A look at fashion advertisements . . .

Though women’s magazines have changed over the years, the way fashion is advertised has barely changed at all. Trends have come and gone and come again, but ironically advertising techniques seem to have stayed the same. A popular advertising technique when showcasing the new season’s colours is to show one colour per page or spread. 

This technique emerged following the advent of colour printing and has been popular ever since.Fashion spreads focused on one colour are eye-catching. They also allow for no confusion when it comes to what colours should be filling your wardrobe. Another reoccurring technique is the use of ‘real women’ to model current trends. There is no denying that what we wear is driven by catwalk models and celebrities. But women want to see how these looks can be worn in their day-to-day lives. 

Let’s compare the pair. Women’s Weekly Vol. 1 No. 1 released June 10 1933 and the most recent Dolly.

The use of ‘real women’ has become a common feature of nearly all women’s magazines. Unlike the 1933 Women’s Weekly however, current magazines don’t usually provide information regarding the marital status of their ‘real’ models. “Pauline McDonald, in the lower picture . . . Her engagement to Dick Allen, son of Mrs Herbert Allen, was recently announced.” 

Obviously in 1933 the marital status, holiday patterns and hobbies of Sydney Society were the talk of the town. The writing which accompanies these fashion spreads may have been tweaked over the years, but the ideas behind them have stayed the same.

Author Anna Gough-Yates looks at the influence women had over magazine content in her book ‘Understanding Women’s Magazines: Publishing, Markets and Readerships.’ She focuses on the 1980s, a time when woman desired a life beyond the home and became more prominent in the workforce. These woman needed working girl clothes and therefore became the target market for fashion advertisers. This in turn fuelled a change in women’s magazines. 

Fashion houses buy advertising space in magazines that reach their target audience. But in the 1980s, the majority of women’s magazines were targeted at housewives. Look at the 1993 Women’s Weekly. There is no information on where to shop but rather a “FREE PAPPER PATERN” and “full knitting directions for two unusual jumpers.”

Magazines needed to reflect the changing attitudes of women if they wanted fashion houses to buy advertising space. This meant that magazines like the Women’s Weekly began to reflect the lifestyles and attitudes of all women. Correct me if I’m wrong, but knitting directions are only found in magazines dedicated to knitting. 

Women’s magazines have shifted their focus to suit the times and readership. But fashion advertisements and their focus have remained relatively unchanged. If the past eighty years haven’t altered the advertising techniques of fashion moguls, the next eighty years surely won’t.