Fashion magazines tend to portray young, European women in advertisements and underrepresent other ages and ethnicities. Non-fashion magazines show more diversity in models used. The study analyzed advertisements in fashion magazines like Vogue and Cosmopolitan as well as non-fashion magazines like Good Housekeeping and Health, finding that fashion magazines predominantly used models rated '20' years old and with no visible signs of aging ('0' on the scale), while non-fashion magazines showed a broader range of ages and more signs of aging. This discrepancy contributes to negative stereotypes around aging. Magazines should work to better represent the growing aging population to improve cultural views on aging.

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Influence of Aging in Fashion and Non-Fashion Advertisements
Bridget Hass
Chelsea Humphreys
Abby Johnson
Alison Kinkade
5/6/2015

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Abstract
Typically, young, European women are shown in advertisements placed in fashion and
non-fashion magazines. Other ethnicities and age groups are portrayed less in fashion
magazines, than non-fashion magazines. Research has shown that about 11.26% of the U.S.
population is age 65 and older, and by 2020, that demographic will become 16%. The media
stereotypes older people as fragile, helpless, etc., which illustrates the underrepresentation of
older women in magazines. The purpose of this study was to examine how aging and ethnicities
are portrayed in fashion and non-fashion advertising model images. An analysis of model
images in full-page ads that were published in Vogue, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Health, Good
Housekeeping, and Essence using a photonumeric scale. Overall, the results indicated that
most magazines print advertisements that use models age ‘20’ with a skin rating of ‘0’. This
study resulted in the indication that fashion magazines prefer a younger image that represents
their brands, while non-fashion magazines show older women in advertisements only when a
product’s campaign is targeting older people. This portrayal (or lack there of) contributes to the
negative stereotypes of aging. Furthermore, magazines should cater to the aging population in
order to improve the general population’s image of aging.
Key Words: aging, women, fashion, advertisements, magazines

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Advertisements in magazines tend to alter the cultural norm between aging and beauty.
As a leading high fashion magazine, Vogue tends to represent aging in an unrealistic, ‘ageless
style’ ideal (Twigg 2012). This ideal promotes stereotypes that aging is not socially acceptable,
harming the self-esteem of aging women (Miller-Spillman, Reilly, & Graham, 2013). Twigg
(2012) goes on to explain that age, aging, and older people are fluid terms and they are
constantly changing, which does not necessarily imply old age. For fashion magazines like
Vogue, aging begins when a model reaches her late twenties.
Fashion is a youth-oriented culture. Styles are made for young, thin, beautiful models
and any hint of imperfection is erased. High fashion magazines do not portray aging as a
desirable trait.This has a negative impact on older women and promotes the widespread fear of
aging (Twigg 2012). It also causes some women to suffer from depression and other health
complications (Lews, Mevedev, & Seponski, 2011).
The general population usually only sees older faces that are realistically portrayed in
non-fashion in magazines because of the lack of focus on beauty standards in high fashion
magazines (Twigg 2012). The aging population is increasing because of the Baby Boomer
generation; fifty percent of women are over forty years old (Twigg 2012). About 11.26% of the
U.S. population is age 65 and older, and by 2020, that demographic will become 16%. The
media often stereotypes older people as fragile, helpless, incompetent, ugly, unproductive,
asexual, and even silly. Older persons are underrepresented in the media and often are
degraded (Miller-Spillman, Reilly, & Graham, 2013).Vogue cannot be a magazine aimed at older
women because doing so would ruin it’s appeal. “It would furthermore fly in the face of all the
values of fashion and the fashion world which, as we have seen, are wholly centered on youth,
and rigorously exclude age from view” (Twigg 2012).
Based on the lack of presence of older women and overall portrayal of older skin, a
negative stereotype has developed that may have influenced society’s beauty standards. How
have magazine advertisements portrayed the degree of aging according to models’ ages, aging
skin, and ethnicity? What are the differences in fashion and non-fashion magazines regarding
the representation of aging in women?
The research methodology within this research project was mainly based from
magazines. Because the comparison of fashion and non-fashion is being used, the results
stemmed from three fashion magazines and three non-fashion magazines that were found at
the Milner Library at Illinois State University. The three fashion magazines that were used to
collect data were Cosmopolitan, Glamour, and Vogue. The three non-fashion magazines that
were used to collect data were Essence, Good Housekeeping, and Health. To keep the
collection of data accurate, the issues of September 2014 through December 2014 were
examined for each magazine. To keep the collection of data credible and fair, the first fifteen
advertisements of each issue was used, therefore a total of 24 magazine issues were analyzed.
The data was collected onto a chart that organized each advertisement’s ethnicity, aging scale,
product type, brand, etc.
Every advertisement was analyzed using a photonumeric scale that displayed the
degree of fine wrinkling. This scale is measured 0-8; using even numbers. For example, a
woman in an advertisement with no visible blemishes or wrinkles would be measured a 0, and a

