Mass Media And The Fashion Magazine Media Essay

Fashion magazines are a printed periodical publication of articles which are often illustrated indicating the recent trends in the fashion industry depicting the latest models of clothing, perfumes and shoes indicating their current prices. They also features articles on holiday destination guides and celebrity styles, best buys of fashionable items and gift guides, the best fashion, beauty, shopping, health, runway slideshows, travel and culture trends as the main contents of fashion magazines. (Wales, 2010)

Fashion magazines are normally produced at regular intervals and are one of the major media of mass information regarding the fashion industry. The general model of the magazine exerts a great influence among its readers as it indicates the various interests of different people and social classes hence greatly influencing fashion trends and fashion related purchasing patterns among various individuals and organizations, depicting how greatly fashion magazines influence the public opinion regarding fashion. These magazines enable individuals to examine events in a broad perspective and only to dwell on what is most important which is mostly done through illustrations which show case models, entertainers and public figures clad in the various models of clothes, shoes and cosmetics.

Following a tremendous increase in the volume and complexity in the information produced by modern society, the role of the fashion magazine as a medium of presenting, analyzing and evaluating factual fashion material has increased significantly in the recent years. There were plenty of fashion magazines around the turn of the 19th century. With the French magazines making the most impact in the world of fashion, they acted as trendsetters to other fashion magazine publications. Following changes in technology, leisure, work, cultural and moral values lifestyle trends have been turn influencing the clothes we wear.

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The first fashion magazine to report on the world’s fashion trends was the Le Mercure Galant whose name which refers to the god Mercury; messenger of the gods was founded in 1672 and produced in 1678 by the writer Jean Donneau de Vise. (Ellwood, 1999) This magazine indicates how the French invented fashion and glamour from back in the 17th century up to the early 19th century. The magazine was founded with its main objectives being to inform the well-to-do society about life in the artistic and literally circles featuring developments in courts, theatrical and fashion reviews, songs and news on the latest gossip on marriages and other major social events.

Its publication stopped in 1674, but in 1677 its publication started once again with the magazine’s name being changed to Nouveau Mercure galant which was a monthly issue as opposed to its earlier version the Le Mercure Galant which appeared irregularly. This magazine played a major role in the propagation of news on luxury goods, court life and fashion at the time both locally and overseas.

In the 1724 the title of the Nouveau Mercure gallant was changed to Mercure de France which became the overt trendsetter of French arts and humanities as it played a major role in the “Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns”, a debate on whether the arts and literature of the 17th century had achieved more than the illustrious writers and artists of antiquity. Hence gaining it the title of the most important literary journal in prerevolutionary France. . But during the revolutionary era its title was temporarily changed to le Mercure Francais. In 1811 its publication was stopped with the review being resurrected in 1815 and being published last in 1825. Providing a fashion magazine entails undertaking a very detailed research in order to assess the prevailing mood of a particular season and also so as to identify the trends to be photographed and articles to feature in a particular edition. Photos of galleries and runway shows and of gifts, holiday destinations make up the larger part of fashion magazines. But in order to make those photos to look perfect they have to be edited which is normally carried out by fashion magazine editors. Hence the reason why most fashion editors use such publishing software such as adobe Photoshop to edit the photographs collected from their research.

The process of producing a fashion magazine involves the following several steps. The first step requires an individual to come up with a concept of what to include in that particular fashion magazine. This is the initial stage before starting a fashion page. It involves planning the idea that one plans on putting on a page, which should be something that readers should enjoy seeing and finally buy. This should be done with considerations about the season and hence suggesting an appropriate fashion trend that will be fascinating to readers.

The second step involves gathering of the necessary prerequisite materials to be included in the fashion page .It in includes collecting and assembling articles and photos from the research carried out earlier on; that one would want to include in the fashion magazine. Photos should be of high resolution and need to be edited by cropping and resizing before being saved on file. Articles should be in PDF or word format while photos being in picture extensions like jpeg or bmp.

Creating of pages is the stage that follows. It involves use of publishing software like Adobe Photoshop. Through which a new file is created which now becomes the new field on which the fashion page will be created and designed with the name of a particular page being written in the name slot. The page can be preset by changing the background to a different colour to make it more attractive and presentable. The fourth stage involves placing of the selected images in the page created. This step involves placing the selected photos in the page created.

