Ah, March magazine time is here! I can remember when I first discovered Vogue. I could not wait to dive into those pages and get lost in the world inside. I had a ritual. I am not patient, so I had to do a quick flip-through to get a peek at some of the content so that I knew what I was in store for the next hour. Then, I settled into a comfy position on my bed and turned the magazine over and started with the back cover. All of the fashion spreads are at the back of the magazines anyway. And years ago, fashion magazines chose fashion models, not actresses to grace their covers -- imagine that!*Alexa Singer
looks pretty and she's not polluted with captions
I particularly love the grocery sticker on the upper corner... $2.84!
But, perhaps the best part is the back cover -- a cigarette ad!
Choosing to feature Lady Gaga on the cover of the March issue of Vogue is a nice break from an actress. I'm sick to death of the same faces month after month on my favorite fashion magazines. I swear, if they had put Kate Hudson on the cover, I think I may have boycotted American Vogue forever. And by forever, I mean a few months because after all, it's VOGUE and I am loyal to the end. Anyway, I buy the March and September issues without fail, but this time I was especially drawn in by the cover. Gaga's soft and drapey ivory dress, ivory skin and powdery pink, sharply bobbed wig sits so beautifully atop the minty green-grey textured ground -- kind of Tamara de Lempicka meets Marie Antoinette. Sublime.March Vogue's beautiful cover shot by Mario Testino
Okay, so far so good, right? Well, unfortunately for me, that's pretty much where the goodness ended. First of all, the huge caption on the cover, "574 Pages of Showstopping Spring Fashion" is a lie (or a clever ploy to sell a magazine). The entire issue is 574 pages -- the "showstopping fashion" starts on page 469! So, we have to get through 468 pages of advertisements, fragrance inserts, a few articles nobody takes the time to read, more advertisements, a few pages of celebrity pix, more advertisements... Perhaps the worst offender is Tommy Hilfiger who purchases huge real estate in every magazine in the world. This issue contains six full pages of Tommy's preppy country clubbers on a tennis court, by a pool, on the golf course. And he paid for the extra thick, crispy pages so that the magazine keeps automatically popping open to that spot. Annoying! I usually rip them out and throw them away along with the subscription cards that fall out like confetti.
Christy Turlington looking divine in Louis Dell'Olio for Anne Klein - Vogue, March 1986
I managed to flip through the first 468 pages at lightening speed anxious to get to the "showstopping fashion." Let's just say, March Vogue did not blow me away. Have I just become too jaded after years and years of reading countless magazines? Am I expecting too much? I don't know, but I was truly disappointed to see a spread with Amber Valletta dressed like a glam Italian housewife with big hair posing like a statue... if I've seen it once, I've seen it a hundred times. I didn't really notice the clothes, although, the photography and colors were quite pretty. On to the "Punk'd" section. Not bad. It is what it is. Freja Behar in Givenchy... perfection. Next up, Karen Elson in the woods. Again, I feel like I've seen this type of shoot over and over again. Some of the clothes were nice. Lovely photography. The baby goats were cute. The last section, "Rebel Rebel" was, at least, a nice selection of pieces photographed simply to showcase the garments.
Left: Freja Behar in Givenchy as featured in March 2011 Vogue
Right: Gorgeous Christy Turlington on the pages of March Vogue, 1986
Finally, that brings us to page 513 which marks the end of the showstopping fashion. Gaga's article starts on page 514, followed by Burberry's, Christopher Bailey and a few more articles. Oh, then there is a tiny section at the end featuring some printed spring dresses. I almost didn't notice it. I suppose if I would have started at the back of the book, like I used to, I would have been much better off!!
*5.19.10 -- correction the cover model is Alexa Singer, not Isabella Rossellini as I previously thought. Thank you Marc for bringing it to my attention!
