After reading a number of fashion and beauty magazines recently, I’ve decided they should be considered escapist reading and not to be taken too seriously.
For example, it seems that fringed handbags are going to be the big thing this year so you should definitely buy one, according to a magazine article. But truly fashionable women “date but don’t marry,” meaning the following season they'll be on to the next new thing. The same goes for the handbag. So then, as per the article’s recommendation, you shouldn’t spend too much on a fringed purse—certainly no more than $1,000.
Since when does a $1,000 purse qualify as something cheap you wear for one season and then discard?
In the same magazine is another article on the beauty routines of fashionable women. One actress boasts that her routine is the essence of simplicity: a facial every week, a massage no more than three times a week, and, of course, her hair has to be blown out. And let’s not forget having a professional do her eyebrows.
Her skin care? Just a special cleanser for $132 to be used nightly and another $80 cleanser for mornings. Then after cleansing, a mask for $40, a serum for $67, a $60 eye creme, a moisturizer for $155, sunscreen somewhere, and a $60 foundation. But, she cautions that though it may sound expensive, the bottles are so large, the products last at least a month.
It’s nice to know she’s thrifty.
Forgetting about the money, how many women can make time for a weekly facial and three massages? And how many women have the time to use a mask before putting on their makeup in the morning?
The next important thing is the diet. If you try to follow their diets, you can really drive yourself crazy. One fashionable woman claims she only eats fish and chicken and hasn’t touched red meat in years. Turn the page, and another woman eats only red meat and wouldn’t think of eating fish because the “waters are polluted.”
Getting back to more practical wardrobe matters, now that colder weather is coming, you must think about adapting your wardrobe accordingly. If you’re thinking about wearing pantyhose again, a magazine has picked just the thing—a pair of beautiful black pantyhose for a mere $60!
Are they aware that hose runs? If I got a run in a pair of $60 hose, I'd want to shoot myself.
And shoes! It’s nothing now to spend $1,000 on a pair of shoes. At least with heels so terrifyingly high, they are bound to last forever because you'll never wear them!
By all means, enjoy the magazines, but don’t believe everything you read.
Miriam Silverberg is a freelance journalist and owner of Miriam Silverberg Associates, a boutique publicity firm in Manhattan. She may be reached at [email protected]
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