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So I managed to get all my three favourite weekly magazines today and from the looks of the front covers, they look promising. More! magazine boasts Beyoncé as its cover star; plus for all the celebrity loving fashionistas out there, there’s “102 Celeb Style Buys Under £20” – that’s a bargain and a half, I don’t even mind that no newsagent in walking distance accepted my 80p more! voucher so that I had to pay full price…
Look magazine has Cheryl Cole on their cover, but in true Look style, the story is about her “nightmare”. I cannot wait to read it…not. Jennifer Aniston is also on the cover, but then she is on the cover of Grazia too so I won’t let Look take all the blame for that. Besides, they make up for it with “386 Sexy Day to Night Looks!” 386! That’s a look for more than every day of the year! I am genuinely excited to see what they’re going to be. There’s also an article on the “Coolest New Coats From £35” and there’s one coat pink £75 coat featured on the cover that I’m dying to see where it is from.
Finally, Grazia has Victoria Beckham on their cover, but the focus is on London Fashion Week rather than her weight for once. They also seem to have the “breaking news” about Jennifer Aniston being pregnant, but I don’t know how “Jennifer Pregnant at 40?” is news when there’s a question mark at the end. Surely it should be “breaking rumour”. There’s also a feature on “100 wow! Heels” which I am quite looking forward to reading as the shoes on the cover do look very wow indeed. Knowing Grazia though, they probably all cost no less than £500 – I see a Louboutin and a Chanel shoe already; and somehow I doubt they will be providing high street alternatives… Finally, Grazia have kindly included a free “26 page Cool Guide” which is basically a culture guide informing us what’s hot in music, film and tv. It’s not so much “free” as actually just part of the magazine, but I’m not complaining about their misleading use of words as this week’s Grazia was only £1 after all.
So that’s what each magazine has promised this week; stay tuned to see whether the content will be as good as we’re led to believe!
 Holly Willoughby on the cover of Look Magazine When I saw the headline for this week’s Look, I groaned inwardly – another secret celebrity heartache story. Aren’t we getting bored of these? Clearly not, as Holly Willoughby is the latest celebrity to grace the front cover of Look magazine. Honestly, the article really is not worth the read and I don’t know how Look have managed to stretch out the story that she is stressed and under pressure from her career and motherhood over three pages. Not only that, they’ve also managed to string together another story about Jennifer Aniston’s love life. I don’t know how much more of this I can take; if we’re going to gossip, let’s at least make it interesting and credible!
One thing I noticed was that when reading the news about New York Fashion Week and the MTV Video Awards, I felt that I was reading about things I had already read about on the internet. The same went with the article about the Sugababes, which was clearly written before Keisha left the band, so by the time the magazine hit our shelves, it was old news. Obviously, this is not Look’s fault, but it made me think about the place magazines have in the media when we can get more up to date information faster over the internet or in daily newspapers. In the case of Fashion Week for example, perhaps it would be more effective to cover the event from a different angle, rather than just report it directly, so as to not bore the reader with repetitiveness.
Continue reading Look magazine – 28th September 2009 Issue
 Cheryl Cole on the cover of more! magazine A magazine with Cheryl Cole as the cover star is bound to make me biased no matter what the content. However, in my excitement at a Cheryl interview, I didn’t notice that more! magazine is now £1.50 until I got to the till; I remember when it was £1! That makes it £6 a month; double the price of many monthly magazines. When you put it like that, is it really worth it? I most likely will still buy it because I hate missing out on things, but £6 a month is going to hurt at one point…
Like all Cheryl interviews, this one is honest and frank and makes me want to be her best friend even more. She’s one of the few celebrities where what you see is what you get, and that’s refreshing in an industry that is so fake. I love how she has her own insecurities. For example she says that she loves having big hair because it helps her feel pretty and secure, even when she looks a mess otherwise; as long as she has her hair extensions she can face the world. That’s why I love her because she’s a normal girl with body issues; and she loves cake, exercise DVDs and Running in Heels. What’s there not to like about her? I’d much rather read about Cheryl than Chris Brown who more! features again, this time with a story about his community service and how he still loves Rihanna, and oh we should feel so sorry for him…not. Come on more!, less column inches to women beaters please.
