GWAS Playlist

This week's pick of pop culture, magazines & pretty things...

1. Miranda Kerr, who fronts the October issue of Dolly magazine, which was responsible for launching her career with its Model Competition back in 1997 (controversially, when she was just 13), is launching an organic skincare line named Kora, available exclusively in David Jones stores from mid-October, reports Primped. Though girls may read about Miranda's seemingly perfect life and weep, Dolly editor Gemma Crisp reminds us that "it's not cool to rely on external factors for a self-love boost". Dolly gives prospective readers a special love boost with a free Roxy Duffle Bag worth $49.95 (competitor Girlfriend comes with a Rip Curl tote).

2. Sportsgirl duffle bags were the fashion item du jour when I was a teen, and they made a retro comeback two years ago (making me feel older than I should), but now the iconic Aussie clothing brand is bringing out its own range of cosmetics, About Face, which includes 32 makeup products, from bronzer to eye shadows and nail polish. With prices ranging from $7.95 to $19.95, the range is available online or in-store.

In other retail news, soon to be competing with Sportsgirl is British fashion chain Topshop, which will stock its coveted Kate Moss collection in Sydney's Oxford Street Incu store (inc-who?, you say). The trendy store also stocks Bassike, Marc by Marc Jacobs and Alexander Wang, while Topshop also has deals with specialty retailers Colette in Paris and Opening Ceremony in New York. After the U.K. and U.S., Australia is the biggest selling market for Topshop, which ships to our shores via Topshop.com (Source: SMH)

3. While First Lady Michelle Obama has made the November cover of Prevention in the U.S. wearing Jason Wu, Jezebel asks, 'Why do women's magazines pick cover girls who don't work?' concluding, "There's probably a market for a magazine that would print real, personal observations by celebrities about work and life, rather than sanitized promotions of their latest products. Unfortunately, such a magazine would threaten the current tried-and-false formula of celebrity cover + softball questions = easy publicity, so we probably won't be seeing it anytime soon."

Bring back Vive, I say! As one of the only mags that put "other" inspirational women on its covers (i.e. successful businesswomen), it was a leader. Now, it's only small circulating titles like the little-known Footprints and Flourish that will dare to put "real chicks" on covers (and, yes, I know there's an element of real-chicks-don't-sell at play here).

While some mags (very few) are interested in the lives of real women outside the "glossy-sphere", the mainstream glossies are still mostly only interested in women who are celebrities (Reese Witherspoon for Marie Claire), models (Christy Turlington for Madison) or have lost a lot of weight (see this week's Who; Magda Szubanski for The Australian Women's Weekly twice this year already). Others are counteracting the publishing stereotype by being more inclusive of other women... but usually still insist on making the women in their own image (hello, Photoshop!). However, it was fantastic this week to see Cosmopolitan give its Fun, Fearless Female Women of the Year Award to a SCIENTIST!

4. I filed a review of Melinda Tankard Reist's Getting Real: Challenging the Sexualisation of Girls for Christian newspaper Eternity this week, so I'm hyper-sensitive about the portrayal of young girls in the media right now. As such, I read Who magazine's October 12 issue feature 'Boy, she's cute', celebrating Shiloh Jolie-Pitt's penchant for cargo pants and khakis, with some trepidation. Then I read about the more worrisome picture of a 10-year-old Brooke Shields to be exhibited at the Tate Modern in London via The Cut. Meanwhile, Tory Maguire asks, 'Is it child porn if the subject is famous?' at The Punch. I ask, are you having GWAS de ja vous?

5. Abby Gardner's latest fashionomics report for Fashionista, 'Forecast: Not So Cheery', is very amusing: "While Fashion’s Night Out was clearly a success in boosting morale, and in many cases sales for the night, the reality of fashion’s retail situation is still murky at best," writes Gardner. "The newest numbers released about how consumers are feeling are not so positive, and the people that are paid to analyze such things don’t think there will be much of a significant upswing anytime soon, regardless of the fact that most economists are claiming the recession generally over."

Meanwhile, Gwyneth Paltrow is providing FREE financial advice c/o her investment banker buddies @ GOOP. Coincidentally, Bond No.9. is launching a new Andy Warhol-inspired fragrance called 'Success is a Job in New York.' And pop culture continues to make the wheels of materialism go round.

6. If Perez Hilton is a picture of online success, then would you want it? SMH reports that the 31-year-old has two pop-culture blogs (visited by 10 million people a day), a Twitter account with nearly 1.5 million followers and a record label. He says, "I describe myself as boring; all I do is work, and I'm a music lover." How does he conquer moments of self doubt? "I ask myself WWMD: what would Madonna do?". I ask myself, is Madonna – not exactly a pillar of stability, but definitely an 'empowered woman', whatever that means now – really someone you want to be channeling in moments of doubt? I'm sticking with God.

7. Why didn't The Beautiful Life work despite its high-profile cast (Mischa Barton, Elle Macpherson) and producer (Ashton Kutcher)? Maybe in the era of reality shows like Next Top Model, audiences don't need to be fed fashion fiction, suggests Amy Odell. "What everyone really wants to see is not a phony portrayal of the fashion industry, but the real thing." This, of course, equals bitchiness, skinny-ness, rejection and eating disorders – not really something I want to watch when I'm trying to avoid it online all day, but each to their own viewing preferences. Perhaps TV producers should consider bringing something, maybe, uplifting and positive to the television? Reviving Hey Hey It's Saturday with some publicity CPR seemed to do the trick. All it's lacking is a celebrity chef.

8. "I believe our grandchildren will be reading Cosmo, Rolling Stone and Esquire all in a printed format," Hearst Magazines EVP Michael Clinton told a Min conference this week. "We are a very special medium that has very special characteristics. We represent a very unique experience in the marketplace." Other speakers suggested that publishers would have to settle for charging for online content with a reduced but higher quality readership, while passionate sales staff "excited about what the proposition is" are key to maintaining brands in this climate.

Meanwhile, I've no doubt there are many media buyers, advertising types and publishers who wish for a return to the simple days of "This is my magazine, these are our readers, and this is why they might need/desire your product." When exactly did advertising get soooo complicated? Targeting, tracking, tailored ads, behavioural targeting, "anonymizing"... sheesh! You need a degree just to decipher the jargon. Not that anyone is spending money on advertising right now anyway (except online!).

9. The former Time Inc. published title Life, which ceased publication in 1972, is available to read via Google Books but, laments Min's Steve Smith, "Google could use a magazine editor and a magazine art director", such is the "hodgepodge" of content presented to us to navigate. "Given the current state of the art in digital magazine interfaces from companies like Texterity, Nxtbook and Zinio, it is disappointing to see the ways in which magazines look and feel at the mercy of Google’s design sense," writes Smith.

10. Maggie Alderson, Mia Freedman, Glynis Traill-Nash, Sarah Wilson, Catherine Deveny... these are but a few of my favourite Aussie female columnists. And, funnily enough, they all write for Fairfax publications. Clearly the publisher has an eye for talent. Fairfax's latest signing? Spicks and Specks' Myf Warhurst, who joins The Age as a weekly columnist as the daily sets out to "have a bit more fun as we explore the lighter side of life in Melbourne." A graduate of the University of Melbourne, Warhurst's media career began with Melbourne street press publication Inpress before joining Merrick and Rosso at Triple J and later the cast of Rove. (Source: mUmbrella)

The Word for the Weekend: "I can do everything through him who gives me strength". Philippians 4:13

Yours truly,
Girl With a Satchel