Fashion Magazine Sales Down, Except For Vogue (PHOTOS, POLL)

Read any good fashion magazines lately?

Women's Wear Daily writes that out of ten major titles, only Vogue boasts an increase in sales during the first half of the year -- thanks to March's Lady Gaga cover, which sold 100,000 copies. However, InStyle is still the bestseller, with an average of 570,272 copies picked up over the last six months.

Publisher of CircMatters Jack Hanrahan told WWD, "Fashion seems reflective of the overall trend right now. Overall, only a few magazines are not doing so badly but, mostly, there are a lot of negative numbers."

Take a look at which glossies have been flying off the shelves and which have become bodega wall ornaments. And for more, head over to WWD.com.

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Comments

[bkitty1]

12:36 PM on 08/16/2011

I like glamour the best, the beauty and fashion recommendations are more tailored to the average (aka broke) woman. and I very rarely buy a magazine off the rack--it's $4 for one issue or $10 for a yearly subscription. no brainer.

[Aitch5]

12:06 AM on 08/14/2011

Keep it up America. Don't buy these rag mags. Develop your own STYLE...........

[Js420]

03:04 PM on 08/13/2011

Good! Lets save some trees.

[yummycalorie]

12:41 PM on 08/13/2011

Katy Perry's cover was such a dissapointment =( She should've worn a dress. Lady Gaga's cover was just ugly >.>

Now imagine what would happen when they put Justin Bieber on a cover. Oh wait, they already did and that magazine didn't sell very well....

[synergie]

02:23 AM on 08/13/2011

Of course magazines are tanking, they're behind the times by the time they're actually published, and they do nothing but hawk product. Also, they have a mighty imaginative idea of what constitutes a "steal" (hint: it's not a $700 pair of shoes). They cannot keep up with the bloggers who have their fingers on the pulse what's actually out there, a more honest (for the most part) assessment of the newest and the 'best', and who actually seem to understand a real person's budget.

Plus, by the time these magazines have been published, the trend they're covering has lost its trendiness, they're simply too slow to keep up with the pace.

[Bianca S]

04:52 PM on 08/12/2011

I used to LOVE Fashion mags, all of them actually. Fall is my favourite season and the September issue made me giddy lol. Now though, I have found that fashion just doesn't excite me as much anymore. The clothes have become so angrogynous, crazy, tacky and just plain fug. I don't 'indentify' with the Kesha and Nicki Minaj style, even though they are in my age bracket. Whatever happened to looking pretty and classy?

I hate that magazines now put Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Chris Brown, Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart and try to pass them off as 'deep personalities'-Yeah right. Sorry Vanity Fair, but no amount of editing is going to make Miley Cyrus sounds thought provoking and interesting in interviews.

[PoliticalJunkie65]

10:41 PM on 08/14/2011

Wow, I agree with almost everything you wrote so I don't have to write it myself!

Cheers!

[ginger85]

12:28 PM on 08/15/2011

So true - the September issue of any fashion magazine was the one to have. Now I just don't care. I don't think I have bought a magazine in over a year, and when I do now, it's People magazine after some newsworthy event has occured. Fashion magazines are just filled with fashion ads for clothing that cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars. I find them to just be an insult now. They are declining in sales, yet it still costs over $5.00 to buy an issue that now takes me maybe 10 minutes to skim through.

[ltphilpott]

02:43 PM on 08/12/2011

I don't buy any of them because they always either have someone on the cover that I don't know or don't like.

[alicam]

02:06 PM on 08/12/2011

I subscribed to Elle this past year and hate it. Every issue I flip through it once and then recycle it. I don't think the mags are to blame as much as the state of fashion nowadays. All the mix-match, rainbow colors, gazillion patterns thrown together is a big turn-off. Look at how FLOTUS dresses. I hate all the weird color combinations people wear now. Not classy.

[Itsafact]

01:57 PM on 08/12/2011

I didn't know people read these magazines any more. And apparently they aren't reading as many, judging from the article. (I thought that Vogue cover with the always strange Lady Gaga was downright hideous!) Anyway, these types of magazines always seemed frivolous and pointless and the cost of producing them has skyrocketed in recent years. I always thought they made women feel bad about themselves simply because no one in real life looks like the models in these things; the models are Photoshopped to the max and the merchandise is way too expensive for most people. They present an unrealistic, fantasy image of women. And face it, you're paying for all the advertising anyway. Over half the magazine is advertising (it has to be to pay for production). It's like newspapers. Over half is advertising to pay for the cost of production.

