Best Fashion Magazines for Teen Girls

Best Fashion Magazines for Teen Girls

 

Which fashion magazines are best for teenage girls?

Teenage girls and magazines go hand-in-hand. But while once there were specific magazines for each age group (Teen for young teenagers; Seventeen for older teens; Glamour for college girls), the past decade has welcomed a huge increase in magazines targeted to teenage girls and women.

Which magazine is right for which type of teen? Follow this handy guide:

 

Seventeen

Once targeted specifically to older teenagers, in recent years, Seventeen has become a bit less sophisticated. Looking through recent issues, the articles and fashion seem more geared towards junior high than high school. Teens that are interested in high fashion shouldn’t look to Seventeen for inspiration – most of the clothes featured are from bargain stores such as Target, Forever 21 and Kohl’s. Most of the articles aren’t longer than a page and consist of the “what to say to your crush in the hallway” variety.

Teen Vogue

Although sales of Teen Vogue (and regular Vogue) have decreased within the past year, Teen Vogue is still the premiere teenage magazine for designer fashion. The magazine features clothing from both established and up-and-coming designers, as well as features on celebrities, celebrities’ children and “real girls” (though the real girls tend to usually be connected to some high-profile New York adult). One downside is that the Teen Vogue writing staff seems quite small, so many of the articles tend to sound the same month after month. But the clothes, especially during the all-important Fall and Spring issues, are worth it.

CosmoGirl!

Following in Seventeen’s footsteps (or perhaps vice versa), CosmoGirl! has also “dumbed down” in the past few years, following the departure of original editor-in-chief Atoosa Rubenstein (who once worked for Cosmopolitan and came up with the idea for CosmoGirl!). The magazine still has Project 2024, its focus on politics and the hope that by 2024, a woman will be President. But altogether, CosmoGirl! simply isn’t as inspiring as it used to be. Purchase it for fun beauty and fashion spreads, not for deep thinking.

Glamour

Some parents may be uncomfortable with younger teens reading Glamour, but for the 16 and older set, Glamour is a perfect read. It’s an empowering women’s magazine, which not only focuses on fashion and beauty, but features in-depth articles about women’s issues both nationally and globally. Because of this, though it’s geared towards adults, not teenagers, it’s a more worthwhile read than all the “does my crush like me?” quizzes that seem to populate many teen mags these days. Unlike adult Cosmopolitan, which has sex articles that focus mainly on how to please a man, Glamour’s sex articles promote good relationships and good health – and what’s harmful about a teenager reading that?

Lucky

Lucky is basically all fashion and beauty (no articles) which makes it appropriate for any age. For teenagers that have a passion for fashion, Lucky is a good buy. In addition to features about how to wear certain trends and styles, Lucky focuses a lot on fashion and beauty websites, which greatly appeal to teenagers.