Sassy Magazine: A tribute

[Fox in the Snow]

I still have my Kurt and Courtney issue, among others

Remember the skirt, made out of ties?

 

[travolta]

you still saved them? i wish i had! ah, well...and no, i don't remember the skirt...

 

[travolta]

bump

20 MEN YOU CAN'T BEAT WITH A STICK
[font=arial, verdana, helvetica]Here are some men we cannot help but admire for one reason or another. We do not claim any of them are perfect. Who is? But the cool qualities greatly outweigh the lame. by Christina [/font]

[font=arial, verdana, helvetica]Ian MacKaye[/font] The ex-Minor Threat vocalist cofounded the Washington, DC indie record label Dischord, and he's a member of the band Fugazi. Fugazi have integrity oozing out of their ears: They've never signed to a major record label, they charge only five dollars a ticket for shows ("That's all I would want to pay," Ian told me.) and won't play venues that don't admit underage kids. "We figure that music should be open to everyone," he said.

[font=arial, verdana, helvetica]River Phoenix[/font] We all know about River's work for animal rights. We all know about his meatless diet. We all know about his fine movie performances. We all know he and his sister Rain have a little rock band. But I do not think enough importance is placed on River's cuteness. He is looking better and better as the years pass.

[font=arial, verdana, helvetica]Holden Caulfield[/font] The perfect boy is of course fictional. Holden Caulfield, the teenage protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye, is so endearingly eloquent that we must quote him: "Finally, old Sally started coming up the stairs, and I started coming down to meet her. The funny part is, I felt like marrying her the minute I saw her. I'm crazy. I don't even like her much, and yet all of a sudden I felt like I was in love with her and wanted to marry her. I swear to God I'm crazy. I admit it."

[font=arial, verdana, helvetica]Lou Reed[/font] If I could have any one rock star as a friend, I'd pick Lou. Back in 1965 he started the Velvet Underground - only the coolest, most seminal band in the world. His lyrics are harsh and real, and he is about the only '60s rock star who has not sold out.

[font=arial, verdana, helvetica]Arch-bishop Desmond Tutu[/font] The 59-year-old South African religious leader has already been honored by winning the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent opposition to apartheid. We would like to say that he is also cool because he does not stick religion in your face when he is doing his political things. In 1985, shortly after he became South Africa's first black Anglican bishop, he demanded that the South African government begin to dismantle apartheid. Instead, they declared a state of emergency. That's when Tutu realized the chances for peaceful change were not too good, so he called for economic sanctions against SA (i.e., he asked countries not to do business with them. When Reagan, then our president, announced only limited sanctions, Tutu called him "a racist, pure and simple."

[font=arial, verdana, helvetica]Peter Garrett[/font] What Midnight Oil's lead singer lacks in hair he makes up for in political consciousness. Garrett co-writes the Australian band's catchy songs, which deal with social issues like the rights of the aborigines, pollution and the exploitation of Australian coal miners. Peter is also president of the Australian Conservation Foundation, the largest environmental group in the country,a nd even came close to winning a senate election in 1984. In the spring of 1990 Midnight Oil did a very gutsy thing: They played "River Runs Red" in front of Exxon's Manhattan headquarters to protest the company's irresponsibility in the 1989 Valdez oil spill. "You can't treat the Earth like a garbage dump!" Petey yelled.

[font=arial, verdana, helvetica]Mark Lewman[/font] Known professionally as Lew, Mr. Lewman, 23, is the editor of Go, a magazine for boys who like to play with bikes. Several years ago he and two friends started a skate T-shirt company called Club Homeboy. Lew made his way into our little lives by inundating Sassy with bizarre little packages filled with Xeroxes of the Dr. Seuss-inspired tattoos on his biceps, biographies of such bands as the Bay City Rollers and a Charlie's Angels pendant set intact from the '70s. His writing is kind of like all those thigs, if you know what I mean. We liked Lew enough to let him edit a Sassy-affiliated magazine for teenage boys called Dirt, which is debuting in September.

[font=arial, verdana, helvetica]John Waters[/font] In high school the Cry Baby director became obsessed with cheap horror and exploitation movies and soon began making his own Super 8 films with money his parents lent him. Hairspray, Waters's first mainstream movie, was about a fat girl who makes good. Waters lovingly puts outcasts of society on a pedestal (he thinks fat people suffer from a lot of discrimination in America). Not only that, his friends tell us he's a very down-to-earth guy who never went Hollywood.

