When people say books/magazines/newspapers will one day be extinct, I want to take my pointer finger and poke them in the eye.
I’m considered a “millennial” and I’ve always enjoyed turning actual pages and even the smell (yes, the smell) of hand-held reading material. Can you smell your computer screen? No, it tickles your nose. I don’t know that because I just leaned in and tried it, I’m just taking an educated guess.
I love getting magazines in the mail and have been a faithful subscriber to a couple for years and years. I have a giant stack of magazines in my office to prove it (I’m singlehandedly trying to disprove that they’ll ever be extinct by hoarding them all up in my house). So I for one think a magazine subscription is a great gift idea!
It is literally the gift that keeps on giving. And what’s great for you, the gift giver, is that they’re fairly inexpensive. In fact, I bet if you’re gutsy enough you could call one and negotiate the price down since they really just love having subscribers.
Here are a few of my favorites…
Lucky
I’ve been getting Lucky for almost 10 years now (A-OH! ;) I feel in love with them back in the day because they featured real people wearing real clothes. Sure there was always a perfectly coifed celebrity on the cover, but inside were pages and pages of real outfit inspiration. For exactly 9 1/2 years now I’ve been picking up every issue just to jog the creative part of my brain, and it’s helped me produce countless outfits. Oh and one of their featured writers, Jean Godfrey-June, is basically my writing inspiration slash hero. If for no other reason, pick up a copy just to be whisked away by her brilliant writing.
InStyle
Another great thing about having a magazine subscription is you get introduced to products you may have never come across. Working in marketing, I love to pour over the ads and see what it is they’re selling me and whether or not I’m going to fall for it. And when I run out the door to Target to buy what it is I saw, I get a little smile on my face because they did their job well. I also have a big interest in celebrities, mostly to see what it is they’re wearing and how they’re wearing it. They’re getting styled by the best in the business, so why not get inspired by them, right? InStyle artfully combines fresh must-have products with celebrity fashion, in a way that doesn’t feel cheesy or pushy. It’s like having a well informed / well connected girlfriend send a giant book of notes to your mail box every month.
Food Network
No this isn’t fashion related, but we wear what we eat at some point, right? Ok, that’s a terrible way to look at it. I just love cooking and food and this mag is a great source of recipes and fun food facts that can increase your cooking know-how.
Magazines I’ve not been impressed with…
Glamour – I tried them for a while, but got choked on the political messaging they kept trying to shove down my throat. And too much women’s lib. Yeah I know we’re great, but so are boys.
Elle – I’ll pick up one of these every once in a while (I’ve got the one with Kristen Wiig on the cover because it’s Kristen Wiig…I’d pick up a discarded corn dog wrapper if she’s written on it. But for the most part this one is super high fashion. As in the crazy things they wear down the runway-kind of fashion.
If you’re looking to skip the tactile experience of a magazine, they’ll sometimes offer just the electronic experience for a lesser cost. Which if going all Jetson’s on your reading material is your thing, have at it. I’m going to be enjoying pages with my fingers and nose for as long as I want (honestly, that sounded better in my head).