5. Fashion Genre Research

History of the fashion magazine:

Late 1600's and 1700's- French dressmakers relied on sketches to see what was being worn inside the courts of aristocracy. These sketches were made into books that were reproduced and sold.

1892- Arthur Baldwin Turnure founds Vogue in the USA

1909- fashion magazines begin to feature photography

1912-1925 - La Gazette du Bon Ton (the leading French fashion magazine) established fashion as an art form

1920's- American magazines expand content to include journalism articles about women's suffrage and socialities

1930's - GQ and Esquire begin covering men's fashion

1980's - fashion media such as the television begin to compete with magazines

2000- fashion websites begin to appear, causing the closure of some magazines (Modern Bride, Gourmet etc)

Audience profile of Vogue fashion magazine:

87% female readership
average age- 34
69% ABC1

Mainly aimed at older women so the representations are more positive than negative. The way they present women is often more respectable and in a way that informs and entertains. Magazines aimed more at men would show women more objectively, sexualising the subject by showing more skin.