Do you think fashion magazines have as much power as they used to?

[Niftythrifter]

I used to be an avid fashion magazine buyer but now hardly buy them and when I do they get flicked through rather than poured over. They are pretty expensive for what they are and they don’t, as far as I can tell, offer many free gifts these days which would tempt me to buy them ( can anyone remember the days of Clinique freebies and Benefit freebies?).

I pick up Vogue when it’s two quid but have about three editions now that have been barely read. I do use the website a lot though. I am sure there used to be a high street edit and I quite liked that. I miss Instyle magazine which was good for high end and high street. I miss good free gifts!

Every time I hit a £2 vogue I end up thinking 'what is this shit' and wanting my £2 back!

DS partner doing a degree in fashion marketing. I bought her a book 100 years of Vogue. It was really lovely.

Nowadays I use Instagram for inspiration.

I think I outgrew fashion magazines. In my 20's I would buy Cosmo and Vogue, then 30's I liked InStyle. I think they really broke the mold by having more accessible prices, at least when they started, and would have more info on wardrobe building.

I still love a magazine, but now buy a few women's mag (Canadian Living and Woman and Home), plus a few decorating magazines. Yes, they are formulaic, but light reading and keep me current.

@mdinbc I get Woman and Home every month which i really like. Im 50 very soon and feel too old for Red now (which as i mentioned upthread has gone downhill anyway)

Does anyone remember Eve I really liked that too Was discontinued in 2008 It had decent free gifts too. Umbrellas bags and even full size No 7 products

Eve was fab. And She!

I used to buy them every now and again, and I was nearly always enticed by a freebie. They have missed a trick now by removing all freebies. Not all women get Beauty Boxes etc, and many of us would still like to try items. There have been many products that I have continued to buy thanks to a magazine freebie; L'occitane lavender hand cream, Revlon lipsticks and nail polishes just to name a few staples.

I never, ever read them for fashion advice, rather more just general coverage of what was current. Red and Woman and Home are still knocking about, and sadly GalDem has just folded. I have always taken umbrage with the £2,000 trousers and £3,000 crop top on some teenage body though.

Off topic but I remember buying housing magazines when we moved to the country trawling through them putting post it notes on the relevant pages. Wallpaper,

Paints, fabrics, furniture. No mood boards back then

I used to love them, but the last time I went to buy Vogue, it felt lightweight and cheaply made.

I love the home ones but I can get digital editions through an app from my library, so I tend to do that.