon I started buying some serious magazines about fashion. Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, where the kind of titles that I would search for every month. Browsing trough their glossy pages was my time to relax and dive into fashion world.
I never had a problem with choosing my career. Never had doubts on where to go to study. Since that childhood love for papers I knew I wanted to become an editor, a fashion editor. Who would have thought that it actually happen… now I am working for Elle Poland and although I spend 8 hours a day creating a content for you, I still read, but now I search for more engaging magazines. In this article I wanted to tell you more about my favorite titles 🙂
People have said that paper magazines won’t survive in times when we search everything online. However I think they didn’t realize that magazine turn their cons into pros and maintain a valuable role on the market. Instead of chasing after a new, young consumer they turn onto hobbyists, people with passion and turn monthly issues into one on 3 or one on 6 months. Quality over quantity. That approach made most of my favorite titles a magazines which are worth spending every money. Here are my Top 5:
The Gentlewoman
Porter
Unpolished
Styleby
and of course Vogue
Let’s start with The Gentlewoman. Are you a feminists? This magazine is devoted to strong and beautiful woman and the most important thing about it is content. The Gentlewoman is not that much of a magazine which you buy for photoshoots but text. You can find here interviews with Scotland’s prime minister and olympic medalist Simone Biles as well. If you like to read not only about fashion and trends, this paper is perfect for you.
I am a minimalist and every minimalist knows Styleby. The legendary magazine established by former fashion blogger Elin King (Style by King) is a holy grail of scandinavian fashion. However, when I decided to buy it then I realized that getting your hands on it is almost impossible – especially if you live in Poland, but I don’t thing it is much easier in other european countries beside Scandinavia. Luckily I have a sister who lived in Finland and she managed to bring me few copies. And you have to believe me – it’s phenomenal. Minimalistic layout, scandinavian design, beautiful clothes and inspiration on every page. There’s only one disadvantage – I can’t understand it 🙁
Another magazine that I love because of it’s simplicity is Porter. It is a paper version of a popular e-commerce platform net-a-porter.com and as a online shop it shows a luxury goodies. Porter is known for fantastic photoshoots but not over exaggerataed. It shows fashion and trends in approachable way.
Vogue is an obvious one. We all buy it because of the photoshoots. It’s probably the only magazine in the world that has a budgets to do such a incredible scenography of photoshoots not to mention that it works with the most important photographers in the world like Patrick Demarchelier, Jurgen Teller or Steven Meisen. And costs less than 4 euros sometimes!
Last but not least is the Unpolished magazine. It’s a new magazine that have been found by former Elle Poland fashion director – Ina Lekiewicz at the time when she moved to London. It’s in english and believe me when I say that’s one of the best ones I ever read or saw. It’s full of amazing and original photoshoots made by young, innovative photographers as well as some well known ones. It’s definitely worth investing in!
Let me know what you are reading?
Special thanks to the photographer Marta Chudek and the magazine shop Super Salon where I had a chance to shoot for this article.
Until next time,
A.