Review of In Style Magazine

In Style Magazine is a wildly popular mix of fashion, celebrity news, home décor and beauty information. Since it's inception in 1994, In Style has grown its subscriber base to 1.7 million readers, more if you consider newsstand sales.

The cover of the magazine always features a celebrity, and this celebrity focus continues within its pages. It wouldn't be enough to say that In Style covers what the stars are wearing: this magazine reports on what they were wearing years ago. Then there are the details of celebrity parties...celebrity homes...celebrity makeup...celebrity hot spots and even what is inside a celebrity's handbag.

Presented in a fun manner, and dealing with pleasant topics, In Style manages to cover every aspect of Brad's, Lindsay's, and the Jessica's (Alba, Biel and Simpson) lives without venturing into tabloid territory. While I don't look to starlets for political direction, I am open to picking up a style tip or two. This, I think, is one of the reasons for the magazine's popularity. Celebrities have access to the newest and the best. They then have a legion of stylists, trainers and consultants to help them sort through and use, all of these products. By reading about their clothes, homes and lifestyle, the rest of us get ideas about the best that is out there.

Layout

Most magazines measure 8x11 inches. At 9x11, In Style has a distinct physical difference allowing seemingly more text or pictures on each page. The magazine uses a slick red, black and white color scheme, which gives it a uniform appearance, and offsets the vivid colors of the items featured. As is typical with fashion magazines, ads make up at least half of the pages. One of my favorite things about In Style is that the articles are either contained on one page, or flow into the next. This keeps me from reading the first two pages of an article, then jumping fifty pages to the back of the magazine to read the rest.

Features

Each month, one or two celebrity interviews are interviewed and highlighted. There will be no hard hitting questions, or earth shattering revelations in these articles. This are the equivalent of a late show segment with David Letterman or Jay Leno. Light. Humorous, and of course, there's a plug for the celebrity's latest project.

Monthly Columns

A significant amount of In Style's content falls into one of the monthly columns. "Her 10 Best..." highlights the, well, best looks of one particular actress. "Where can I find..." answers reader's questions about where to find a particular piece of clothing spotted on a celebrity. "Instant Style" takes a particular theme: weekend looks, poolside looks and lays out a complete outfit, sans model. This column must have been popular, since a book of the same name has been created by the same publishers.

Articles

Towards the back of the magazine are the lifestyle segments. A celebrity from the film, music or design industry takes readers through their house. Then there is usually an additional section detailing a wedding or party.

Overall

I have subscribed to this magazine continuously since 2001, yet I never feel as though I have outgrown, or that I am bored with it. Perhaps the best indicator of how others feel about the magazine (in addition to it's over one million subscribers) is how quickly the magazine disappears when I bring a copy to the gym to "recycle" it. I will put it on the magazine rack, and sometimes within seconds, someone comes up and takes it.

Out of 10 stars, I would give this magazine a 9.