If you haven’t visited the day 1 post yet and entered the contest, don’t miss out! Don’t forget day 2 too!
The holiday season is one of my favorite times of year — for obvious reasons. Each year though I find myself continuously stumped about what gifts to get for some of my friends and family. From now til that magical morning, Effortless Anthropologie will be featuring gift ideas to help inspire. And because this is the season of giving you’ll have a chance to win a few gifts for yourself too.
DAY 3: PRETTY PICTURES IN A MAGAZINE
I have a love-hate relationship with fashion magazines. Usually I end up canceling my subscriptions in disgust — Glamour after they Photoshopped America Ferrera to a ridiculous degree (and then tried to deny it because clearly they regard their subscriber base as a bunch of idjits); Marie Claire after the recent gauche weight editorial on their website that I am so not linking to because they deserve fuck all in traffic (and because clearly they regard their subscriber base as a bunch of idjits); the rest after they run a “you’re OK just the way you are! rawrrrr grrrl power” article right next to the “lose 20 lbs fatty!” article. Idjits. And I find most of their celeb profiles to be a snorefest. But! I do love the fashion editorials and usually just skip the articles to stare at the pretty photos.
So which magazines are worth the annual subscription rate? I’ve offered up my favorite two factual fashion mags below, plus some other subject rags that would make great gifts. If you or your giftee has an iPad some of these are available through Zinio. Just as a warning, all of the magazine links except Anthology include auto renewal clauses. This means that when the year subscription is up your card is automatically charged and your subscription is renewed unless you cancel. I don’t know how it’s legal. You’ve been warned. There are options to do gift subscriptions (which don’t autorenew) or subscriptions without auto-renew. They are more expensive without it.
Anthology is a new magazine. You might wonder why anyone would want to launch a magazine in this nasty print climate. But with the death of Domino and a few other fine living magazines there’s a hole to fill for people of discerning taste. The magazine has a lovably quirky style sure to appeal to any Anthropologie lover. The articles center around home and decorating but they also meander into travel, entertaining, and the sphere of living.
For a former copy editor/page designer like me the use of white space is drool-worthy. The design is light and fresh; the articles are solid and fun to read. There was no doubt I needed to subscribe to this magazine immediately. The only bummer? The magazine is only quarterly.
Gift it to your website designer friend; your friend who loves to entertain or the one who critically discusses the difference between Eames, Legato and Barcelona chairs.
Subscribe to Anthology Magazine — they deliver to the US, UK and Canada! ($38).
The Economist is quite simply a must-read. Written from a (mostly) centrist point of view, it’s one of the few magazines that is critical of the United States. I mean that as a compliment. The in-depth reporting this magazine provides is sadly lacking from my old standby Time and I find the analysis to have a better worldview than its other competitors. Lately the magazine has had a bit of identity crisis and I don’t like the sensationalist bent some of the covers have taken on. Luckily the guts are mostly intact.
If you know someone that enjoys being educated on the world’s political affairs this magazine is a great choice. And really if you love to read this is a terrific periodical choice. There’s no fashion in here but I love the mag anyway. It’s expensive — but worth it. Don’t get the US edition. Splurge for the world version of the magazine.
Susbcribe to the The Economist (1-year auto-renewal) on Amazon
Lucky. It’s the magazine about shopping! How could I not love it? This magazine probably has articles…I wouldn’t know; if it does I’ve never read them. But I do read and adore their city shopping guides. Their fashion editorials sometimes have questionable taste. I find enough gems that I’m willing to overlook it. You have to look at the photos with a critical eye. I also find that the items I like most are the few expensive designer items they’ve thrown in. (Of course.) The founding editor was recently ousted which was pretty sad. Next spring the magazine will debut a new style designed by Jack Spade. I’m excited for it!
My favorite part about Lucky is without a doubt the page of sticky tabs they include each month. Lately I’ve noticed fewer tabs per page. LAME LUCKY. The January issue only had like 9 of them. I know they’re a bit cheesy but I use them. In other magazines. It’s one of the reasons why I subscribe! Don’t kill them off, new Lucky editor!
Subscribe to Lucky (1-year auto-renewal) on Amazon
People StyleWatch is by far my favorite magazine right now. The magazine looks like a tabloid — it’s anything but. They don’t even bother with the false pretense of caring about celebrities. They just skip straight to “Hey, Zoe Saldana wore a pretty dress! Here it is, and here’s 5 less expensive options!” Awesome. Even better, they skip the body snarking and cut right to the meat of the matter with an awesome feature called “this works/this doesn’t”. They’re never mean in their critiques. They show a celebrity in a look that works followed by one that didn’t and explain in concise terms the mistakes or savvy moves the star made. It’s great advice for any body shape and I eagerly flip through it each month.
The magazine is filled with discount codes and eye candy. I dog-ear about 15 pages per issue on average. Some pages are items I want to buy; some are looks I like and some are styles I want to employ myself. This magazine is like the fashionista’s how-to guide. It’s the straight-talking friend you meet for coffee every so often. It’s my guilty pleasure.
Subscribe to People StyleWatch (1-year auto-renewal) on Amazon
Guilty pleasure? Well if you win it you don’t have to feel guilty!
One lucky community member will win a 1-year gift subscription to People StyleWatch!
Here’s how to enter:
Just leave a comment on this post or via email to the EA contest inbox to enter. You must follow Effortless Anthropologie to enter. To become a follower click the “FOLLOW” button in the Kindred Spirits section of the sidebar.
The not-so fine print: You are entering to win a one (1) year subscription to People StyleWatch magazine. This contest is not sponsored by, endorsed by or affiliated with People, Amazon.com, Anthropologie or Urban Outfitters. This contest is void where prohibited. This prize is not transferable. This prize may not be exchanged for cash. Once contacted, the winner has 72 hours to claim the prize. International entrants welcome!
The contest will close on Sunday, December 12, 2010, at 5 PM ET. The winner will be announced on Monday, December 13, 2010. Good luck to all!
