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Woman and Woman's Own

(54 Posts)
pollyparrot Wed 09-Mar-16 09:28:24

I always used to buy these magazines and enjoy them. Is it me that's changed, or the magazines?

They seem more like celebrity gossip mags these days, which I generally avoid like the plague.

Can anyone recommend a decent mag to read. I like health advice, lifestyle advice, house and home articles, problem pages, food advice, fashion advice, that sort of thing.

NotTooOld Thu 10-Mar-16 19:26:44

Well, ladies, we've definitely identified a gap in the magazine market. Has anyone tried The Oldie? There is another GN thread about it. It's a bit like the old Punch - lots of interesting articles, book reviews, humorous stuff, travel writing too. Well worth a try.

Pittcity Thu 10-Mar-16 08:47:43

I sometimes download free magazines from the local library, there are so many ads that it only takes a few minutes to flick through and read the one or two relevant articles.
Have you read Standard Issue? It's online and so you can just read the bits that interest you. Some good stuff there.
Of course, Gransnet keeps us entertained and informed better than a magazine.

BBbevan Thu 10-Mar-16 08:36:18

FarNorth thank you.I think you are right. That would have niggled me all daysmile

FarNorth Thu 10-Mar-16 07:25:47

Godfrey Winn?

BBbevan Thu 10-Mar-16 07:07:59

What was the name of the man , Godfrey, Geoffrey, who was an Agony Aunt on either Woman or Woman's Own ? My Mum always read his page first.

FarNorth Thu 10-Mar-16 06:01:10

Woman's Realm was my favourite too.
I like the fiction specials from Woman's Weekly nowadays.

TwiceAsNice Wed 09-Mar-16 23:17:42

I buy Woman's Weekly by subscription every week and Woman and Home, Good Housekeeping and Prima every month by subscription also then it's much cheaper, I'm a bit of a magazine addict and it's great that they are there in the post when I come home. I used to buy Woman's Realm which wa my favourite but unfortunately they stopped publishing it several years ago. I'm an avid reader so I always have a book on the go as well

janeainsworth Wed 09-Mar-16 22:30:48

merlot yes she did something for Woman's Weekly's image, didn't she grin

lynnie1 Wed 09-Mar-16 22:15:09

I religiously bought Womans Own and Woman every week - it was my treat. I enjoyed the short stories and realistically priced fashions. The last time I happened to read one ( in the dentist's waiting room) , it seemed to be full of bingo stories, inducing you to join. I read books a lot now and don't buy mags

annsixty Wed 09-Mar-16 22:11:24

And it costs £4:10 p. It's rubbish compared to previous times.

grannyqueenie Wed 09-Mar-16 22:06:32

I had GH for years but like others got bored with the too good to be true inspirational women setting up cupcake businesses or creating garments out of felted wool, home spun of course! When one too many cover photos of Twiggy or Lulu and yet another picture of an overpriced outfit pushed me over the edge I realised the only thing I actually enjoyed was the book reviews, so decideded I'd be better spending my money on one of them instead of the magazine! grin

merlotgran Wed 09-Mar-16 21:56:13

Talking of Woman's Weekly always makes me think of Victoria Wood's hilarious song, 'Let's Do It!'

Ana Wed 09-Mar-16 21:46:25

Fifty years ago my stepmother had a group of friends who used to swap magazines - Woman's Own and Woman were apparently acceptable but Woman's Weekly was considered a bit 'common', goodness knows why!

I wouldn't waste my money on any of them these days, from the odd one I've looked at in the doctor's waiting room they're mostly full of trivia and sensational stories. Can't believe how they've changed, but I suppose it must be to cater for the modern market...confused

Deedaa Wed 09-Mar-16 21:35:52

I read Woman's Weekly every week. I went to a focus group they held a couple of years ago and the editor told us that they work more like a monthly magazine and don't carry lots of celeb stuff because the magazine is put together too far in advance and it would be out of date. Hence they tend to do articles that are actually interesting.

Funnygran Wed 09-Mar-16 20:15:44

I too used to have a subscription to GH but gave it up as I got tired of reading the same old things and about the same celebrity women - they seemed to favour either Lulu or Julie Walters. I bought a copy yesterday as a one off for a train journey and quite enjoyed it but don't think I would buy it regularly and it's now over £4. I read OK and Hello in the hairdressers as there's nothing else and half the time I don't know who these so called celebrities are. My DD's MIL reads them avidly and believes every word!

MamaCaz Wed 09-Mar-16 18:44:09

As a teenager, I used to read my mum's My Weekly and Women's Realm. I loved the mixture of stories and other articles, and used to read them from cover to cover. When my children were young, I got much the same pleasure from a variety of other magazines such as Annabel (I think that's what one of them was called, anyway!) and Prima.

Nowadays, I can't find a single magazine that interests me. Heaven knows I've tried! I don't want celebs, or fashion, or pages and pages on make-up and other beauty products (not to mention the ridiculous number of adverts for them). I just want what we used to have!

Cherrytree59 Wed 09-Mar-16 17:41:42

My mum ,grandmother and aunts all read Peoples Friend.
I had forgot about it until friend mentioned that she had started to read it
Gransnet has everything and more than any magazine.
Real life stories, health, style, fashion and makeup, relationships etc
And more agony aunts than you can shake a stick at!grin

numberplease Wed 09-Mar-16 17:39:18

I`m another who bought Woman and Woman`s Own religiously for years, but not for ages now. There used to be stories and a serial, plus human interest stuff, now they`re just like all the other rubbishy mags. I rarely buy magazines nowadays, but on the odd occasion that I do, I quite like The Peoples Friend.

grannylyn65 Wed 09-Mar-16 16:58:36

Agree with Indiana .

Thingmajig Wed 09-Mar-16 16:44:41

I often buy Essentials and Prima magazines when I'm going on holiday. Lots of ads of course, but both are quite good for dipping in and out of ... usually find a good recipe or two and even a usable knitting pattern.

mollie Wed 09-Mar-16 15:26:39

I get Country Living as a freebie from the bank and buy The Simple Things because it suits my style. You could argue both push over-priced products but I like the pictures, the styling and both include features about things that I'm interested in. Sometimes I buy Landscape or Land Loving for much the same reasons: lovely photos about the countryside...

Jalima Wed 09-Mar-16 15:00:21

Thanks for the tip about the recipe books, I didn't know that smile

Jalima Wed 09-Mar-16 14:59:30

I remember SIL's granny telling me that she had been reading AWW a few years ago and that Princess Kate was ^pregnant^! (that was before she and William got married shock)

There is always a lot about Princess Mary in AWW (fairly unknown in the UK)

grandma60 Wed 09-Mar-16 14:59:27

Woman and Womans Own were my weekly treat when I was a young Mum. I can't believe how much they have changed since then. I buy Good Housekeeping when there is a money off coupon in the paper but I would rather spend the £4 full price on a paperback book.

TriciaF Wed 09-Mar-16 14:56:30

Oh Dear! Jalima it looks as if the AWW has gone the same way as the others.
I used tolike their recipes, in fact I bought several of their recipe books - all available at WH Smith.