Editing of images with the designated photo on the fashion page is the fifth stage. It involves changing the effects of the photos uploaded by moving it to the desired place and design by adjusting it to the desired size. This requires great creativity and imagination in order to come up with a superbly attractive fashion page. The sixth step is inserting of text or captions alongside the photos that have been placed on the page and with this the page design is finished. After which the page is saved prior to printing.

Printing the fashion pages is the final stage of preparing a fashion magazine. The already saved fashion pages are printed with an overview of how the pages being printed will look like.

Vogue is the most popular fashion magazine as of now. It was founded in 1892 by Arthur Baldwin Turnure as a bimonthly publication. The magazine focused mainly on fashion trends during that period but it also featured columns on sexuality. In 1973, the magazine underwent some extensive editorial and stylistic transformation as a response to changes in the lifestyle of the target audience. Nowadays, the most profitable and biggest fashion magazine company is still the Vogue magazine. This is due to the fact that it showcases unique models which attracts many customers and is also one of the magazines that most readers vote as the best as it covers a wide range of fashion products.

There exists a deep relationship between mass media and the fashion magazine. With fashion magazines being an important media of mass information they exert a great influence among its readers. For the readers with trendy fashion ideas, they can use fashion magazines to learn about new collections being delivered by fashion designers. This could play to their advantage as such readers will get to read about such collections even before they actually get to the fashion malls.

Fashion magazines are primarily published to give its readers ideas on how to improve their sense of fashion, improve their careers, health and finances. When it comes to the fashion advice sections, they have photos as well as back up articles that help both men and women visualize what their fashion suggestions are

Through the editorial and mail box columns. Fashion magazines can be educational in terms of fashion and lifestyle in that fashion experts give responses on questions posted by readers for clarification. Hence through such replies fashion magazine readers can gain a lot of expertise regarding fashion trends.

From fashion magazines you will also learn about the fashionable items that best suit your body type. Through the different clothing styles displayed in the magazines

Through fashion magazines, readers get to know about colour combinations that actually match their skin colour and body shape. Since clothing is an instrument that we can use to highlight our good features and hence boosting our morale either at places of work or even at social gatherings.

Fashion magazines use attractive online advertisement networks to attract more readers. Using the website, Fashion magazine editors can upload photos that would attract most people who visit the site. The fact that these magazines are colourful is one of the major reasons why most individuals end up reading fashion magazines.

Offering the magazine either as a periodical or monthly issue ensures that readers develop a trend of waiting for the next edition to be released so as to buy it. As these magazines contain a variety of general articles, interviews by designers or fashion freaks, help columns for assistance to the readers on discounted stores where they can get those products. Charging a normal price for a magazine makes it more attractive, as it tires to cater for all classes of people in society. This way a magazine records more sales and is greatly appreciated by most people.

Most fashion magazines consist of five parts on average with some having an extra part for exclusives. These parts are the cover page, cover story, editorial, mailbox, feature and the exclusive section. The cover page of the fashion magazine consists of both the front and back cover pages. These pages are generally the photos of top models or public figures clad in the most recent and fashionable clothes, shoes and cosmetics. The cover story section consists of a short article in the magazine whose subject matter appears in its front cover of the magazine. For the editorial section it is a letter from the senior editors of the fashion magazine to the readers congratulating them for sending in their comments, questions and more so for actually buying the magazine reflecting the opinion of the readers towards the magazine. The mailbox section consists of a subscription form for readers who would want the magazine mailed to their mail box. In the feature section, fashion reality shows which are one of the major parts of the fashion magazine are included. The exclusives section features those new releases in the world of fashion like cosmetics, clothes, iPods and other products.

Providing a fashion magazine entails undertaking a very detailed research in order to assess the prevailing mood of a particular season and also so as to identify the trends to be photographed and articles to feature in a particular edition. Photos of galleries and runway shows and of gifts, holiday destinations make up the larger part of fashion magazines. However, in order to make those photos to look perfect they have to be edited which is normally carried out by fashion magazine editors. Hence the reason why most fashion editors use such publishing software such as adobe Photoshop to edit the photographs collected from their research.