Celebs vs. Models on Magazine Covers

[Whitelinen]

Well, I can certainly not relate to many celebrities.

Since we didn't have celebs covers before but we do now, the money argument does not make sense. Why wasn't it all about the money before? Of course it was, so what has changed, really? Is it just simply that they're out of tricks of how to raise the profits? There's an example of a Swedish music magazine, rather revered a few years ago, which slipped into soft p*rn and is now all about the T&A and hardly even mentions music. I guess that's the way we're headed here, except in this context it will be the celeb that is selling themselves best at the moment, with no regard for their persona or photogenic properties. The least common denominator determines the covers in order to attract the most people with little concern about the purpose and image of the magazine.

The cover is no longer an an avatar of the magazine itself, it is thought of as a tool to attract the tools out there. Only, of course, it really is an avatar of the content and it is an immediate measurement of the extent to which the editors are selling out.

Well, the celebrity culture has changed, and is taking more control...but you are asking a good question; why is it so? Why did we suddenly become so celebrity obsessed?

 

[eternitygoddess]

^Since the media has been shoving it down our throats.

Models nowadays don't have any personality.

 

[Whitelinen]

I associate models with a strong personality with celebrities - ie the Supers were models with personality, but also part of the same celebrity crap.

But why did media start "shoving celebrity culture down our throats"? There must have been a market for that, where did that come from?

 

[Erin]

Models nowadays don't have any personality.

Exactly, and that's why I stated celebrities are more relatable... since the end of the supermodel era, celebs have taken over in a way, it seems.

 

[marsmars]

It depends on the magazine, the celebrity, the model, what are they trying to channel your attention towards?

Let's not forget: A lot of celebrities used to be models. (and quite a few models are celebrities).

 

[***Bianca***]

It depends on the magazine, the celebrity, the model, what are they trying to channel your attention towards?

agreed! i don't like to see celebrities on magazines like w or vogue but i don't mind seeing them on glamour, elle, etc.

 

[Owen Bruce]

Didn't the US Vogue September 2005 cover with the models on it sell the most magazines of the year?

 

[Erin]

^ Wow. I'd be interested to know.

 

[kissmesweet]

Lovely.

 

[OriginalSin]

Didn't the US Vogue September 2004 cover with the models on it sell the most magazines of the year?

I think it did but let's not forget 1) it was the Sept issue. That usually sells better than most other issues anyway (except maybe March) 2) Liya Kebede's cover, May 2005, was actually one of the lowest selling issues in recent years I believe, which is (at least I think) far more telling than the sales of a September issue.

I'd be interested to know how well Linda E's issue did. On the one hand she is a model, on the other, she is one of the supers, and basically has celeb status as a result. So did her cover sell more like Liya's? more like a celeb's? or somewhere in between?

 

[ysljunkie]

I get it if the celeb is fashion foward the should be on the cover but just putting any jane dow actress on the cover has got to stop. some mainstream mag should start the model movement again so that all others will follow.

 

[Erin]

^ I couldn't agree more. Magazine covers have become such a promotional tool for actresses. Look at Jessica Simpson... she shouldn't be on anything. And though I love Sandy, Sandra Bullock isn't exactly worthy of a Vogue cover. And though she has her spectacular fashion moments, Lindsay Lohan has had beyond her share of covers.

 

[_hannah]

Oh god did you see paris hilton on paris november vogue omg. What the hell ?§§?

 

[FashionJunkie]

I have no problem whatsoever. Models are more fashion material, besides that's their job, but celebs sell more, because people know them, they recognise their face, how many people do you think know Trentini, or Stam, or Daria, or Ward?
I'm not sick of celebs on the cover because Vogue Hellas has always models, Vogue Paris most of the time and UK sometimes, only US has celebs all the time.