[font=arial, verdana, helvetica]KRS-One[/font] The rapper's real name is Kris Parker, and he ran away from his home in the South Bronx when he was 13. Living the next seven years on the streets and subways an din homeless shelters, Kris spent lots of time in libraries, "rounding out his education," as he told Mike Flaherty in this magazine a year ago. He began to write rhymes, and a counselor at his shelter who was a DJ by night helped him become a rapper. A lot of his raps are aboout the importance of education. KRS-One also founded the Stop the Violence movement, which speaks against black-on-black violence, and he says he is pro-human rather than just pro-black.

[font=arial, verdana, helvetica]Leonardo da Vinci[/font] Mona Lisa and Last Supper are just the tip of the iceberg as far as this guy is concerned. Leonardo was an all-around dude - what some refer to as a Renaissance man - and he was exceptional in that he fully used both the left (or logical) and the right (or creative) sides of his brain. For example, he sketched plans for what we know today as the helicopter, and that was way back around 1500. However, it's hard to say whether Leonardo was a babe, because in all the pictures of him, he is old.

[font=arial, verdana, helvetica]John Lennon[/font] Lennon was the first teen idol to use that fame to spread his political beliefs. A tireless crusader for peace, he was also fond of doing interviews in bed.

[font=arial, verdana, helvetica]John Cusack[/font] What a rarity: a young male actor who has never embarrassed himself (or us) by appearing in a bad movie. Also, he directs plays in Chicago and reads The Nation.

[font=arial, verdana, helvetica]Paul Beatty[/font] Known as the hip-hop poet, Paul, who is somewhere in his twenties, writes contemporary verse drenced with (non-gratutious) references to TV game shows, advertisements and other junk culture. His stuff says a lot about what it's like to be black in America. Maybe Paul should set his poems to music and become a rapper, because he'd reach a lot more people and make a lot more money.

[font=arial, verdana, helvetica]Stephen Hawking[/font] Considered the most brilliant theoretical physicist since Albert Einstein, Hawking has made major discoveries about the physical nature of black holes - where space is bent and time as we know it ends. His research has advanced the possibility of a theory explaining how our universe began and how it works. And Hawking has done all of this while confined to a motorized wheelchair with Lou Gehrig's disease, and incurable condition that disables hs muscles and greatly hampers his ability to speak and write, but does not affect his brain.

[font=arial, verdana, helvetica]Mahatma Gandhi[/font] He worked for Indian independence by teaching passive resistance against British colonial rule. The British put Gandhi in jail several times, but they usually let him out when he threatened to starve himself to death. He also led the fight to get rid of India's caste system, which legally separated people into rigid classes. After India was given independence in 1947 and violence broke out between Hindus and Muslims, Gandhi fasted and visited the areas in conflict to end the fighting. He was shot to death by a Hindu fanatic in 1948.

[font=arial, verdana, helvetica]Paul Newman[/font] Besides the fact that he is still otallytay orgeousgay at 66, Paul is a great actor who has been nominated for an Oscar six times. He also makes that delicious spaghetti sauce, lemonade and popcorn, and donates all the profits to charity. Paul has been married to Joanne Woodward for 33 years, and we al know how rare lifelong marriages are in the entertainment business. I love him because you can just tell he is a nice person, and if anyone ever writes an expose saying otherwise, I will be very upset.

[font=arial, verdana, helvetica]Bob Marley[/font] Bob was the one who made reggae internationally popular. His music is filled with social commentary, and he always talked about peace and love. Also, he gave us Ziggy.

[font=arial, verdana, helvetica]Keith Haring[/font] Originally a New York City graffiti artist, Keith Haring became quite rich and famous with simple cave drawing-inspired images like his Radiant Baby a crawling infant with lines emanating from him. However, he never turned into a jerk because of his success. He continued to do free art, like murals and subway graffiti, even after his work was commanding high prices. Keith taught art to kids for free, let street kids hang out at his studio, painted a huge mural in Harlem that says "Crack is Wack" and raised a lot of money for AIDS research and education. Haring died of AIDS in February 1990, and in his will he left money to the Boys Club of New York and Children's Village, an orphanage in Dobbs Ferry, NY. [font=arial, verdana, helvetica]Martin Luther King, Jr.[/font] In case you've been hiding under a rokc: This Baptist minister adopted Gandhi's principles of nonviolent resistance to fight black oppression in America. He helped lead the year-long bus boycott in Montgomery, AL that ended segregated public transportation in 1956. He was involved in many struggles for black equality in the South, prompting John F. Kennedy to bring civil rights legislation to Congress, which was passed in 1964 after MLK led the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. [font=arial, verdana, helvetica]Jimmy Carter[/font] Poor Jimbo got a lot of flack while he was president for being ineffectual and wimpy. Maybe he was just too honest and nice. Since leaving office, he's done as much for world peace as almost every other president combined. Just for example: He started the Carter Center in Atlanta, which is entirely devoted to monitoring humn rights and resolving wars and conflicts around the world. "Our role," said Carter, "is to find common ground without prejudging who is right or wrong." Like when he went to Panama to mediate the elections and caught some of Manuel Noriega's henchmen stuffing ballot boxes with Noriea's name. He jumped on a platform and yelled in Spanish, "Are you honest people or thieves?" When he's not being a world peacemaker, he and his wife Roslyn build houses for the poor with Habitat for Humanity.