This issue features another classic more! 10 minute test, although this time we’re assured that this one is the real deal because it has been devised by a leading relationship psychologist. This week, the test asks you “Will you be together in 5 years time?” which is quite a scary question, yet one you sort of know the answer to anyway. It’s one of those tests with generic answers that make you think, “actually, that is so true,” so it does work to a certain extent. Although if you need to do a magazine test to see whether you’re going to be together with your partner in 5 years or not, then you’re either very smug because you know you will anyway, or you’re unsure, in which case I could probably tell you now that the answer would be no…
Continue reading more! magazine – 28th September 2009 Issue
Every week, I will be doing a quick update of what the weekly magazines are saying about celebrities in order to save you having to read it so you can get onto the good stuff like fashion and real life stories.
So this past week, who has been in the magazines and what have they been up to?
(Please note that this is a Jordan aka Katie Price free zone as I do not feel she deserves any airtime whatsoever…)
 These photos of Kate Moss at the GQ Awards got everyone talking last week...
- Apparently Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer are back together. Word on the street (i.e. Look Magazine Street) is that he proposed to her. Watch this space. Although even if you’re not watching, I’m sure enough magazines will be talking about it…
- Renée Zellweger and Bradley Cooper are moving in together. That was quick, but gossip like this is just that. Gossip.
- On the subject of Renée Zellweger, Grazia reports that she is refusing to put on weight for the 3rd Bridget Jones movie. Apparently it will be done by computer. I’m getting images of the fat Monica in Friends…
- Following Kate Moss’ “performance” at the GQ awards, more! magazine, Look and Grazia are all reporting that she is having some sort of breakdown model mid life crisis. In her 30s. I think she just got drunk at a party, but you need to give something to the press!
- Emma Watson has started university at Brown University in Rhode Island in America. The same university Serena is meant to go to in Gossip Girl. Emma said that she chose to study in America because she is unknown there so will have more privacy. That’s why I’m reading about it and seeing pictures of her with her new friends on campus…
- Katy Perry is engaged to her on-off-clearly on again boyfriend Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heroes fame. Her song is true then that her boyfriend doesn’t mind that she kissed a girl and liked it.
- Fearne Cotton and Mr. Hudson are “just friends”. Same as last week, same as next week. Move on.
- Finally, hot off the press, the news of the century from Grazia is that Jennifer Aniston aka Rachel from Friends, is getting a new hair stylist. I’ll just leave you all now to let that exciting news sink in…
 Grazia - 21st September 2009 Issue The front cover of last week’s Grazia promises that it is the biggest issue ever; well, the wrist injury that I sustained while lugging it home already made me aware of this! I thought weekly magazines were supposed to give you quick fire updates on the week’s fashion and real life news, and could be read in one sitting on the tube; monthly magazines are to be savoured slowly, sort of like a novel. Well Grazia seems to have moved on to the monthly camp, not only because of pages and pages of designer ads and promotions, but also because seeing as I have a life outside magazine reading, I had to read it over the course of the week, rather than in one go like Look and more! magazine. So how did Grazia fill their 200 page weekly magazine?
Well, Alexa Chung is clearly the style darling of the moment now, with a 4 page article, complete with 19 photos, dedicated to her and her über-cool style. It’s funny how the tone of the media has changed towards her; I remember when I used to read about how annoying fashion victim she was, but now she’s moved over to America and is having a successful career there, it’s just high praise. How fickle. However, even I must admit that Alexa always looks amazing and I only wish I could carry off the looks that she does; but a 4 page article dedicated to just that?
