1. Hayley Roberts

6. Fashion magazines are mainly aimed at an older audience and aimed at a female audience. This means that the
way they show women is at a more respectable and in a way that inspires women so there are mainly more
positive representations than negative. For example if it was a magazine like FHM, they represent women in a
completely different way as it‟s a magazine aimed at men and the women on the front of the magazines are
using their sexuality and are more sexually exploited rather than respected because it‟s more of a younger
audience which consists mainly of men. There are a few negative representations because they are posed and
looked in a way to inspire their audience to try look like they do and they are also airbrushed quite a bit which
then makes it impossible for the reader to look like they do and in FHM, they also airbrush the models and
make them look so much slimmer to make them “more attractive” and appealing to their audience. On the page
of the magazines they also speak about looking good and how to improve your body. For example on the front
of ELLE, they describe how to make the audience have “the best behind ever” and this encourages the readers
to try and gain that look which attracts more of the male gender and encourages women to look their best.

7. The positive representations of fashion magazines is that the models used on the front of the magazine are
dressed quite respectable, formal and natural. They‟re not too overly dressed and they are well covered up
which helps relate them to their target audience because the target audience are a higher class and middle
aged so they need to appeal to that audience. Even though the models are airbrushed, they still look quite
natural and don‟t have too much make up on and this gives the models a natural look. The captions mainly
used on the front are about fashion and they don‟t include much about trying to look better or about how to
improve the look of the audience reading the magazine and stresses more on clothing and because it‟s a
middle class audience the clothes included will appeal to them. The models are naturally posing and don‟t look
uncomfortable in the way they are posing. On VOGUE magazine the caption „Real style in real life‟ shows that
they will be discussing realistic ideas in the way they dress and that this is something the audience will want to
read because it‟s expressing it‟s real life and they may want ideas on different styles that is realistic for them.

8. The average age range for these magazines range from 34 up to 45 and the models used in these covers range from 28 up to 39 so
they use models around the target audience ages so that they can target their audience more than using really young models
because even though they are looking up to them in a way of their style, it makes it more realistic for the audience. The models wear
clothes which would appeal to an older audience and doesn‟t really appeal to a younger audience because they are covered up where
as if it was for a younger audience where the magazine was promoting weight loss, they would wear more revealing clothing which
an older audience wouldn‟t want to wear. Women are shown as really respected and well dressed and also quite natural as they aren‟t
plastered with make up. They are also shown as comfortable and are not on the cover to be sexually exploited because of the way
they are posed and shown on the cover. Where as on the cover of FHM or ZOO, they sexually exploit the women on the cover as it‟s a
different audience and they are aimed at a younger audience. Middle class women are the target audience of these magazines and
the models used on the cover are shown as quite wealthy and higher class as the way they are shown and the clothes they are
wearing and the jewelry they wear too. The audience for Chat magazine would be a lower class and the woman model used on the
front of those magazines are quite fake and a role model for those to look up to which is completely different to these models. Also
for women on the front of magazines aimed at men, the women are shown in a younger, more sexual way than the models on the
front of these magazines because men require different needs to women and this would appeal to men more than these models are.

9. There are not a lot of social issues represented in fashion magazines. Sometimes in magazines, they may have
articles which relate to the models life on the front which could involve issues about their past
relationships, big event in their lives or personal issues and these could be classed as social issues within the
magazine. Also, sometimes in fashion magazines, they may have articles on how furs used and whether it
should be used and this relates to social issues. But people don‟t buy this sort of magazine to have debates
about different social issues, they buy the magazine because of the fashion element and this is why social
issues don‟t feature in fashion magazines. In real life magazines like “Chat” or “Take a Break” their magazines
feature social issues which can include domestic violence and issues like that so people who are into that kind
of magazine and like to relate their issues which are similar, buy their magazines because the audience can use
the social issues used in the magazine to their real life situations and that‟s why fashion magazines and real
life magazines have completely different audiences.

10. Some people when they look at the magazine and see the types of models on the cover, they will think that they are
quite full of themselves because of how the magazine interprets their beauty and because they are betrayed as
“perfect” people will think that they know they are beautiful and this makes them think they are better than
everyone else which is a typical stereotype. Also, because their audience is mainly middle class people who have the
money to pay the price of the magazines, people may think they are quite stuck up because they are quite wealthy
people and this shows because they can afford to spend around £4.00 on a magazine. They also aim their
magazines at people who can spend large amounts on designer clothes and they may be stereotyped as being
snobby and too big for their boots and look down on people who don‟t have the money that they do. People could
also stereotype the age of the magazine and say it‟s designed for women which are younger because of the well
known models used and that it may appeal to that audience, but in fact it‟s aimed at an older audience and some
people don‟t expect that. Also because the models are on the cover directly giving eye contact, they could be seen
as showing people what they could have and be like them which is a stereotype.