 

[PetitLapinVegan]

Sassy: The Whole Thing

Sassy
The Whole Thing​

1992 was a funny year.

The 90210 fragrance just came out, I was playing with Trolls and watching Blossom on Monday nights, and every cool kid kept their makeup in a Caboodles

And Sassy magazine was there, covering it all.

We know you already saw the Sassy spread of Chloe Sevigny today, but after a few emails - and a few chapters of the new book, How Sassy Changed My Life, we knew:

We had to post the magazine - in its entirety.

We also scanned a couple ads, just so you don't forget what Nikki Taylor looked like as the face of Cover Girl, or that Rebecca Gayheart, before being Mrs. McSteamy, was the Noxzema girl.

Check out Blossom herself on the cover - and the accompanying story: "Mayim Bialik is not a Dog!"

You won't see that headline in Teen Vogue...
click here: http://fashionista.com/2007/07/post_329.php

--ALLIE MERRIAM
source: fashionista

 

[BerlinRocks]

i never heard about this magazine....
is it equivalent to 20ans for french?

 

[shirleebee]

best magazine ever

if I could, I'd major in Sassy & make a career out of rebuilding their little DYI empire

 

[happytrail]

anyone have or read this book:

amazon


here's an article about the book
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/girl_talk.html


how come smart, independent magazines like sassy died while horrible, anti-feminist magazines like maxim and cosmopolitan keep on living!?

 

[yalil]

IF Sassy were around today they will probably be poking fun at how inane and materialistic Teen Vogue is, how hipster-poseur Nylon is, how stupid Lohan and co. are. Because really, we all know this . They were the only magazine who actually encouraged girls to think and do something instead of just mooning over boyfriends and makeup. They were awfully mean especially to Kate Moss but even so I remember the readers still voting for Kate as one of their favorites ha ha. There is always a lively debate in the letters section. They interview harmless celebs like Tiffani amber thiessen and they made fun of her because of her beauty pageant answers. What magazine would do that to Paris Hilton now. They dont make magazines as fearless as this anymore. All teen vogue and Nylon are thinking about is advertising dollars. Teenagers of today should see this shameless promotion and stop supporting these magazines who talk to them like they are stupid. Unless they are stupid.

 

[peppi]

I love all the headlines

"The sassiest boy in communist China"

"Can anyone on 90210 act"

"Be a bearable vegeterian"

"Does it suck to be you?"

 

[Scott]

omg...i had no idea we had this thread! this was my bible when i was teen. what i loved was it's appeal to guys and girls alike at a time when teen mags were mostly directed toward girls and was so superficial. i actually had a subscription going till they went defunct. i was very sad when i stopped receiving them.

 

[gatocosmico]

this mag was edited by Anna Wintour right?
i do not remember where i read that but she was editro of thid mag in the 80s.
anyone can help us with that data?

 

[Deleted member 116957]

No, it was edited by Jane Pratt (who would go on to create the now defunct magazine Jane after Sassy ceased).

Maybe you're thinking of Anna editing Home and Garden in the 1980s, in addition to the UK and US Vogues.

 

[gatocosmico]

U r right!

it wasn't this mag, it was savvy magazine (kinda similar name) sorry by the mistake and thanks to correct me girl,. you really know about mags.

 

[rox_yr_sox]

Hmm, I don't know what to think about this...

Tavi Gevinson announced on her blog yesterday that she is launching a magazine with legendary editor Jane Pratt, founder of Sassy and Jane. As Jane Pratt is my own personal Jesus and Sassy is the reason I became interested in fashion as a 5th grader, this news fascinates/excites me. Gevinson promises that it “won’t be Sassy (or the rebirth of Sassy, or Sassy 2.0).” I’m imagining a ‘zine-like publication that barely relies on advertising, given the fact that advertising was always Pratt’s biggest problem. (As is the case with any publication that voices a real, honest opinion.)