Like Look, Kate Moss’ “meltdown” at the GQ awards is a hot topic in Grazia. However, I actually laughed when I read that one of the reasons Kate Moss is miserable at the moment is because she was compared in the media to the actress Gillian Taylforth; Grazia seems to be forgetting that they did a feature a few weeks back where they said that Kate and Gillian were spitting images of each other. Not so innocent there now, Grazia! I also find it ironic how Kate is also featured in at least two designer ads in this week’s issue, including the Longchamp campaign. It just goes to show that meltdown or not, she is still one of the most iconic British supermodels.
Continue reading Grazia magazine – 21st September 2009 Issue
 Alesha Dixon on the cover of more! magazine This week’s cover star is the gorgeous Alesha Dixon. Strictly Come Dancing starts today, and with Alesha as a Strictly judge and Cheryl Cole as an X Factor judge, we can forget the ratings battle; it’s the battle of who can get on the covers of the most magazines! I’m not complaining though as I love them both, and Alesha’s interview reiterates why, as she comes across as a strong, talented, inspirational role model for budding young stars.
As well as the Alesha interview, Alan Carr interviews household favourite Vernon Kay. The media have made me so cynical that I see this as another PR opportunity, since Vernon’s wife Tess Daly is the presenter of Strictly Come Dancing and Vernon does plug the show quite a bit. However, PR stunt or not, the interview is a great read; I hope Alan continues to do interviews for more! because he always seems to be good friends with his interviewees and this comes across in this week’s interview which is funny and honest and which makes you wish you could join in on the conversation!
Remember last week more! said that “74% of men prefer blonde women to brunettes and red heads”, well this week, it’s bad news again for non Nordic looking women as apparently (according to “Man Facts”) “70% of men have a preference for blue eyed girls”. After the initial “oh dear, I must invest in blue contact lenses”, I thought about how dubious that statistic is, and once again I did my own research (i.e. hounded my male friends) and discovered that men don’t actually care what colour eyes you have, and even when pushed for a preference, blue was not the majority of responses…
Continue reading More! magazine – 21st September 2009 Issue
 Jennifer Aniston is once again on the front cover of Look magazine... Will magazines ever get tired of Jennifer Aniston’s private life?! I’ve actually lost track of how many times she’s appeared on weekly magazine front covers because of her private life rather than her actual job. Look magazine is one of the main culprits and this week they strike again. Will they ever learn? Or is it valid because people are actually genuinely interested in Jennifer (who by the way gets accused of being a boring celeb, yet we’re still always talking about her…ironic…). Also, Look strikes again with its sensationalist headlines: this week we’re led to believe that John Mayer has asked Jen to marry him…well that’s what you’d think if you read the headline “Jen – Shock Proposal From John!” Well, to save you the trouble of reading the story, no one is getting married…
On celeb gossip, one common story that most magazines this week covered is that of Kate Moss’ antics at the GQ award. It’s literally Look’s magazine dream story, another star gone into “meltdown” and a great big fuss made out of it. The article was a bit exaggerated to say the least; I watched the video of Kate Moss “storming” out of the awards and she wasn’t “screaming about a lost lipstick”. Artistic license there Look? Still, it makes for fun reading; after all I’d have nothing to write about if magazines didn’t do funny things like that!
Nevertheless, there’s a lovely interview with the gorgeous Heidi Klum, who for a supermodel actually seems quite nice and…normal. she talks about her job, her marriage, her kids (she’s expecting her fourth!) but unlike other interviews I don’t want to throw up with envy, I just want to be her friend. Funny how the interview only lasted on page but news on Jen and Kate went on for six pages…Look needs to fix that up a bit I think…
Continue reading Look magazine – 21st September 2009 Issue
When you read as many magazines as I do, you tend to notice a lot of trends; one of the trends that I’ve been particularly aware of this past month when analysing a number of magazines, is our obsession with how celebrities look. We’re obsessed with what they wear, what colour hair they have, how much they weigh, what their bra sizes are…Remember when Cheryl Cole died her hair red? It caused such a buzz and so much excitement that I wouldn’t be surprised if next year we get a new bank holiday for “The Day Cheryl Cole Dyed Her Hair Red”; and, is there a day that goes by when we don’t read about what Victoria Beckham or Kate Moss is wearing?
