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The Lady

(65 Posts)
SORES Sun 06-Apr-25 14:40:27

The Lady magazine has apparently ‘gone into liquidation’ despite there being an April issue apparently.

I remember going into the dark gloomy office to buy a copy think it was Monday? before Tuesday when it was on the stands and shops, to get ahead, when I was job hunting.
Then Ms Johnson took over.

I recall, albeit many years ago, pages and pages of jobs, holiday cottages, London flats to share, another time wasn’t it, life was simpler. Now this news has made me remember so much.

Does anyone else have a The Lady story to tell?

charliebb Mon 07-Apr-25 16:22:45

I've had a subscription to The Lady for many years and have always enjoyed reading it. It's not full of all the celeb gossip like so many publications. Just interesting intelligent reading. I for one will be so sorry to lose it.

Jojo1950 Mon 07-Apr-25 14:59:15

Yes I loved the lady too.

JdotJ Mon 07-Apr-25 14:57:56

I had a subscription to The Lady magazine bought for me every year by DH. It was a great read and afterwards it was passed to my mum who, in turn, passed it to her neighbour.
Loved reading the jobs pages. I believe the Royal family used to advertise for staff in the magazine at one point.
After my mum died, I decided to stop the subscription.

It then became a fortnightly/monthly(?) magazine

granjan66 Mon 07-Apr-25 14:32:04

Yes, found a lovely mother's help who was with us for 3 years. We're still in touch.

grannybuy Mon 07-Apr-25 14:13:17

I read it in the library from when I was a teenager. We booked a number of holiday properties through their ads. Once, we booked one in Prague, and drove there from NE Scotland. When we arrived, the lady I'd been in touch with wasn't there, only her mother and husband. They didn't speak English. We were treated to coffee and home bakes. I started to worry that there'd been some mistake, and that we were going to be living with them. However, the lady finally arrived. The couple were going to stay with her mother while we were there. I had paid a deposit previously, in the requested dollars! She didn't want the balance until the end of our stay. Very trusting.

Alison333 Mon 07-Apr-25 14:05:28

Perhaps somebody will buy the magazine and relaunch it?

Schnackie2 Mon 07-Apr-25 13:53:48

I love The Lady, and after years of just buying the odd issue a few times a year, I finally decided I could afford a subscription - just! It's gotten so expensive, but I love the articles, columnists, and as everyone says, just reading the adverts for amazing jobs. One can go off into a real fantasy world, imagining being a house-mother (?) at Eton, running a household in a fancy country house, etc etc.

Warmglovesandsocks Mon 07-Apr-25 13:47:43

I found a job in the Lady when I was about 17 (76 now). It was working at a non-residential Inn in Friday Street, Abinger Hammer, near Dorking. I made a good friend there, Chris Dallimore, who lived near Mumbles Beach in Wales. We spent a lovely time in Carnaby Street and visiting my Aunt in West Byfleet, she stayed at my flat near Nottingham at the time and remained friends for years. Amazing what answering a magazine ad can result in.

NotSpaghetti Mon 07-Apr-25 09:00:30

I think the holiday properties and the jobs section were excellent.
We bought it about twice a year for the classifieds.

luluaugust Mon 07-Apr-25 07:51:11

I’ve always bought it at holiday times to tackle The Ladygram, The front covers are wonderful. I shall miss it.

RosieandherMaw Mon 07-Apr-25 07:43:13

A friend’s DS edited it at one time.

Crossstitchfan Mon 07-Apr-25 00:36:00

I read it in my hairdresser’s!

Catterygirl Sun 06-Apr-25 23:39:35

After 10 years working in the City for Insurance, Shipping, Merchant banks etc. aged 26, I fancied a change of scene and found a job in the Lady as a nanny/housekeeper in Catania, Sicily. It was great. My boss was a university professor of English and a bit upset that I was studying Italian but we were both flexible and she wanted me to teach her teenagers English and to cook them English food. My room overlooked Mount Etna. And a lemon grove. She shared the ironing with me as there was so much as they required a bed change every day. I was given a Fiat 500 to ferry her children to the beach house they owned about 30 minutes away. Her husband, an airline pilot used to come with me and asked me to put my foot down and use the horn. They were kind to me and were going to the USA for six weeks and asked me to stay in the house alone, promising that they would take me to Paris for Christmas and America next summer. I loved it. What went wrong? My 16 year old sister asked me to find her a job so she could come with me. My boss found her a position as a nanny with a couple of dentists with very young sons. They took her on a cruise to their holiday home on Lipari. She was on the phone crying because they expected her to work and rang our parents begging them to get her home. Guess who got the job of taking her home? Oh well. I moved on and continued to use the Lady looking for au pairs when I started my own business and had my one and only son. Happy days. It will be missed although I’m no longer a regular reader due to the price.

Grandma70s Sun 06-Apr-25 22:42:18

I used to enjoy looking at it from time to time . It was another world.

Cabbie21 Sun 06-Apr-25 22:26:56

I got a temp job through The Lady years ago when I was between jobs/ marriages.

Ziggy62 Sun 06-Apr-25 22:23:36

I remember looking in The Lady for jobs as a NNEB nanny in London

Sssd Sun 06-Apr-25 22:15:22

I got a nanny job in London from the Lady, used to be pages and pages of jobs. Also used to be adds for companions and jobs for couples. All very interesting.

Shame those innocent days are gone.

Oreo Sun 06-Apr-25 22:06:28

I’ve heard of this magazine but never read it, or even seen it.

25Avalon Sun 06-Apr-25 21:59:49

Gosh I remember “The Lady”. When I was looking for holiday jobs, home from Uni, it was the place to go to.

escaped Sun 06-Apr-25 18:21:16

prwoared

escaped Sun 06-Apr-25 18:20:52

*prepared not prepared!

escaped Sun 06-Apr-25 18:19:56

Oh that's a shame, though it is a bit twee these days.
25 years or so ago we advertised our holiday properties in the back pages, which offered properties from all over Europe and beyond. It wasn't so much to attract the right calibre of guests that we used The Lady, but more to get the ones who prwoared to pay top prices for high end properties!
Then along came along the likes of Holiday Lettings and Homelidays on the Internet, so there was no longer any need for us to use The Lady, and advertising there seemed very expensive in comparison.

Churchview Sun 06-Apr-25 18:14:16

Rachel Johnson's diary of her time at The Lady is an entertaining read.

NotSpaghetti Sun 06-Apr-25 17:58:22

*tiny cottage

NotSpaghetti Sun 06-Apr-25 17:58:07

We had a job interview for a historic house years ago - they wanted a couple to do some front of house and lightbulb changes etc in exchange for a tony cottage - but we decided it wouldn't suit as they wanted us both at the same time and we had a new baby.