September issues: more than a bunch of bananas, but less than a chicken

Weighing in at over three pounds, my 2012 selection of September issues. According to the American Family Scale, it's more than a bunch of bananas, but less than a chicken.

It's that time...the September issue Olympics. As a magazine and fashion lover, this is both exciting and daunting. It's no longer the September issue, it's issues. At one time, Vogue was the only September issue that was fat with ads, fashion photos and editorial. I could leisurely flip through the pages and when I eventually reached the last page, I was confident that I knew what I needed to know about what was new for fall. Now all the fashion and style mags across multiple categories are on to the extra ad revenue and cache. For style and culture hunters, there's now at least fifteen magazines to study.

Two years ago, my BFFF (best fashion friend forever) Karen and I decided to tackle the project together. We began at about 10 am on a Saturday and it took us until early evening to dissect our collection of September issues. We read, sticky-noted, ripped out pages, highlighted, discussed what worked and what didn't until we couldn't see straight.

It's a job and we're just the girls for the job. We started with breakfast treats, moved on to lunch, then afternoon coffee and finished the day with a martini made by hubby Matt. And of course, we stayed hydrated throughout with lots of water. It was a marathon after all.


We missed our session last year so Karen and I have already set our date for our September 2014 issu-athon. I've already received my September Vanity Fair and Harper's Bazaar (with the lovely granddaughter of Audrey Hepburn photographed by the grandson of Richard Avedon). I've done my due diligence in scouring them both and placing sticky notes on various pages for discussion with Karen. Vogue has yet to kerplunk it's big bad self in my mailbox. But I just experimented with a new experience. I got an email from Vogue saying the iPad version was available. I downloaded it and flicked through the first third. It was fun in a novel sort of way, but I felt like I was cheating! I'm saving the rest for the real deal. But the iPad does illuminate all the rich fall colors in the photos beautifully. I did make note that long skinny scarves are in. I like that a lot.

I do have a perusal process. As I flip through the mags I ask myself: What's really new? What catches my eye? What elements of an outfit do I already have? Which ones do I want to add? Are the proportions new (wider pants? shorter tops?)? Most of the outfits are in the multi-thousand dollar range, so chances are slim that I'll buy that exact Prada item. But how can I translate what I like into something I can afford (and still give the appearance of expensive elegance)?

As a pre-game warmup, I just watched The September Issue film again. It's enlightening to hear the creative discussions and see the passion, angst (especially Grace Coddington!) and focus (especially Anna Wintour!) to put Vogue together. I so appreciate all the work, thought and creative mastery that it takes to create a world of beauty, exoticness and elegance all in one package and have it delivered to my doorstep and my iPad.

I'll report back on our findings from our upcoming session. And I'd love to hear your thoughts on your favorite September issue this year, whatever magazine that may be.

It Girl: Grace Coddington

Seemingly all at once, there are several books and movies featuring longtime Vogue creative director Grace Coddington. And one she has written herself, which I read over the holidays, Grace: A Memoir. Admitting that she's probably only read two books in her life, Grace is more surprised than anyone that she has written a memoir. But public appearances and interviewer questions stirred thoughts and memories after the release of The September Issue. So the woman who spends her life behind the scenes orchestrating fashion photoshoots became a celebrity, answering questions about her life story. In the film, Grace's forthright manner and passion for her creative vision was in direct contrast with Anna Wintour's cool, sometimes Arctic, demeanor. This made for great drama and the audience couldn't help but relate to and root for Grace. Especially when Anna was slashing an entire fashion spread dreamed up and made real by Grace, who very vocally and emotionally fought back.

Born in 1941 on Anglesey, an island on the north coast of Wales, she grew up in a hotel run by her parents which she describes as "a plain building with whitewashed walls and a sturdy gray slate roof, long and low, with the understated air of an elongated bungalow." Grace says she grew up with "sand dunes, rugged monochrome cliffs, druid circles and bleakness", seeing "beauty in the bleakness." At fifteen, she spent her days drifting in her little sailboat named Argo "in grand seclusion." All of which makes perfect sense today, that she appears to be down-to-earth but creates such elaborate fantastical fashion spreads. And always interested in clothes, she made most of her wardrobe on a Singer sewing machine using Vogue patterns. I can certainly relate to that. And she says that as a child, she read her older sister's Vogue saying she liked it for the fantasy of looking at beautiful clothes and getting lost in its pages.

At eighteen, she knew if she stayed on the island her only career choices were "working in a clock factory or a snack bar", so in 1959 she ventured to London with a girlfriend to try modeling. Grace enrolled in the Cherry Marshall modeling school. (A quick search and I learn that Cherry has an interesting story too, one that I plan to explore.) Grace had early success with modeling, winning a Vogue competition and posing for the top photographers like Norman Parkinson.

And so with modeling, her adventures into the fashionable world begins. Casually and anecdotally, Grace mentions the names of friends, lovers and co-workers, all celebrities today. Names like Mick Jagger (she made out with him), Vidal Sassoon, all the fashion photographer greats and her first husband Michael Chow. Then in her late twenties she was told that she was getting too old to be a model and that she should be a fashion editor, so she got her first editing job at British Vogue.

The book has great photos, capturing the feeling of the time. Above is a 1981 photo of Grace with hairstylist Didier Malige, colleagues on fashion shoots then, but now life partners for over thirty years. I love her look in this photo.

Grace's sketch of the front row who's who at a fashion show. 

"With Anna at a Versace show. Photo: Arthur Elgort, 1998"

In the book's introduction, Grace modestly says "I'm always surprised that people who've seen the movie (The September Issue) respond to me in such a positive manner. Maybe it's because I come across on-screen as so emotional. It makes me appear idealistic, in contrast to Anna, who is by nature much more determinedly and quietly controlled. Or maybe it's because I appear to be put upon." Grace is loyal to Anna, writing about "the creative push and pull of the way Anna and I work together." Her thoughts on The Devil Wears Prada?: "its portrayal of fashion is utterly ridiculous".

The memoir contains a selection of Grace's fashion spreads:

British Vogue, shot by Helmut Newton, 1971.
That's Grace in the pool above and below in the black bikini.

Grace's elaborate and fantastic Alice in Wonderland multi-page creation for American Vogue.
Photos: Annie Leibowitz, 2003.

Coinciding with Vogue's 120th anniversary, In Vogue: The Editor's Eye, an HBO documentary about the fashion editors premiered recently, not having HBO I haven't seen it, but I'm hoping to soon. And of course, It-girl Grace is featured. And the same for the gorgeous companion book, Vogue: The Editor's Eye, which is on my wish list.

In her memoir, Grace takes the reader up to the present day when she celebrates her 71st birthday at a party thrown by Anna Wintour. Nearly everyone important to fashion was there. In a toast to Grace, Anna says "To me you will always be the heart and soul of the magazine, its guardian at the gate, its beacon of excellence..."

Grace is an inspiration for sticking to her passion and vision. Having worked in the fashion world for over fifty years, it must be pretty cool to be an "It" girl at the age of 71.