Got my copy in the post yesterday, and I echo other statements on here: the issue is only ok.
I'm still in shock we got Gaga by Meisel, as a fan of both of them it's a dream come true and I never thought I'd see the day; I'm so happy it's for my home edition of Vogue too. The shoot is just glorious - really, really beautiful pictures. I have to say though that some pages are spoiled a little by the layout. I wasn't impressed to see that gorgeous nude shot overlayed with another image on top and clunky typography - it was crying out to be a text-free spread and, if it had to be the opener, a more minimal art-direction would have been much better. The second nude shot deserved its own spread too, but I guess they just couldn't afford an extra couple of pages. Although I will say, the issue does seem jammed with ads. Lots of perfume samples of course, but what I like about British Vogue is it always feels substantial when you pick up a copy - I can't say I'm too fussed that it's a result of fluff content and adverts: I just like the feel of a full magazine.
It's A Trip is the other highlight of the issue - it's so stunning in print and feels like exactly what we need in a December issue; it has that vibrant, festive feeling without being a cliché Holiday theme. No doubt it's the one we'll see reprinted in every other edition over the next few weeks. The rest is a pass for me. I think the jeans shoot in any other month would be fine, but it just feels like such a let down for December, especially after Edward's Editor's Letter where he goes on about how special the last issue of the year is to him. It's not bad, but it's not anything special. Maybe they felt they needed more balance in the issue, but if there's one time when you can go all-out fashion fantasy for every story, surely it's December?
I don't remember anything else from it off the top of my head, which isn't a good sign. Got to say, it was disappointing to see that every shot from the Gaga story had already been released. It seemed they were posting much more from the main ed on Instagram than usual, so I just assumed it was going to be an extra long story with a couple of shots we hadn't seen yet. Not to say that what they printed isn't enough, because it is, it's just a shame the social media strategy is to put the entire issue out there before it even hits the floors of subscriber's hallways.