 Stars without makeup - a magazine editor's dream One of the reasons why I refrain from reading gossip magazines was because of the malicious bitching about how female celebrities looked. If it wasn’t bitching about putting on a bit of weight, it was about losing weight. There was constant unconstructive criticism about the clothes people wore, their hairstyle, their makeup…it was like “forget the amazing movie she made; anyone can make a movie, but how ugly does she look in that dress!” Let’s not forget the red ring of shame which is probably the most mortifying experience anyone could go through. It seems as though if you put yourself in the limelight, you deserve to be ridiculed for having a bad hair day. Is this fair? Well, I don’t know, but I do know that it is not very nice. Some of the things that are written about these women are just pure malicious, and we wonder why they go off the rails, get depressed and wind up in rehab; I would too if everyone kept calling me fat even though I’m not.
You could just say that bitching is in our nature. We bitch about everyone, our friends, our “frenemies”, the ex girlfriends of our boyfriend…every woman is a target. So why should celebrities be exempt from this? However, think about the scale of it – it’s one thing one for two girls to talk ill of you behind your back; it’s another thing to be completely humiliated by thousands of people because your tiny bit of cellulite showed through your skirt.
Continue reading Our Image Obsessed Media
 Grazia 14th September Issue Is it me or is the first section of Grazia looking a bit like Hello magazine more and more lately; in other words, filled with gossip about people I don’t know, or people whose private lives I do not care about. You know it’s a slow news week when there’s “news” about someone’s love life. Also, in the “10 hot stories” section of the magazine, there was a feature about the survivors of Hurricane Katrina and another about the Jaycee Lee Dugard case. My opinion about this sort of format chosen by Grazia changes each week; does it trivialise the issue to place it under the rubric “hot stories” amongst celebrity gossip and fashion news, with no clear pattern? Or does it make it seem more serious, serious enough that the editor feels that it is important that Grazia readers are aware of it? Is it effective to “strategically” place serious current affair topics in between an article about the new Hermés scarf and another about how much Lourdes looks like Madonna in her new video? Comment to let me know your thoughts.
Whilst I’m not a fan of celebrity gossip overload in magazines, I do read real life stories with avid interest. Firstly, this week’s Grazia report was about Lena Simagina from Russia who was abducted at the age of 17 with her friend, Katya Martynova, 14, and forced to live in a cellar under their kidnapper’s home. This report is in effect a response to the story of Jaycee Lee Dugard, but rather than being all about publicity, Lena tells her story genuinely and goes some way to help us understand what Jaycee went through. The report is disturbing, graphic and hard hitting, but it is a compelling read, as you appreciate how brave Lena must be to not only survive, but to then retell her traumatising story.
Continue reading Grazia magazine – 14th September 2009 Issue
 Fergie in More! magazine I managed to get my more! this week without having to buy Heat or Closer with it as previously thought; I used to be an avid Heat reader until I got fed up of all the pointless, and sometimes false, celeb gossip, speculation and bitching. Well, more! this week gave us its fair share of gossip, mostly relationship related, such as who’s dating whom, who’s cheating on their partner, and other riveting information. Really, what is our obsession with celebrities and their apparent rocky relationships? At least Brad and Angelina weren’t mentioned this week – I hope the media realised that we’re bored of that one now…
So, Fergie from Black Eyed Peas is this week’s cover girl; finally a more! interview that isn’t self indulgent, as she talks about her band, her band mates, her relationships and other normal things that help us relate to her. She doesn’t slag anyone off, talk incessantly about her sex life, or show off mercilessly. Take note Jordan…
Whilst Fergie seems a decent celeb to have in a magazine, I can’t say the same for Chris Brown. Why are we still even giving this boy any airtime or column inches? It sends the absolute wrong message to young men who will now think they can beat up their girlfriends, put on a sad face, and get sympathy for it. Who will it be next week? Jack Tweed?
Continue reading More! magazine – 14th September 2009 Issue
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