11. These magazines have a middle aged, wealthy and feminine audience and these are all in the presence group.
These types of magazines are missing men and elderly people in their audience and not so wealthy people and
these are in the absence group. Men wouldn‟t be interested in the fashion element of the magazine and would
prefer to read more sporty or fitness magazines. The elderly would be more interested in factual magazines or
magazines which are more “How to do…” magazines (for example, knitting). Then the not so wealthy and lower
class audience would prefer magazines which are based on real life and something at a cheaper price because
realistically they wouldn't be into the clothes that are featured in the magazines and they wouldn‟t be
interested because they are too highly priced and wouldn‟t be their taste. But the middle class and women
would prefer these magazines because they can afford the clothes and they are interested in the different
fashion which is displayed in the magazine. The magazines also have models which are well known celebrities
and these appeal to the audience too.

12. The content of these magazines are all based on fashion mainly, beauty and lifestyles and all fashion magazines contain
these features. They all contain advice about keeping a decent figure, make-up, style guides. For example, VOGUE has a
caption on the front saying “real style in real life”, ELLE has one saying “your all-season shopping guide” and BAZAAR has
one saying “the big fashion issue”. These are all referring to style and all fashion magazines relate to this and have
similar captions. On the front of the magazine, they use a well-known model which is within, or near, the age range of
the audience and they are also all women on the front because the majority of fashion magazine audiences are women.
This makes the connection between the audience and the magazine stronger and make the audience more likely to buy
it. They are also very high quality images because the focus on the magazine is the images as it displays a lot of images
and they are paying quite a bit of money so they will want their images to be really high quality. The font used on all
fashion magazines are very similar. They all use a thin, delicate and feminine font and use a range of colour tones from
pinks to purples and keep them very soft colours because this will attract their audience more. They also use white for
their captions so they stand out from the image on the background and this contrasts with the pinks and purples used.

13. The advertising in fashion magazines is
mainly adverts of products which could
include perfumes, clothes, make-up and they
all link to the magazine so they can
sometimes not be seen as adverts. These 3
magazines all contain adverts that are about
perfumes. This shows that they advertise
similar products that the audience will be into
and this attracts the reader to buy these
products because it‟s something that interests
them.
VOGUE
BAZAAR
ELLE

14. The articles inside fashion magazines are also quite similar.
They don‟t add constant articles throughout the magazine
because the reader isn‟t buying the magazine for the articles
so they mainly display images with a few captions. For
example, in the VOGUE example I got it just displays fashion
with a few captions to describe what is being shown. But then
they sometimes put in quite lengthy paragraphs which can be
about fashion, beauty or different lifestyles and advice. For
example, the ELLE example I got talks about different beauty
products which the reader would find interesting. Then
fashion magazines can also include articles which features
some of the staff that work on the magazine or famous
celebrities and how they speak about their life. This then
gives the reader something to read and maybe look up to
when they read how they got to where they are and could
sometimes relate their life to theirs, but they are not included
often.
BAZAAR
ELLE
VOGUE

15. The style of fashion magazines are made to have a main image on the front of the magazine and then around the
image is some captions on what the magazine explains. They use soft and very high quality images which appeal to
the audience and they use a soft and appealing font to their audience. All the covers of fashion magazines have
similar styles and this also includes the insides of the magazines. They mainly include images which are either in
colour of monochrome and they are based around fashion or make-up. They use quite bold fonts on the front of
their magazine but don‟t make it too bold, it is still kept quite feminine and they display some parts of the text in
italics and this is similar on each of the covers. The titles on all 3 of these magazines use the same font for the title
of the magazine and this keeps the titles feminine to contrast with the magazine. The images used all display
models or actresses which are well known and they are kept quite natural and this gives the reader something to
look up to without it being impossible to do so. Where as for a magazine like Kerrang, they use quite heavy and
bold fonts which are quite distorted and the covers are quite clumsy unlike fashion magazines because they have an
organised and this keeps it feminine as women are mainly organised and tidy.

16. Fashion magazines use symbols through their models. The models on the front dress in a way which is seen as
symbolic and says a lot about the way they are and says a lot about the person. The models on the front and
also inside the magazine wear designer clothes, jewelry, shoes and make-up. This is symbolic because they are
wearing designer clothes and this shows to people that they can afford the clothes they wear compared to
people who don‟t wear designer clothes. It also encourages people who read the magazine to buy the clothes
they are wearing as someone they look up to are wearing designer clothes which encourages them to buy
them. It can also mean that they look more respectable and more of a higher class because of the more
expensive clothes they have bought. Also having the models on the front is symbolic because people look up
to the models and this is what encourages them to buy what they are wearing and try and look like they are.
Because they are airbrushed this could symbolise fakeness or could symbolise beauty to some
people, depending on the audience.

