First Issue Review: Glamour
Being a bit of a glossy ‘zine queen, I was squeaking with excitement when the review copy of the long awaited Glamour landed on my desk. Edited by Jo Elvin, who did wonders for New Woman (its edge has definitely been blunted since her departure, although rising ABC figures don’t reflect this), published by the original home of fash mags, Condé Nast, and to top it all, a mould breaking, handbag fitting, readable-even-in-the-commuter-crush small format (see Condé Nast Prepares To Deliver Glamour To the UK, But Will We Buy It?).
Perhaps I should have taken note of the old “don’t judge a book by its cover” routine, although in this case a rather bland cover shot of the ubiquitous Kate Winslet and lurid coverlines which could easily have escaped from Cosmo were a fairly good indication of what goes on inside.
Unlike fellow US import, InStyle, the other new face on the women’s monthly scene (see First Issue Review: InStyle), Glamour does not bring much fresh air into the overcrowded sector. Yes, it has the top selling-point of the moment, celebs (Kate Winslet, Joseph Fiennes, Posh Spice and various Hollywood lifestyle tit-bits), enough fashion and beauty to bring in the big make-up, perfume and designer advertisers and a reasonable dose of humour, but really it’s just an accomplished cut and paste of the best of the titles already out there- Elle, Cosmopolitan, New Woman, Marie Claire.
Another thing- I realise that there is a need to establish the brand name, but mentioning the word “glamour” with monotonous regularity is not a glamourous thing. Neither are the tacky sex features (How to Have Sex Like In the Movies, His 121 Secret Sex Thoughts), which seem to contradict item 11 on the “1st Ever Glamour List” (p.84), which says “You’re a Glamour Woman if…You don’t need a magazine to tell you how to have an orgasm, thanks.”
Condé Nast don’t often launch new titles over here, and have committed a lot of time and money to this venture, suggesting they know what they’re doing, and despite the disappointment, I’ll probably read it (My name is Anna Wise, and I am a magazineoholic) along with many others. Its just a shame that they didn’t have the guts to do something a bit different, as IPC has with Nova (which admittedly only achieved a first ABC audit of 75,000). I still think that the dinky-enough-for-a-handbag format is an inspired decision, but then, as all Cosmo girls know, size isn’t everything…
Reviewer: Anna Wise