Spot On

I haven't had the time or the wherewithal to articulate why I find Vogue to be so lackluster of late. No matter: Cathy Horyn's "What's Wrong With Vogue" in the 12/31/08 NYT did it for me.* I'm stunned by the sharp clarity of her insights:

There are too many stories about socialites — or, at any rate, too few such stories that sufficiently demonstrate why we should care about these creatures. What once felt like a jolly skip through Bergdorf now feels like an intravenous feed. To read Vogue in recent years is to wonder about the peculiar fascination for the “villa in Tuscany” story. Ditto staff-member accounts of spa treatments and haircuts.

and

[Y]ou don’t feel that the magazine has considered how changes like social networks and Web-based subcultures have influenced women’s ideas about themselves. This lack of awareness is reflected in Vogue’s pages.

Intravenous feed, indeed! I would paper the walls of my apartment with an American Vogue edited by Carine Roitfeld. Derek keenly suggested that I needn't imagine-- go French Vogue today. Sadly, my own ongoing financial/fashion recession says no, no, no. I'm off to investigate the cost of The Last Magazine, but I remain less than optimistic.

*Thanks to Kenneth for recommending the article to me and to Bradford who sent me the link thereby succeeding in actaully getting me to the piece.