At the same time, the whole thing makes me a little uncomfortable, given that Tavi wasn’t even alive when Sassy was still good. But I guess I wasn’t alive when the Beatles were together, and I still liked them as a 15-year-old.

Hopefully they’ll at least bring back Cute Band Alert.
Submissions, ideas, etc. can be sent to [email protected].

fashionista

it's happening.
You guys may know how I feel about Sassy. You also may know that I've been babbling about how I think our generation should get one, too. Jane Pratt, founding editor and then EIC of Sassy, also became aware, and emailed me, and we've met a couple times, and it looks like we're going to start a magazine for an audience of wallflowerly teenage girls.

(I am trying so hard to be cool and professional right now.)
(Trying. so. hard.)

Of course, it won't be Sassy (or the rebirth of Sassy, or Sassy 2.0) and nor do we want it to be. For one, you can't try to recreate something that good. For another, while I can read old issues of Sassy and relate, the world has changed a bit in the past 15 or so years, and that whole Internet thing happened, and this world calls for something different. Something that will use Sassy as a point of reference for the whole teen-magazine-that-doesn't-suck thing, and something in which Jane Pratt will take part, but something that is not trying to recreate the other something a bunch of us love and don't want to see copied. And, because I didn't use the word "something" enough in this paragraph, let's all enjoy this Beatles Something video in which John and Yoko walk around in a field dressed like Larry David in a cape:


On the note of that whole Internet thing, a great advantage to creating a magazine today is the access to talent and voice. This is supposed to have a "for the people, by the people" kinda vibe. We want to find the best possible group of people for this project, and a wide range of ages, styles, etc.

If you want to be a part, email us. [email protected], because we haven't decided on a title yet. (Hey, if you have an idea for a title, that would be great, too!) (Oh and please don't use my blog email.)

Something that would also be great: A sample -- whether you would put the specific sample in the magazine or not -- of your writing of all and any kinds, photos, artwork, whatever you're good at and think would be at home in a feminist, creative, moody-teenage-girl magazine. Be sure to include the sample of your work,your age and location, and some kind of something about yourself. Talk a lot about yourself, please. I can promise no questions about being a team player and why you got fired from your office job. The deadline is Friday, November 19th -- we wanna get moving!

I know these are vague details, and I'm sorry I can't offer up a better picture of what we're aiming for as a final product, but we want to have all the contributors on board from the beginning so the yet-to-be-made decisions are group-made. A few things people have been asking about, though: It is not a full-time job, you can be a guy, and you don't have to live in the U.S. I'm also sorry I can't say as of now when you'll hear back but it all depends on the number of submissions. I have a really good feeling about this.

Exciting, right?

thestylerookie

 

[YoninahAliza]

I just read that yesterday on Tavi's blog- I can't wait to see what happens! Hopefully it ends up being a good project and doesn't just flunk. Also curious to see how it works out since Tavi is still in high school- how will she balance school work with magazine work?

 

[Deleted member 116957]

I don't understand how Tavi loves Sassy. I'm like 11 years older than her and I personally don't remember Sassy at all. How can she be so nostalgic about this magazine? It confuses me.

 

[tigerrouge]

I like the idea that someone can be inspired by Sassy to create their own publication, but hopefully as one point of reference amongst many others in their editorial vision.

I understand the concept of citing the magazine this heavily because it's a hook for people to comprehend what effect they're looking for, but I would hope that everyone involved has some novel ideas for what they're going to do.

Any new magazine needs about six issues to settle down, to get the true measure of it, so that's some hard work ahead.

 

[*Bianca*]

This thread is definitely a blast from the past. I remember as a kid borrowing issues of Sassy from my local library, and tearing out all the pages I wanted to keep I got in trouble quite a few times despite mastering the delicate art of tearing.

 

[tigerrouge]

If I'd known the magazine was going to turn into some future teenage touchstone of MTV-Daria-related nostalgia, I would have kept the few issues I bought for resale.

In terms of library theft, I found that if you ran a ballpoint pen around the area you wanted to remove, the section would come out with minimal effort and no sound effects. But ensuring you had a seat in the library where no-one could see what you were doing... that was a whole other problem.

 

[YoninahAliza]

So I'm writing a paper for my women's history class about how teen magazines helped shape the way teenage girls viewed the world and how they shaped the person they became. One of the magazines which I am focusing on is Sassy magazine. Because we all know that Sassy had a huge impact on the girls of the late 80's and early 90's! I'm having a bit of a difficult time finding good sources or places to look at some back issues of the magazine. Any suggestions? Thanks