Top 5 Fashion Magazines for Real Life Women

Fashion magazines are becoming more and more of a trend in today's fashionable world and finding the one that you would like best can be hard. Some have an overly excessive idea of fashion and seem to think that more is always better in the realms of makeup and hairstyles. Others seem to be dark and dreary where fashion is concerned and many of the models where dark colors with weird hairstyles and look very pail and sickly. Personally it depresses me to think that some of the magazines that are out there show young girls that you have to be skinny to be beautiful; however there are magazines that show true beauty as well. The main fashion magazines are Elle, Vogue, Allure, Cosmopolitan, Cosmo Girl, Women's Health, W, Seventeen, Maxim, Redbook, Esquire, Marie Clair, and my favorite of all Figure.

Some of these magazines such as Seventeen and Cosmo girl revolve around young teen girls and how to deal with everything from overbearing parents to finally speaking to that cute guy that sits in the back of your math class. Others such as Elle and Vogue focus on style and fashion both in the United States and the rest of the world. Women's Health focuses on the fashion and beauty of staying healthy and eating right while Redbook is more leaned toward mothers who work and have families. Figure is a magazine that I truly approve of because it does not push beauty as being skinny and frail, but as bold and beautiful. This is why Figure makes my number 1 position on the list.

Figure is a magazine that is focused on the realistic side of being beautiful. Full figured women are to most people more beautiful than tiny, skinny, unhealthy looking women. Figure is for women who are of all shapes and sizes and comes out with 6 issues each year. It has articles about everything from fashion and beauty to health and fitness. While it is directed at all women no matter what size or shape it truly celebrates plus-size women and features real women that we see every day. I truly believe that this is the best fashion and beauty magazine out there because it does not push teenagers to be skinny or have eating issues; instead it shows how pretty you are just being you.

With today's more frequent households that have either single or working moms the next magazine on my list is Redbook coming in at number 2. This magazine is focused on young mothers who have to work while juggling family life. The main focuses are beauty, health, parenting, relationships, food, and exercise. The magazine, like Figure, focuses on real life women who live like most of us do every day which makes it more realistic and helpful. Number 3 on my list is Cosmopolitan. This is because it helps women with their personal lives as well as professional lives. The magazine mainly focuses on helping women with relationships, fashion, beauty tips, staying healthy, and stress management. It is one of the best selling magazines and although not appropriate in some areas for teens, is very helpful to women in the 18-30 age range.

Numbers 4 and 5 on my list would have to be Elle and Vogue. Elle just does not seem to appeal to my own tastes nor that of any other woman I know. It focuses on international style and is directed more toward sophisticated women, which most of us "real women" are not. It occasionally has good articles in it about fashion and lifestyles, but most all of the clothing and products that it contains or promotes are not anywhere near the budget range of common every day women. Vogue would have to come in at number 5 because of the fact that everyday women just don't look or dress anything like any of the women that you see in the magazine. There are interesting things in the magazine such as the articles on interviews and news in the fashion world however just like Elle, the magazine features clothing and products that most women can't afford. I would truly love to see all fashion magazines direct their issues more broadly with introducing less expensive merchandise and more realistic women like the top 3 magazines on my list already do.