As an aspiring fashion writer and life-long fashion appreciator, I grew up pouring over the pages of Vogue and Glamour. I also grew up with a poor single mother and the knowledge that I would never be able to afford the clothes pictured in the magazines I adored. I've watched publications like Glamour become more well-rounded and progressive just over the past 5 years as they take firm feminist stances on issues and tackle race relations with a social justice lens. They've incorporated more diversity in their content, featured faces, and writers. Many such magazines have responded to public demand to be more diverse in regard to gender, sexuality, and race and have finally realized that women are interested in content other than articles telling us what jeans to buy according to what piece of fruit our bodies are apparently shaped like. Just five years ago, I wouldn't be able to learn about the Syrian refugee crisis from a women's magazine. Publications like Refinery29 offer coverage on Paris Fashion Week alongside articles highlighting foreign policy developments and following the presidential election. While we still have miles to go on these fronts, it seems one of the many areas of inclusion that womens' magazines have yet to tackle is the alienation of low-income women. I have yet to see an article featuring truly affordable fashion that combats the rampant classism in the fashion industry and every time Glamour and almost every other womens' magazine publishes a piece on "affordable" fashion, decor, etc, they get it so wrong.
I'm not arguing that couture doesn't have its place in womens' magazines or that brands like Chanel should be absent from the glossy pages of Vogue and Glamour, much like I wouldn't go into the Louvre and lament that I can't afford the Mona Lisa. I just wish that Glamour and its counterparts would reevaluate their definition of "affordable." Not being able to afford so much as a button from Givenchy's latest collection is not exclusive to low-income women, but to most women who aren't some sort of celebrity. And that's okay! Fashion is applied art and for many, is meant to serve the purpose of inspiration, not aspiration. My largest grievance with women's fashion magazines is when they feature articles offering "affordable" options to emulate runway trends on a budget. I've hopefully turned pages to and clicked links for these sorts of articles in hopes that I would find clothes that I could actually afford, not $500 garments that masquerade as affordable because they happen to be less expensive than runway fashion and I've been disappointed each time. Seeing that the magazines I adore paint a picture of affordable that is so vastly out of my financial league is not only ridiculous, but alienating.
If you're going to feature articles posing as affordable, the clothing items highlighted need to be accessible to single mothers, broke college students, and young girls saving up their babysitting money and show truly affordable ways to appropriate high fashion trends on a bare-bones budget, either from affordable stores or through DIYs. I know this sort of content is difficult to write, as there are certain trends and quality present in couture that one can't find at Target or Forever 21. But as someone who has done just that their whole life, I promise that it can be done and that theres people willing to write about it. And although scouring thrift stores and sale racks for the perfect Chanel-esque LBD is challenging and at times frustrating, isn't that why fashion is fun? I personally find it empowering when I'm able to replicate a thousand dollar look through thrifted finds and DIYs. In a world where beauty standards and fashion expectations can be stressful and discriminatory, articles that showcase how fun sartorial ingenuity can be are exactly what women want and need.
