Vogue UK November 2008 : Jourdan, Eden & Rosie by Emma Summerton

[Annu]

Originally Posted by Skywire

Postcards From The Edge

REally beautiful

I actually find cover better when it was little bit lopsided
And I like banner too.

[Whitelinen]

Originally Posted by tigerrouge

It's not rich kids - it's the much older circle of fashion friends who get called upon to be the content of the articles, and anyone outside thar circle that they choose to feature doesn't get the same all-mates-together treatment - remember the superior tone of the article with Victoria Beckham, as if they could afford to forget she's had more success and exposure than many of the young women who appear in its pages.

There ARE plenty of perfectly interesting articles about fashion and business by people writing about the industries they work in. They're great, educational, entertaining. But when Vogue attempts some sort of lifestyle article, suddenly it's 'read about my mates':

In the article about women converting to Islam, Jemima Khan interviews... a former MTV presenter who she's known since the late 80's; a child actor who's now a multiple-degree Cambridge/Oxford graduate; and a magazine editor with a model mother who set up an agency that represented Naomi Campbell and Catherine Bailey.

Well, yes, that article tells me all about the difficulties faced by most women considering converting to a religion that's both familiar and foreign to them (rather than a lifestyle choice that's slightly harder than all the others open to them).

If the aim is to write articles for 'like-minded people of the same social circle', then Vogue should create a blog and set it to 'friends-only', don't publish them in a magazine that they want lots of people to buy.

In a world where UK Bazaar and Elle have revamped themselves successfully, UK Vogue seems more of an anachronism with every month that passes.

Wait, wait, are you talking of Vogue in general or just Vogue UK here? Because in my opinion all Vogues do this - every single one I have had the chance to read, at least. I am not saying what you say is not true, it is, but in my opinion not only in Shulman's Vogue.

Personally, I do like the coverage of British Vogue... I don't take it seriously at all, and thus it is good. Society gossip, that's all. That and beautiful clothes and the occassional article on some fashion legend... I don't really look for more. For a bit more intelligent reading I tend to read newspapers and books. Not fashion magazines.

[*k.a.t.e*]

I quite like the cover, it's made a whole lot more likeable by Rosie being there....but then again, I am rather biased, I love whatever she does!

[tigerrouge]

There are plenty of smaller fashion/style magazines that manage to produce written 'lifestyle' content that provokes further thought, so UK Vogue should be capable of better. I expect intelligent content from intelligent people, and don't see such content as incompatible with a fashion editorial on the following page. I don't believe fashion is a stupid thing, peopled with silly, giddy staff members, so I do expect more from a magazine that sells itself as the cream of its kind.

Given its resources, given its competitors, given its proclaimed position in the market, it seems a lazy magazine at the moment.

[coolasfcuk1010]

I like the cover and I think Jourdan looks great. Karlie's ed is great too.

[chanelnumber5]

Originally Posted by nyc_art_style

is daisy lowe featured in this? because if so i would like to see it.

Shes not featured in it, suprisingly, I expected her to be as she is very "teen of the moment"

[DiamondSea]

Who are the three tv presenters featured?

[vogue28]

I'm actually looking forward to getting this today even though the banner is horrible.

[Miss Dalloway]

Originally Posted by tigerrouge

Given its resources, given its competitors, given its proclaimed position in the market, it seems a lazy magazine at the moment.

I completly agree with this sentance!

[tigerrouge]

Got chance to go through my subscrip copy, here's what I see in the contents...

It's nice to see Balmain on the cover, a pity we don't see more of it because that damn banner is in the way. If you look at the cover shot in the credits section, it looks much better without the banner. This issue is 340 pgs in total.

Overview of SOME (not all) of the articles:

• 2 pg 'the diary of a dress' follows Burberry Prorsum's feathered dress - look 49 - as it makes it way around the magazines, celebrities and the company's own advertising shoot.
• 1 pg look at designer Erdem Moralioglu
• 1 pg look at rock star looks on the catwalk
• 1 pg focus on the newest coffee table fashion books
• 2 pg look at modern artists' adaptations of traditional tapestry
• 1 pg interview with Wellington biographer (and family member) Jane Wellesley
• 3 pg look at Richard Yates's novel Revolutionary Road, now a film
• 1 pg travel fact file on Hungary (the knitwear edit was shot at Lake Balaton)
• 2 pg look at how to be a good wife, amid the launch of all those marriage manuals
• 3 pg Islam article with Jemima Khan
• 1 pg look at the return of the pashmina
• 2 pg look at what's special about black handbags
• 3 pg look at who's got designs on dressing the US President
• 2 pg article about compliments
• 3 pg look at how TV presenters get dressed (Lauren Laverne, Fiona Bruce and Sarah-Jane Crawford)

Then into the editorials -

ALL NIGHT LONG looks like Angela Lindvall couldn't make it, so they filled in with Karlie Kloss instead. Everything's good except there‘s something I don’t like, and I think it’s the expressions on her face. Nice sense of texture in most of the images. I'll like this edit much more as time goes on, my reaction to her face is unkind.

POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE is something different, it's nice enough, it's atmospheric, it's slow-burn to appreciate it, so I could see why it would bore people.

Then there's an 8 pg article, ON BEAUTY, where Alex Shulman looks at who has it, and what makes a woman beautiful, and how perception changes - "The first time I saw Kate Moss in person, I did not think she was beautiful." Lots of small shots of models and celebs, both past and present. Also, a full page shot of Jourdan at the start of the article, smaller shots of Rose H-W and Eden over the next pages,

NEW ENGLAND is the celebrity teenage fashion editorial, with Georgia May Jagger and so on. It's got an impish, spoilt energy, teenagers being irritating, as they should be.

ME-TAIL THERAPY is a 4 pg look at how companies collect information on your shopping habits and then use that in targeted selling strategies through text alerts etc.

PAINT IT BLACK is that make-up edit with Karmen Pedaru, her second UK Vogue edit in a row, and rather short.

CHEF SPECIAL is a 5 pg interview with multi-tasking celebrity chef Mark Hix.

THE SCENTS OF NOSTALGIA is a 4 pg look at the bond between perfume and memories of the past.

The beauty section is the usual collection of product shots, a lecture on standing up straight, and a beauty editor being told her hair is "old". Last page of the issue is a look at new artist Phoebe Unwin’s personal style.

I wouldn't rush out to buy this issue - certainly not with only two main edits - but as a subscription issue, it was nice to see UK Vogue try something different with the cover, even if it hasn't entirely worked. I wish the cover shot had been expanded into an editorial.

[tigerrouge]

Oh, and the stuff the red banner refers to - accessories special - is mostly static product shots of clutch bags and watches, nothing to get over-excited about.

[Miss Dalloway]

˘^^Thanks for the review.

[honeyisle]

I think Jourdan was styled horribly and shoved to the left under all that font, so how could she look good? I'm not surprised though that Vogue Uk wouldn't put a black model on the cover by herself, unless she was Naomi Campbell (and that took forever). Jourdan should have been on this ALONE.

[JordanB]

Jourdan definitly should have had a solo cover..

[vogue28]

imo I definatly would not of liked Jourdan to have a solo cover
I got this issue yesturday, and I like it.
The eds are great, and I love Karlie Kloss's ed
I just hate that stupid banner on the cover, it's nice to see Balmain on the cover actually