the most important month of the year

September Fashion Magazines Earn Praise for Skewing Older This Year

Some reporters have noticed that a few ladies over the age of 40 grace the year’s biggest covers of some of the world’s biggest fashion magazines. Julia Roberts is on September’s Elle at age 42, Jennifer Lopez is on Glamour at age 41, Jennifer Aniston is on Harper’s Bazaar at age 41, and Halle Berry is on Vogue at age 44. It’s sad that four women over 40 landing fashion-magazine covers is a shocking thing that results in numerous articles pointing to the motif. Of course the women make sense for the fall season, which felt much more about womanliness than girlishness for the first time in a very long time. But the Daily News’ peachiness over these women on these covers feels misplaced.

The paper writes:

In a PYT-mad culture, the significance of showcasing pretty but not young things on the most important fashion-mags issue of the year is loud and clear: It’s time to grow up if you think youth is everything.


Harper’s Bazaar has an article about when it’s okay not to wear a bra in your late 30s and Elle has an article about divorce, which the Daily News also feels skew the issues to an older audience. Except even with those pieces, it’s hard to see how these magazines, with these covers, actually suggest that middle age is acceptable or trendy. All these women have, readily at hand, the movie-star services of the world’s best makeup artists, photographers, retouchers, and — yes, we’re going to say it — plastic surgeons. The message these images seem to send is that 40 is in if you look like you’re in your 30s, maybe 20s. And maybe these castings have more to do with the changing face of media than with fashion: The world gets news and information online these days. Maybe these covers are a grasp at the people clinging to their monthly paper media.

September style bibles use Jennifer Lopez, Julia Roberts, Halle Berry to prove 40 is nothing to fear [NYDN]

September Fashion Magazines Earn Praise for Skewing Older This Year