(Of course some celebs DO bother me )

 

[m.j.]

if vogue or cosmo have 12 issues per year, there should be 10 covers with models and 2 specials with movie stars to promote some big movie

 

[_hannah]

I have no problem whatsoever. Models are more fashion material, besides that's their job, but celebs sell more, because people know them, they recognise their face, how many people do you think know Trentini, or Stam, or Daria, or Ward?
I'm not sick of celebs on the cover because Vogue Hellas has always models, Vogue Paris most of the time and UK sometimes, only US has celebs all the time.

(Of course some celebs DO bother me )

It doesn't bother me too. but i think that Paris Vogue has a high reputation and ( sorrry for hilton fans ) but i don't think she's appropriated for this kind of magazines...

 

[shoexgal]

Bring back the models!

 

[imagensfashions]

I agree entirely. I hate celebrities in the layer of the fashionable magazines. Is for that magazines of celebrities exist. A specific case as a oscar winner, or some actress that launch some tendency, but of the contrary, I am entirely against.

sorry for the cut and paste but i just wrote this on my site lol

---

August 07, 2007

Blah Beurk Blah American Vogue

Blah Beurk Blah American Vogue
I'm sure you've heard by now that Sienna Miller is gonna be on the cover of September American Vogue. Isn't it ironic how Vanity Fair, a celebrity magazine, used Gisele Bundchen, a fashion model, on the cover whereas American Vogue, a fashion magazine, used a British actress named Sienna?
I was gonna write this huge handwritten open letter to Anna Wintour and American Vogue -- in fact, I already wrote the first two paragraphs and then I realized it's utterly pointless. Who am I to write an open letter to the Queen Bee herself? Besides, even if I share it online, my desperate pleas (to use more models on the cover) will only fall to deaf ears. Complete waste of time, if you ask me.

Don't you just miss the good ol' days when models graced the covers of Vogue? From my own personal collection of American Vogue: Liya Kebede (May 2005), Gisele Bundchen (May 2000), Angela Lindvall (February 2000), Gisele Bundchen & Carmen Kass (January 2000). Gone were the days when I'd scribble all sorts of stuff on its covers and literally rip pages off to post on my bedroom wall.
Vogue, if you ask me, used to be my favourite magazine. There used to be a time many, many, many years ago when I religiously looked forward to getting my own copy of Vogue. Opening it is like entering a magical world where the model on the cover is your personal guide and the fashions inside it are pure fantasy. I can't even count the number of times I had petty fights with fashion obsessed fiends whether or not our favourite model du jour is going to be on the cover. These days, the people who appear on it are predictable -- Nicole, Reese, Renee, Jennifer or the current year's fave Oscar bet (perhaps best actress winner)... or, if you do your research correctly, it's pretty much any Hollywood A-list actress promoting something "big" that month.
The last Vogue I personally purchased is dated May 2005 with Liya Kebede on the cover -- and the only reason why I bought it is because Liya, a model, was on it. And the Chanel, I love the Chanel. Other than that, the most recent copy that I have in my possession is December 2006 (Nicole Kidman) -- the only reason why I have it here is because my sister left it last month.
Why buy Vogue when you can read the articles (I love Sally Singer) online? Personally, I buy magazines to be inspired. I know we can all go online to see all the editorials (for free) but to me, it's one thing to experience a few hours worth of visual fashion fantasy by flipping one glossy page over the other.
But what happens when the people who have the power to inspire AND influence you (with something/someone new) churns out with things that you've already seen elsewhere?
Thank god for Vogue Italia, Vogue Paris and V.

 

[gr77]

I don't care if it's a model or a celebrity on the cover as long as it's someone I find beautiful/interesting.
Most models nowdays however are quite weird (even ugly) looking and leave me completely cold.
So I would rather have Sienna or Keira or Natalie ,etc on the cover than say Lara Stone or Sasha (who I'm sick of seeing in eds anyway).

Of course there are some celebrities that I'll never understand how they got to be on covers (e.g. Sandra Bullock)

 

[Erin]

I don't care if it's a model or a celebrity on the cover as long as it's someone I find beautiful/interesting.
Most models nowdays however are quite weird (even ugly) looking and leave me completely cold.

I agree, really.