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woman that appeared to have the maximum amount of wrinkles would be measured an 8
(Helfrich et al, 2007).
There was also scholarly research that was conducted through the Milner Library
database collections regarding women, aging, fashion, and magazines. Scholarly articles were
found in the Journal of Aging Studies and the Journal of Women & Aging. The Meanings of
Dress was also used as a source, which is the primary textbook in FCS 327.
Results indicate that in fashion magazines, the most frequently observed age category
was ‘20’ (61.10%), followed by age ‘30’ (19.40%), ‘10’ (13.30%), ‘40’ (4.40%), ‘50’ (1.67%), and
‘60’ and over were 0%. Regarding the frequency of the aging skin rating in fashion magazines,
the highest frequency was ‘0’ (70.20%), followed by ‘2’ (21.90%), ‘4’ (7%), ‘6’ (0.56%), and ‘8’
(0%).
Results within non-fashion magazines indicate that the most frequently observed age
category was ‘30’ (37.40%), followed by ‘20’ (28.50%), ‘40’ (19.60%), ‘50’ (10.6%), ‘60’ (2.20%),
‘10’ (1.67%), and ‘70’ and over (0%). Regarding the frequency of the aging skin rating in non-
fashion magazines, the highest frequency was ‘2’ (40.10%), followed by ‘0’ (31%), ‘4’ (23.70%),
‘6’ (5.10%), ‘8’ (0%).
The results are also divided into product type in both fashion and non-fashion
magazines. The highest frequency for the mean aging rating was age ‘20’ for apparel,
cosmetics, and fashion accessories. For non-fashion products, the highest frequency was age
‘30’. The highest frequency for the mean aging skin rating was rated ‘0’, except for non-fashion
magazines, which was ‘2’.
Findings from this study indicate that fashion magazines advertisements contain more
European, young women than other ethnicities and older age groups. Non-fashion magazines
have diversity within ethnic and age groups. For example, non-fashion magazines would show
older women in advertisements regarding prescriptions and anti-aging campaigns. Because
older women are still being featured in magazines, the campaigns involve the correction of the
symptoms of the aging process. Therefore, older women are being portrayed because of their
age symptoms, not for any other reason.
The findings in the research indicate that there is value in being and looking young.
Fashion magazines such as Vogue require a certain standard in order to be positively accepted
in the fashion industry. High fashion magazines have an image to uphold to their target markets.
Their target markets may not necessarily the older population, which is why older women are
not being accurately represented within the magazine advertisements. As the Baby Boomer
generation is aging, high-fashion magazines may want to re-think their target markets.Instead of
promoting the fear of aging, fashion magazines should cater to the aging population by printing
more appealing advertising campaigns to older women.
Moving forward, the selection of magazines that were used to research the influence of
aging in magazine advertisements may not have been ideal. The selection of both fashion and
non-fashion magazines were limited to different target markets and levels of popularity. More
specifically, Essence is primarily an African American magazine that created an unintentional
bias within the results. The September 2014 issue of Health lacked three of the fifteen full-page
advertisements.This created a limitation in the accuracy of the results.

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References
Helfrich, Y. R., Yu, L., Ofori, A., Hamilton, T. A., Lambert, J., King, A., Voorhees, J. J., &
Kang, S. (2007). Effect of smoking on aging of photoprotected skin: Evidence
gathered using a new photonumeric scale. Archives of Dermatology, 143, 397-402.
Lewis, D. C., Medvedev, K., & Seponski, D. M. (2011). Awakening to the desires of
older women: Deconstructing ageism within fashion magazines. Journal Of Aging
Studies, 25(2), 101-109. doi:10.1016/j.jaging.2010.08.016
Miller-Spillman K. A., Reilly A., & Graham, M. A. (2013). The Meanings of Dress
(3rd
ed.). New York: Fairchild Publications
Twigg, Julia. "How Does Vogue Negotiate Age?:Fashion, The Body, and the Older
Woman." The Meanings of Dress / Kimberly A. Miller-Spillman, Andrew Reilly, Patricia
Hunt-Hurst. New York: Fairchild, 2012. N.pag. Print.