What do you want from a fashion magazine?

I used to buy them to find out about the new clothes for spring or fall. There were no live stream fashion shows, or instant website photos of the new season. Women's Wear Daily and a few broadsheet newspapers would publish daily reviews during the four fashion weeks (New York, London, Milan, and Paris). You always wanted to know what Women's Wear Daily said - they would be brutally honest and not worried about insulting advertisers or designers. Then closer to the actual season US Vogue and Harpers Bazaar would present their editorial vision of what were the best new designs. I used to value their editors' opinions, so that's why I bought the magazines. That, and the fact that I love clothing design - an interesting placement of a seam or a dart and I am in heaven, so I love to see what new constructions designers come up with every season. A sewing teacher at the Fashion Institute of Technology once threatened to fail me for experimenting with a different technique to do a cowl neck, so you can image I loved unconventional designers like Alexander McQueen and John Galliano purely for their innovations and ideas.

Well, most mainstream magazines don't serve that purpose today. I picked up US Harpers Bazaar today with Miley Cyrus on the cover (what a stroke of luck for the magazine that Miley had twerked her way into public fascination just a few days earlier) - and the issue is one big advertisement. It's not just the clearly identifiable ad pages, but it is full of "must have" lists and "editors' picks" which just happen to be available for sale on the Harpers Bazaar website. So when the editors of Harpers Bazaar say you should really love these Pierre Hardy wedges, they say that because these wedges are for sale on their website. Now an open minded person might say, but isn't it possible the editors loved the wedges and therefore made them available on their website? Yes, I suppose that is possible, but this shopping website is a revenue source for Harpers Bazaar, so their editors' advice is not entirely unbiased. Judging from the amount of J.McLaughlin skirts on the shopping site, it seems fairly easy to get the editors' seal of approval if you are a keen advertiser.

A rant a day keeps the doctor away? These wedges happen to be super cute. But if you have any interest in fashion as an art, or set of tailoring skills, then you may need to look elsewhere.

Pierre Hardy wedges - recommended as a "charming accent" in the magazine, and for sale on the website