[hauntingsummer]

12:16 PM on 08/12/2011

Marie Claire is by far my favorite, next to Jane which folded several years ago. They've had some weird covers in the past two years, but remain my preferred magazine. I subscribe and it's only $8 per year. I hope this magazine remains.

[thehappymos]

06:02 PM on 08/15/2011

Me too. So sad about Jane and (I suppose I'm dating myself) Sassy. I still love Bust and, if they get back to their smarter roots, Marie Claire. I feel a tad young to be reading it, but I really like More magazine too.

[hauntingsummer]

04:50 PM on 09/16/2011

Marie Claire has changed in the past few years, and I think they're trying to figure out the right format to keep sales coming in, but I miss the old magazine. I still look forward to Marie Claire and it's still my favorite currently running magazine as far as Womens magazines/fashion ect goes...
NO I remember Sassy!! Sassy was the mag that gave birth to Jane. I use to beg for Sassy when I accompanied by mom to our local grocery store, when I was a middle schooler. I also use to read YM when I was a teenager and although I'd be way too old for that now, I wish that publication was still around for younger girls to enjoy. I thought it was tackling more important issues than Teen and Seventeen were.
Anyway I still get Nylon in the mail, but I'm bored with that. Anything you'd recommend?

[camalveau]

11:15 AM on 08/12/2011

I too, at one time loved fashion mags. I saw the writing on the wall, however, when Elle first put Miley Cyrus on the cover. I wrote to them and told them that I, as a grown woman, was not interested in buying a magazine with a cover and feature article of a 16yr old. My letter went ignored and I have since canceled my subscription. I think these mags are so desperate to get a young readership that they are ignoring their loyal customers. Its too bad really because the internet has a-hold of the youth and Miley or Selena Gomez on the cover is not going to steal them from the net.

[syllcurie]

10:51 AM on 08/12/2011

People are wiseing up to the overpriced merchandise they are pushing.

[Rae Downing]

10:51 AM on 08/12/2011

Why would anyone want to waste their money on those rags anyway? They serve no good purpose other than to convince and keep reminding those who are sheep with no self-esteem that they will never measure up. Geeze ---- sucks to be someone who is obsessed with what someone else tells you is fashionable and hip then wonder why you are always broke!

[hauntingsummer]

12:17 PM on 08/12/2011

That's untrue, have you read them? I can think of several in particular that feature articles on everything else but fashion, in addition. You sound like you don't have a clue.

[Rae Downing]

12:48 PM on 08/12/2011

That's so funny --- I've reviewed those rags actually counting the number of pages devoted to ads verses articles and almost a third are ads. That speaks volumes. The articles are generally two to one promoting why the ignorant consumer should purchase this item or that. Those are ads in narrative form. More than 75% of the "magazine" is devoted to telling their "reader" what to buy. The remaining articles really aren't news nor something that educates, informs or enlightens . I cannot even admit that sometimes it is entertaining to read all the advice to Mary in St Louis who is debating on leaving her boy friend of two years or why women are attracted to the bad boy men.

In truth, I do have more than a clue but more importantly a functioning brain that not only requires but demand mental stimulation, i.e., something that is engaging, informative, educational and interesting for longer than three minute bursts. Most magazines are for the ADHD people in the world -- they cannot devote the attention necessary to read four or more pages of only text in one sitting. So, please be offended and attempt to insult away. Far easier than setting forth a well thought out, logical response and it requires significantly less time and no ability to comprehend what you read.

[Itsafact]

01:59 PM on 08/12/2011

Actually, the poster DOES have a clue. These mags are a total waste of money. You thumb through them, toss them on your coffee table or bedside stand, and they pile up. Then, you finally clear them out to the trash. Waste of time and money.

[vivemente]

10:33 AM on 08/12/2011

Who ACTUALLY reads these magazines? I love People Style Watch for the pure reason that the average person can afford at least a few of the items that they show! With magazines like Elle and Vogue telling you to buy this "must have" $400 shirt, it's like oh please. I'd rather pay my car note than buy one stupid shirt that I can buy a knock off of at Forever 21 any day.

[Camille Michelle]

09:45 AM on 08/12/2011

Magazines are great for creating vision boards. I have about 8 at my desk that will soon meet a dismal scissor-y fate.

And GO GAGA! Thats mah girl!!! Have the cover hanging up in my room :)