Isn’t it funny how things that were once pretty important in your life can very quickly fall by the wayside?
I don’t have any vices really. I don’t smoke, very rarely drink. But my guilty pleasure? Magazines. From British and international fashion magazines to homes magazines and even the occasional gossip mag. I could easily spend £30 upwards a month. Easy.
Then New Year 2010 I decided to go cold turkey on the gossip mags. I felt that maybe I was becoming a little too obsessed by who that celeb was dating or what this celeb got up to last Saturday. And that was it. Haven’t bought or read one since. High fives for me. But throughout 2010 I also found myself buying fewer and fewer fashion and home magazines. In fact I haven’t read a Vogue in about 5 months.
No Vogue? But I love fashion. Weird, eh? Thing is, I think the world of blogs has replaced my need for a magazine. Sure, sometimes there’s a story or interview I want to read (hence the Nylon – I heart Sofia Coppola) but why buy a magazine, half of which doesn’t interest or appeal to me, when I can check in with my favourite blogs and see or read something that really speaks to who I am and what I’m up to?
This is a hot topic for me right now. After all, I work in the print industry. I write for a magazine every month. But things change, right? We’re on a pretty tight budget right now, where £30 extra a month makes a real difference, and weddings or little businesses or future plans have maybe replaced a passion for what’s heading down the catwalk this season.
Then again, this lady does have a point...
I have the same addiction, I'm a complete magazine freak :) The funny thing is that over here magazines are usually around $5 an issue but then the year subscription is only $15-20. So I got a few of them. No it's buying French magazines in the US that's killing my wallet :)
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely weekend xxx
Oh Nell, I had this very same addiction. But I am cured too! In the gossip magazines, I found I was reading everything a week later than I read it on the internet. As for the fashion magazines, I realised that I don't particularly like the fashions of the past few years (gah! Fashion bloggers will shoot me!) and I didn't really like torturing myself by looking at outfits that cost more than I earn in a month. So I quit them too.
ReplyDeleteEvery now and then, I'm tempted to buy another but usually am disappointed. The future of magazines is a bit of a worry though, I feel for people such as yourself who work in the industry. Maybe though, things will just change to an internet subscription or pay per view-type deal?
Anyway, all I know is my bank balance appreciates it!
Have a great weekend :)
I couldn't agree with you more!
ReplyDeleteI have definitely replaced my mag addiction with a blog addiction, but not the fashion blogs so much. I see plenty of cute outfits in lifestyle blogs to fill that need.
The only downer is that I love the feel of flipping through pages. I will just have to satiate that need by sticking to books rather than e-readers. ;) Oh, and newspapers! I'll stick to those, too!
Have a wonderful weekend!!
xox
you are so sweet!! i don't even think I made a point when I just mentioned that there is something so awesome about holding a magazine in your hands.... something that beats blogging. For me, the biggest arguement for magazine over interent is the "closed-ness" of the magazine. Let me try to make sence of that word i just made up: i like, that when reading a magazine, i can't click on everything i see, so my path is contained to the magazine instead of zigzagging all over the place. I so often realise I have no idea how to get back to an idea/image i was originally inspired by and persuing cause i just got too lost following one link to another...
ReplyDeletedoes this make sence?
love and happy weekend from canada!
xoxox
nik
ps. but saving money on magazines is something I totally respect and need to get better at!!!! xoxo
ReplyDeletei am the same, goodbye gossip mags! but I have also discovered online mags, which are better for the wallet but still give me my fix! x
ReplyDeleteIn the past 12 months I have seen my focus change from fashion and gossip mags to home and decorating mags.
ReplyDeleteBut then still I dont buy them. Each year for Christmas I get a subscription from each of my brothers (they have no iea what to buy me) and better 2 x magazines in the post each month works for me.
Totally agree with the gossip mags thing... You hear about something on TV or the internet and then its in the mag... And they all have the same stuff in them anyway!
I know what you mean! I stopped buying magazines a long time ago when I wanted to really save for travelling. I have been buying wedding mags to inspire but really there has been loads online that I haven't really had to buy bucket loads. I am pleased to say my magazine buying days are over too!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you - I think blogs have replaced my need for magazines. Oh, and it doesn't hurt that one of my favourite magazines folded. Right now I have a subscription to my favourite aussie mag, Frankie, and it's the only magazine I read religiously and will probably continue to do so for a long, long time.
ReplyDeleteNik - that totally makes sense and I completely agree. Plus I'm liking the word invention.
ReplyDeleteSal - I bought wedding mags when we first got engaged and then discovered Style Me Pretty, which led me to a whole host of fab wedding blogs, and so I stopped. Plus they're so blasted expensive, right?
And Gaby - I'm with you on Frankie. Awesome Jaclyn sent me a copy and I'm hooked. Managed to find a copy in a random newsagent a few weeks ago, but I wish it was easier to get hold of in the UK. That is one magazine that most definitely "speaks" to me. And makes me want to go shopping..!! xx
I adore blogs. I want to have an influential blog. Can't get enough and I know it's blasphemy but I wish I could get them in paper form. There is something so delicious about being able to feel the paper. Copy and paste are just not the same!
ReplyDeletewhere do you work?? what do you do??
ReplyDeletenow I'm so interested, nell!
I have a magazine addiction too. Not the gossip mags, but the home magazines. But, like you I am not finding the time to read them b/c of my blog addiction. BSD got me a smartphone for xmas and now I'm on their when I am waiting for something instead of reading the magazines. Yikes!
ReplyDeleteI used to have a magazine subscription, but blogging took the place of it. I'm not complaining--it is much cheaper! ;)
ReplyDeleteI used to be a magazine junkie too...now I just get my fix standing in line at the grocery store!
ReplyDeleteYah, I think blogging def takes the place of it - I just don't buy magazines anymore (mostly because they doubled in price when I moved to switzerland, they are just too expensive here)
ReplyDeleteit's amazing what you can do without when you're trying to save. our library has magazines so I get a fix there - well not gossip ones ;) but the hairdresser is good for those ones!
ReplyDeleteYup, you can keep mags forever. Touch and turn pages. I'll bring back a couple of Aussie mags for when i go home. xx
ReplyDeletei never thought of it quite like this. but yes. i thought it was having kids that ended my love affair with fashion mags, but then again that is when i started reading blogs. maybe it is the blogs.
ReplyDeleteps. that blog you shared is quite lovely. so thanks.