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The Death and Rebirth of the Urbanista Glossy

By on October 21, 2009 in Archive, Lifestyle

As a teenager and into my early twenties, reading magazines served as a blueprint for me. It helped me decide the clothes I wanted to wear, the new music I should listen to, and the relationship drama that I never wanted to get into. Now, months shy of my 25th birthday, the state of the glossies has changed. I remember purchasing the issue of Honey Mag with D’Angelo on the cover and thinking how unique and grungy it look. Years later, I purchased the August 2003 issue with Nia Long on the cover and noted in my planner to check out MAC Ruby Woo lipstick, the color Nia wore on the cover. I was beyond elated when I was offered a position to blog for them in 2007!

same day payday loan

Speaking of 2007, while trying to beat the morning transportation rush at my Columbia University subway stop, I purchased one of many copies of Vibe Vixen (the Summer Beauty issue, right up my alley!). It was the first time that I ever saw lace nail art. Definitely can’t leave out the issue with Janet in a fitted black and white polka dot dress, makeup nude and flawless. Suede, oh Suede. Editorial heaven. I have clippings of inspirational style on my wall to this day. They were so unique. Last night, I stayed up for an hour reading the March 2005 as if it were hot off the press. June Ambrose’s posh NYC pad and the the 40 hottest names in fashion were just too good to turn from.

Aaliyahhoney
But now, all that we are left with are digital versions of Honey and Clutch Magazines. I feel like I almost have no where to turn to. Sure, I read Essence Magazine, and I always have. But I rarely relate. I subscribe to Bazaar and Elle, but I almost never see anyone who even looks like me (although this month, Zoe Saldana is on the cover of Elle). The moral of this post is that I am yearning, longing, craving, and praying that another glossy comes along to fill my need (our need) for something we relate to. Please note that the digital magazines do take the edge off of my necessity. The Solange Knowles feature in Honey, wow. They did us proud, huh?! I have no idea what it takes to create and keep up with a magazine, but I do know that it includes tons of hard work, and even more money. I’ll leave this post by saying that I’m so grateful to have experienced the magazines that were, and even more excited to see what the digi-glossies will present us with in the future!

About Scandalousbeauty

Erin Bailey has been beauty blogging for 6 years. She also creates makeup guides and tutorials on Youtube. She also hosts a podcast show, Creative Colony. Be sure to follow her on twitter (@erinscandalous and @erinjbailey) and facebook!
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  • http://www.facebook.com/journeysintravel.com Fenomnl

    I loved this post Erin. I still have this Honey Mag with Aaliyah on the front. I remember working at BET and seeing all of the wonderful covers of the glossies before they went to print. I live online but sometimes I just want to hold something in my hand and read.

  • Nancy

    Erin, something tells me that perhaps a Scandalous Beauty glossy could be hitting the newsstand sooner rather than later. If that’s the avenue you see yourself persuing, then keep in mind, I’ve got dibs on asking you FIRST if I could be your Office Manager! LOL.

  • SanTara

    I know exactly what you mean! I was a fashion merchandising major and having subscriptions to magazines was a must to stay on top of everything in the industry. On top of that i was working in the salon and the hair magazines weren’t up to par either. the color saturation and paper quality was horrible, don’t even get started on the gigantic hair publication that only came out 2x a yr. Over the top hair, seductive poses and , you know the rest. Just left you SYDH, asking, why? So when the glossies you mentioned above hit the stands. guuuurl, the heavens opened and i heard music..lol finally, a representation i could relate to! the beauty of bloggers is that we all bring the industry right into the home. Keep up the great work you do!!

  • http://www.theshopaholicchronicles.blogspot.com Ceaira

    Erin,I too long for the days of the “glossy” i still have my print issues of those magazines at the time I did not know why i was keeping them, but now when i look back I am so glad I did. Those Magazines have moved from Florida, Chicago, and now Iowa, where you are lucky to find any magazines with anyone or anything that I can relate to! I like online Magazines, but I don’t love them!

    Keep Up the Great Work!

  • blwells

    I agree, I miss Mags like Honey, at the time I felt like that was my “Seventeen” I love Essance as well but something like Honey would be awesome!!!!

  • Dora

    I love this post. I agree we need a glossy, but for now Clutch fills my fix. The new Honey in my opinion has messed up the legacy of the Honey that Kierna and Jociyln created.

  • http:/www./theprettyyear.com Settica

    I know!! There are sometimes you want to put your hands on paper and touch that magazine. Go through and read all the things you thought were stupid just to prolong it a little bit more.

    But, I don’t know if you remember this, Bitch Mag was asking for help last year or maybe the year before last and they said it costs $40,000 to produce one issue of Bitch. Think about that, $40,000.

    I imagine it’s even harder for black magazines because those costs used to be primarily paid for by advertising dollars. You tried to get 3 or 4 big ad accounts and that’s how you survived. Now ads are moving digital and it’s much cheaper. The saying in the publication circle is that magazines are basically always losing money. :-(

  • http://www.thebfbee.com Marsha (BrownFace)

    I can so relate! I was just looking at my previous issues of all those mags and actually spoke with one of the online editors of Honey prodding her to bring hard copy back. But this leads me to say, I think now more than ever there is a need for a hard cover mag like the ones mentioned, so…… START YOUR OWN!!!! I already have marketing ideas in my head…lol And I can see advertisers out the wazzu!

  • http://stephanie215.typepad.com stephanie

    i miss these mags. i saved every issue, as i knew they were something very special. i believe strongly, that it is SO important to see yourself in print, in media. in a good way. positive media is a powerful thing for us and our growing girls.

    one thing, its GOOD that we have all this online energy. hopefully, all of this will make it out into the glossy arena again, the newsstands like it once was

  • http://myownjudge.net/ Yaya

    very well written. I agree!

    I do have to say though that all magazines are struggling because the market has grown to be so large, whereas the advertisers keep dwindling, AND with the internet, readership is too.

    I think online magazines & digital subscriptions are the answer.

    And like another reader said – start your own scandal mag ;)

  • Scandalousbeauty

    Great comments everyone! And ummera, there’s always the possibility that there will be a “SB” magazine on the net…one day… ;-D