17. Fashion magazines are produced not just in the UK, they are international and are produced in a range of countries.
VOGUE is printed in 18 countries and a few examples of what countries it‟s printed in is the
UK, US, Brazil, Australia, China, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico and a lot more. BAZAAR
is printed in 29 countries and ELLE has 43 international editions in over 60 counties. This makes the magazine
more successful and makes it easier for other countries to also read the magazine because of certain words and
symbols used in the UK version of the magazines. They translate the words in the magazine from the UK version to
different languages but they sometimes won‟t be able to translate some of the words because it‟s only used in the
UK which creates dilemmas for the magazines. They use the models to symbolise different cultures and by having
different models from different cultures and countries on a certain countries magazine, it makes it easier for their
country to engage with the magazine. By having their magazines translated into different languages, it makes the
audience understand the magazine easier because they understand the language and it makes it less difficult for
people while reading the magazine.

19. The front of the magazine has a main image which takes up the whole ratio of the front cover and around the
image there are mainly little captions that just describe some parts of what will be in the magazine. Fashion
magazines in general contain around 200 pages within it and this is mainly of images and doesn‟t contain as
many articles as images and this makes the magazines quite thick because of all the pages it contains. The
magazines can sometimes come in handbag size, just like COSMOPOLITON and this makes it easier for the
audience to get the magazine and take it around with them so when they want to read it, it‟s there. Then some
fashion magazines are at a normal A4 size and even though it‟s still quite small, they are really thick because
of the pages and this makes it less easier to take out and around with the reader.

20. ELLE
Inside the magazine, the producers mainly use images and these are
used way more than text in fashion magazines. From the examples
you can see that only limited text is used and it‟s only there to support
the images used as people who buy fashion magazines don‟t want to
be reading loads of writing, they want to see the images and
sometimes they don‟t use text at all on images as it isn‟t needed for
some photo shoots. To suit the target audience, because they are
higher and middle class, when articles are included in the magazines
they use quite lengthy and long paragraphs and also use quite formal
and sophisticated language so the reader can understand what is
being said as they will be well educated and the language used will
click with them. The images take up the full page and are at a high
quality because the reader is paying good money for a good magazine
and want it to be perfect for them. Also, the magazine uses quite a
few advertisements within the magazine but place them on a full page
so it fits in with the magazine and they don‟t give prices or details
about the product because the audience will be able to understand
what is being advertised and look up the name and designer of the
product being advertised but they use quite a lot of advertising
especially at the start of the magazine.
BAZAAR
VOGUE

21. The first ELLE magazine was published on the 21st November in 1945 and was produced in France. There has been a lot of
changes over the time. For example, when the first copy was published they don‟t use captions around the image about what
the magazine has in compared to now where they use captions all around the front of the magazine to explain to the reader
what the magazine contains. The font used on the front of the cover is still exactly the same apart from now they have
enlarged the font a lot and place in around the model and this makes it stand out a lot more. The image back then had quite a
pastel look to it and now they have invented Photoshop, they use that instead to airbrush the model and make it look “perfect”.
The amount of pages used in the older versions were around 24 pages, where as now it‟s got around 200 pages so they will
have extended what has been put into the magazine too.

22. The first VOGUE magazine was created in 1892 and since then it has changed a lot over time. In the first version of VOGUE they used
sketches of the Gibson Girl because she is the personification of feminine ideal of beauty and even now they use models which are
seen as beautiful and personify beauty. The first versions were produced in black and white and over time they have used colour
which makes the magazine more brighter. The font is still exactly the same apart from now they have enlarged it a lot and also
created some part of the VOGUE a little thinner which makes the title stand out more than just it being one size throughout the title.
They also didn‟t use captions around the image and on some versions they used really small images on a patterned
background, where as now they have one main image of the model with several captions around it to describe to the reader what the
magazine features. From the first ever edition they have stuck to keeping female models for the front cover which suggests that the
audience of the magazine has never changed and they have only featured 4 men on the front of VOGUE magazines.

23. The first Harper‟s Bazaar magazine was published in 1867 and was published in New York. When the magazine was first
produced, the name of the magazine had quite an old and patterned font and it was quite small and they included the full
name of the magazine. Where as now „Harper‟s‟ font is really small and then „BAZAAR‟ is quite a large font and it‟s changed a
lot overtime because it‟s also added an extra „a‟ into BAZAAR and from 1867 to 1948 the font had changed to how it is now.
They used illustrations for their images and it was also published in black and white, and now it‟s in colour and use pictures of
models. Also for the colour scheme, they stick to one theme of colours. For example, the BAZAAR magazine in 1948 use a
tone of browns and they use the same colour of clothing to the title and now they use white to match the really pale colour of
the clothes on the model. No captions were used around the image like they are now.