It's been a while, but the review is back! Vogue...January 2011

Compared with the December edition of Vogue; a cracking mag of over 270 pages of fabulous fashion fantasy and finds albeit completely out of my price range, I was a tad disillusioned by the January publication and for a split second considered not spending my hard-earned on a magazine that could barely scrap together 184 pages. It should be said however, that one should not be so hasty as to pass such severe judgement upon first glance and should instead sit down quietly over a cup of tea and peruse its contents before mouthing off. This gloss-pot boys and girls turned out to be a perfect and delectable example of quality over quantity. I really enjoyed immersing myself in perfectly presented pictorial montages and well-written prose and it wasn’t long before I was searching the net for a floor length silk caftan-style-cape in sky blue as worn by the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire on page 171. Sadly, couldn’t find one, which wasn’t an altogether loss...sky blue? Not really my colour.

A pregnant Miranda Kerr on the shiny new jacket was in my opinion a brave move. It stimulated a number of interesting arguments on the Vogue forum, which yours truly took part in for the very first time (long time reader, first time poster...can you believe I actually wrote that?) I will admit, I nearly didn’t recognise the latest edition owing to its foray into unfamiliar territory on the front cover but as one poster pointed out ‘pregnant women want to look glamorous too’ and let’s face...when it comes to Miranda Kerr you’ve got the best of both worlds. Personally I reckon I could have given her a run for her money when pregnant with the oldest of my little people. There was not one swollen ankle in sight. Not so with baby cub...I spent the first 18 weeks huddled over a toilet bowl and the next 22 trying to avoid it.

Will admit, when you break it down, I wasn’t so impressed with the individual pieces of apparel on display. Aside from the obligatory swim wear and odd sunglass, I couldn’t help but feel as though the fashion team had picked up the least wintery pieces from the Autumn/Winter catwalk collections and passed them off as high summer. Who knows, perhaps it was the rich shades of caramel brown that dominated the pre-winter scene in the UK and Paris or the plethora of long-sleeve, trench wearing celebs that tipped me off to the dilemma. The ‘anything goes’ spread on pg 150-156 did a reasonable job at hinting at what one might wear when one is scorching but on the whole lacked that summer feel. ‘Spose it is a bit hard when you are trans-seasonal to the fashion world and household names like Muiccia Prada who along with her esteemed friends made this gloss what it is, are whipping out the wool when-ever they get the chance. For my mind, the December edition did a much better job at capturing the current temps if you have a chance at a back copy.

Not that I didn’t find a treasure trove of inspiration for the coming months...I did and in the least expected places. The full page advertisement for Forever New (still not a good fit as far as advertising goes for my mind) had me running for the smallest-wardrobe-in-the-world for a complete outfit that I intend to wear on Wednesday. Something I am going to have to get used to yet again now that I have decided to stop...gulp...spending for at least...sniff...four months. Please don’t say anymore...the credit card has spoken and I’ve already gone through one box of Kleenex in sympathy with myself.

In closing, if you can get over the questionable fashion finds then this is a great little publication in which to put up your feet and enjoy. The beauty, life and entertainment sections are all good reads and there are number of ripping articles to keep you well entertained. Vogue doing what it does best...only without the usual dominating pages of high priced fashion that those with a mortgage can only dream about.

I’d buy it. Oh wait, I already have...