Magazines - entertaining or demoralising?

Never buy women's magazines these days. Too expensive for a lot of advertising. Used to enjoy reading Family Circle in the 80s.

So very true Grandmajean!

Landscape and Country Living are my favourite magazines.

I download several magazines via an app called Readly which my husband subscribes to for a couple of things he likes of read and I get free membership to download stuff. I probably wouldn’t buy them for myself but enjoy reading them online. If I didn’t enjoy them or they make me feel dissatisfied/inadequate etc then I’d stop reading them!

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

I haven't bought a magazine in years but I still read them when I can download them from the library. Anything to do with interior decor, fashion, history. I just ignore anything to do with celebs. I can't usually afford the things they show, whether it's house or fashion, but I do use them to get ideas, especially when I don't really know what I want.

Years ago I needed a ball dress to go to a company ball and had no idea what i wanted, never having been to a ball before. A week later the front cover of a magazine showed a beautiful coral ball gown - at nearly £600! I took the picture to a place on Oxford Street and they found me an almost identical one for £80. It's true that the one in the magazine was probably very expensive silk and mine wasn't but I didn't care, I was chuffed to bits.

Gave up buying magazines years ago. They became too expensive and full of advertisements, with hardly any interesting articles.

It's books, books, books for me!
I'm reading a Bio atm called "Hungry" by Grace Dent.
Love anything I can get stuck into.

I never buy or read women’s magazines nowadays. Many years ago I had women’s Weekly for the knitting patterns.
I do now have BBC History Magazine on line.

I used to love magazines, they were kind if my secret vice. Now I cant' remember when I last bought one, a commercial one anyway. The only one I do subscribe to is a literary one called The Sun with a distinctly liberal bent. It takes no ads. there is an interview, some short fiction as well as personal stories, poetry, photography.

My indulgence , Kindle unlimited, amongst the joys are being able to choose and read the many free magazines available. Latest , the History magazine, Good Housekeeping, Home Style,Good Food, National Geographic, and many more. So a varied choice, and would cost much more if brought separately. Bonus able to read on phone ,iPad and Kindle so can pick up and read wherever I go.

I almost posted about this topic myself. Apart from the fact that most women’s magazines repeat the same old things every year, they make me feel inadequate, depressed and under pressure to have the perfect skin routine/wardrobe/body/home decor/grow my own veg and make healthy meals and knit my own winter coat! And don’t get me started on the ‘celebs’ I usually only buy them to take on holiday but get a few different ones passed on to me.

I have subscribed to Prima for years as it used to be good light reading and you get sewing and knitting pattens.But lately the knitting pattens have been dire and as for the fadhion it is aimed at teenagers and thrown together.Apart from that it has puzzles, short stories and interesting artycles a light read as l said.So l still enjoy it though.

I used to love magazines, an affordable luxury, but I haven't bought any for the past three years. Simply glossy photographs, adverts and articles that barely cover the page.
Occasionally I find a forgotten old magazine, twenty, thirty years old, and realize how much reading material they contained; the present-day ones are an absolute rip-off.

When I worked for a particular government organisation based primarily in London, our department had a standing order for Private Eye - specifically to keep track of what it had to say about us and our 'nefarious' activities. Some of it was true; much of it was not; all of it was thoroughly entertaining.

I read ‘The Spectator ‘ and it is brilliant. It is full of interesting, entertaining and well written pieces by top writers. I give our ‘Telegraph’ weekend fashion supplements to my DD who seems to like looking at dresses that retail for half a grand. The DH and I sometimes have a giggle before we hand them over at the prices being asked to look like a dog’s dinner.

Grandmajean

Throwing a ( really old ) spanner in the works - does anyone remember a teenage magazine called Honey ? I absolutely loved it . Thought it was so sophisticated . It was a monthly glossy and the models etc were all in their late teens. I think one of them went on to found the Pineapple dance studio in London.

I remember it! I was about 20 when it came out, so too old really, but I still read it, though I suspect not for very long.

Far too many adverts in most of them for me to bother.

I recommend Saga Magazine always interesting articles by Jeremy Paxman, Jenny Murray etc. also health and money pages, travel and lots of current topics

Throwing a ( really old ) spanner in the works - does anyone remember a teenage magazine called Honey ? I absolutely loved it . Thought it was so sophisticated . It was a monthly glossy and the models etc were all in their late teens. I think one of them went on to found the Pineapple dance studio in London.

Readly is brilliant. I am on my son’s account and it costs ne nothing,

Bunty

Grandmajean

I used to like Good Housekeeping but don't buy it any more. Got really fed up with the "I love getting older" articles from famous women whose photos have so obviously been treated to wrinkle removal. I also got tired of the Christmas editions where everybody was hosting a fantastic family event . Haven;t bough a magazine for ages .

I subscribed to GH since 1986, when I came back from South Africa and I couldn't find a magazine quite like Fair Lady (SA's then leading mag). I've become more and more disillusioned with GH since this new ed (not a patch on Lindsay Nicholson - what happened to her?), so I cancelled my sub as it became too celebritifed and there's only so much of Lorraine, Lulu and co I can take. Maybe I'm getting too old and have outgrown it. I do look at it occasionally on Prime and that makes me feel I took the right decision. We do have Private Eye and that it always a great read!

Bunty I remember Lindsay Nicholson too - a great editor. I think she moved on to pastures new . Seem to remember her saying she was leaving for another job. I read a blog she did on her breast cancer (before Good Housekeeping ) and the death of her first husband from , I think , leukaemia. A very brave lady.

I subscribe to Readly for £7.99 a month which gives me access to many magazines and newspapers including the Guardian Metro and Daily Mirror. There are often offers and I had two months free . You can also allow five others to log in to your account for free.
I now dip into magazines that I wouldn’t buy and I love the variety. Only downside for me is not being able to snip things out but I do take photos of things instead.
Wish I had discovered this earlier.

Someone bought me a subscription to Woman & Home. I won’t be sorry when it ends. I agree with most points raised here about “Superwomen” etc. I’ve stopped reading those articles but I guess for younger women they could be aspirational & inspiring.
The particular articles which infuriate me are the ones leading up to Christmas! The recipes are lovely but who has the time or inclination for all that cooking? Im sure full time working women probably don't & in my case, it just depresses me. Makes me feel a tad inadequate because I wont buy into the pre-December hype. I’m not a grouch but there is that subliminal pressure from magazines and tv leading up to the seasonal food & shopping fest which leaves me cold. As for the articles about festive dressing and sparkling for the party? Who parties these days? Who can afford to throw one?

I have subscriptions for Landscape and GH, but to be honest I now hardly look at them prefering to read my books. I bought Woman's Weekly last week whilst stuck in A&E waiting room, and it was total rubbish. I could have done better myself. Very bad value for £1.50.
I didn't realise Amazon Prime had free mags. Must look.