Media Studies Portfolio : Fashion and Beauty Magazines

Fashion and beauty magazines link both topics together, usually seasonally. The fashion part of a magazine ties every woman together by addressing their concerns or priorities and appealing to them by offering ways to embrace those concerns about themselves. Fashion magazines make women see the power they're given through certain clothes and accessories and guide them on how to gracefully and effectively display their confidence. Beauty is related to fashion in the sense that it is also seasonal and it adds to the look.

Usually magazines separate their issues seasonally because beauty and fashion trends adjust with the season (weather, colors, etc). For a lot of magazines, beauty is certainly not limited to appearances. Certain magazines promote self-care as beauty; taking care of your body being able to embrace your natural self. There is also a very common view within magazines, that a woman’s attitude is her beauty; the way she expresses her thoughts and is able to be independent (all ties in with the self-care aspect of beauty). A very important point made by the fashion and beauty magazine industry is that they are not absolute, but instead they are personal to one’s self. When it comes to actually producing and putting together the glossy pages that form the magazine, it takes an excellent team of hard working people just to get the cover. That team includes the photographer, the editors, the actual production team (light, etc), the makeup artist, the stylist, the models, and in each of those categories, there are many people. Each seasonal issue or each trend includes different details that have to be considered during production, one of the most important ones is color. Color is essential to not only match the trend, but to attract the audience, especially when a magazine relies on visuals. Summer trends are shown in an array of bright colors, including in the clothes, make up, the entire spread. For the winter, an assortment of cool tones and heavy fabrics are utilized in all those aspects as well. During fall, warm tones and cozy clothes are used to show off the season. Pastel colors, flowers, and flowy, light fabrics are the main components of a spring magazine issue. Most magazines include an interactive part. Certain “one way” questions that are made for the audience to find their style through the magazine (“What is YOUR style?” is an example of those questions). Finding the right platform is an important step for magazines to begin their marketing process.

Some beauty and fashion magazines target women especially, and very few have a targeted age group of young adult women and women in their 50s. Once their audience is identified, the certain trends have to be broken down. Some magazines use models that are “trending” ,or are in their prime time, in the cover. Attention seeking headlines are also a common way to attract people. Claims of certain beauty creams or how a certain celebrity is dressed is shoved in the cover for everyone to see it and instantly be drawn to it. A lot of magazines have expanded their platform to online users. This not only includes websites, but also instagram accounts, snapchat accounts, twitter, etc. All those social media sites maintain the magazines’ aesthetic in their account to continue to attract the same group of people. The online versions however, mainly attract the younger audience, since they follow celebrities, who promote products, who promote magazines, who include that celebrity and product. It’s a chain. For the teenage/young adult audiences, the models that advertise the magazines on social media are usually those known to that age group as well. Fashion and beauty influencers are also a voice in the industry even if they don’t work for the magazines directly, they guide the audience to them, usually through social media.

Vogue magazine is a notable example of a beauty and fashion magazine. Vogue focuses on fashion, beauty, and runway, but also includes lifestyle. This magazine includes weekly subscriptions, but they have seasonal issues. Within their magazines, Vogue includes information about designers, celebrity styles, and the latest trends that will appear on the runways. Like every magazine, Vogue utilizes the techniques that distinguish each season. Celebrities like Kendall Jenner, Cara Delevingne, and Ariana Grande have appeared on distinct vogue covers, which draws attention from their younger audience, since the celebrities’ fan base follow that. Vogue has also expanded their beauty content a lot through youtube. They have a series called “Beauty Secrets” in which impressionable celebrities share their most asked for beauty routines. From Priyanka Chopra’s homemade beauty treatments, to Kylie Jenner’s full glam routine, this series allows the audience to feel more connected since the videos share a personal view into these routines. By creating this series, Vogue has earned more viewers, which then spreads onto their different videos showing behind the scenes, runway looks, etc. In their “73 Questions” series, there have been fashion designers and icons like Donatella Versace and Blake Lively that share their tips, experiences, and favorite trends in the fashion world. Teen Vogue is another way Vogue has appealed the younger audience.

Another great example of a beauty and fashion magazine (personally one of my favorites) is “Glamour”. Glamour magazine includes the basic aspects of a beauty and fashion magazine, like tips, trends, ads, perfume samples. But Glamour also calls out certain issues in the industry that make beauty and fashion seem limited. For example, they have called out body shamers and Victoria’s Secret for being very limited in the bodies seen for their brand. Glamour includes a wellness section which many times relates to beauty and fashion, as it calls out the unhealthy, both physically and mentally, aspects behind them and crushes those fashion stereotypes and makes beauty and fashion comfortable for everyone.