Vintage Magazine Discussion Thread

[RosieNikolaeva]

Hey guys, I contacted a moderator about this thread (a long time ago) but I got no response, so I think it's okay to start it. I thought it would be nice to have a place where we can talk about vintage fashion since we sometimes ruin picture threads with our text posts! So, yeah... Let's share our opinions, our thoughts and maybe scanning tips on here...

Let the first topic be: Vintage Vogue Italia Archive! Did we all make a few accounts in order to view more magazines? I wonder what the HD quality looks like... Unfortunately I don't have 1,000 bucks to get the subscription.

 

[Mai Iwano]

I looked at the Vogue UK archive subscription. The price is insane. There is also no real data on how good the HD prints are.

It's a shame you can't have a trial subscription.

 

[RosieNikolaeva]

I subscribed for VOGUE UK and they even called me on the phone to ask me for the reason I wanted to have that subscription. Unfortunately the woman who called me had a very strange pronunciation (I don't think she was British) and I couldn't understand her so she emailed me with the price and I was like okay, I'm not really sure if I can afford to pay 3900 GBP (it just starts at 3900!) for this right now...

I sometimes think I want to see all the VOGUE issues at once but then I remember that the 70s,80s and 90s are over and there wouldn't be unlimited pictures from these decades, so it's okay to find these issues one by one. This way I keep it more interesting I guess.

 

[Mai Iwano]

I think the high cost is reflecting the idea that most people who are paying for that subscription are other magazine companies or people in the industry who need access.

 

[RosieNikolaeva]

What about regular fashion lovers? I can't buy all the vintage issues of Vogue so there's no other way for me to see all of them. I think that vintage Vogue UK is super rare, especially in my country. So far I've found issues of vintage German, Italian and French magazines but no UK, US or Australian ones. It's sad...

 

[Mai Iwano]

Here is my collection, Rosie. I mostly collect GQ & Arena Magazine (both for men). However, my women's collection is getting greater as time passes.

 

[RosieNikolaeva]

Wow! Wish I had all these issues! Have you scanned all of them?

I'm gonna take pictures of my small collection tomorrow when the light is better. Compared to you guys mine is awfully tiny.

 

[obsession1990]

I think this thread is necessary. Maybe because I'm so interested in 80s and 90s... I only check the vintage threads. I live in Argentina and for us all magazines that not come from Latin America are super-rare. Specially Australian, British, Russian and Deutsch issues. I used to buy on ebay but now I can't afford those prices specially shipping costs. This thread let us upload our mazagine collections' photos, make scans wishlists in a dynamic way, give advices/tips (how to care, how to clean, how to scan our magazines, etc)

 

[obsession1990]

SCANNING tip:

I get the best quality using a total dark black paper above the sheet I'm going to scan, that prevents awful translucency. In case I got to scan a complete magazine that I don't want to disarm I put the black sheet between the pages.

How to make perfect tear-sheets without taring up the pages:

I use a Hair-Dryer to separate the pages. First you need to blow the intersections of the pages, The heat will melt the glue. So you can pull carefully blowing at the same time and you'll get a perfect smooth tear-sheet

 

[Mai Iwano]

Wow! Wish I had all these issues! Have you scanned all of them?

I'm gonna take pictures of my small collection tomorrow when the light is better. Compared to you guys mine is awfully tiny.

No, they are all in England. I need to get them shipped over to me and then buy a really good flat bed scanner. I don't know if I should use the hair dryer technique and separate all the pages. They would lose all value if I wanted to sell them years from now.

 

[Miss Dalloway]

Not sure if this is the right thread, but i will ask anyway. Anyone know if there are any other online sites, apart from eBay, that sell vintage or just back issues of magazines?

There is PaperPursuits, but my god those prices are insane, and the shipping is just as crazy!!

 

[Mai Iwano]

Not sure if this is the right thread, but i will ask anyway. Anyone know if there are any other online sites, apart from eBay, that sell vintage or just back issues of magazines?

There is PaperPursuits, but my god those prices are insane, and the shipping is just as crazy!!

There are other places but from my (limited) experience, the prices are no better than eBay. It's a real problem buying magazines in bulk on-line because you have to factor in the cost of shipping.

In the last year, I've turned down buying bulk orders many times because although the magazines were very reasonably priced, the shipping was insane and then there would be customs duties on top of that. Even when sellers offer combined shipping quotes, it's still pricey.

 

[RosieNikolaeva]

obsession1990, thanks for the tips! Do you always tear the pages?

Mai Iwano, yep, that's why I never separate the pages, I like to have the whole thing even tough I'm not sure if I'll ever sell any of my magazines.

Miss Dalloway, have you tried crazyaboutmagazines? They've got many magazines on that website.

 

[Miss Dalloway]

^ Thank you for suggestion, it is a nightmare buying several issues because the shipping cost is insane. I actually think i might pay the insane price on PaperPursuits because they are the only ones who have the 2 issues i need. Did you ever buy from them? Are the issues in good condition? They don't have images of the spine.etc like on eBay!

 

[Mai Iwano]

^ Thank you for suggestion, it is a nightmare buying several issues because the shipping cost is insane. I actually think i might pay the insane price on PaperPursuits because they are the only ones who have the 2 issues i need. Did you ever buy from them? Are the issues in good condition? They don't have images of the spine.etc like on eBay!

If they are asking a lot of money - get them to send you photographs of the magazine condition. If they are a good professional business, they should be able to manage that.

 

[mikel]

Not sure if this is the right thread, but i will ask anyway. Anyone know if there are any other online sites, apart from eBay, that sell vintage or just back issues of magazines?

There is PaperPursuits, but my god those prices are insane, and the shipping is just as crazy!!

Have you tried http://elegantlypapered.com/? I haven't bought anything there but it looks pretty good.

 

[mikel]

Have you tried http://elegantlypapered.com/? I haven't bought anything there but it looks pretty good.

Oh, something went wrong. It's without the question mark.

 

[cottonmouth13]

Let the first topic be: Vintage Vogue Italia Archive! Did we all make a few accounts in order to view more magazines? I wonder what the HD quality looks like... Unfortunately I don't have 1,000 bucks to get the subscription.

To answer this, yes, I did. 15 accounts all created by me. But after that I have asked some of my high school and college friends and colleagues here at work to please sign up just for me. At first they were like "Okay...???". But I managed to explain to them that THIS IS THE ONLY WAY where I can view all of the vintage issues that I've been dying to see. So as of the moment, I have 35 accounts all in all that I manage for this friggin' Vogue Italia Archive. And it ain't easy. Everytime I would choose an issue to save in my portfolio, I'll always have a hard time if I should choose this or that. Would there be a Meisel editorial in this one or none.

 

[Mai Iwano]

I think it is really nice to collect old fashion magazines. I find it to be a very satisfying hobby. It leads to a sort of reconstruction - an imaginative reconstruction of some vanished splendour that you can rediscover, a yearning for some nameless, forgotten loveliness the world has lost.

 

[RosieNikolaeva]

cottonmouth13, I found a few awesome Meisel eds in the '85 issues, check them out!