Slow media and introduction

The magazine aisles are dwindling. There are the gossip magazines, there are the children’s magazines, there are the interior design magazines. There is sometimes Vogue, sometimes Elle, sometimes Harper’s Bazaar. Tumbleweeds – the memory of the glossy bibles of the pre-digital age. What has happened to the ritual of ransacking the local newsagents for the pages that will line teenage girl’s walls? The fashion industry has gone digital – as has everything else – but what of the magazine culture? What replaces it, or can we go back?

I am part of the last generation of physical media. I had VHS tapes – that we called videos – and CDs in the car. I still remember the routine of going to Blockbuster Video and picking out a film for the weekend, I also remember when Netflix was a delivery service. It seems worlds away now.

I also remember collecting magazines – it was Ideal Home and Wildlife that earned my pocket money – and I used to sit and read and admire the glossy pages for hours. In my teen years, this changed to Vogue and Cosmopolitan. But, by even then, the shelves seemed emptier. I worry that the future generations will never get to experience the joy of a physical magazine – the smell, the texture, the words – with digital technology enforcing a monopoly on the media industry.

They can exist in tandem. The digital age does not mean an abandonment of the practices of before. Print journalism and photography still has a place in the culture. Please don’t take me for a luddite who refuses to participate in digital life – it is the opposite in fact. I love Instagram. I love Pinterest. I love the digital versions of the print magazines I love. I contain multitudes. I just have a yen to return to the slow media of yesteryear. Everything moves too fast, and everything is too much for a person to see. We were not supposed to be able to know what the billions of other people in the world are thinking at any given time. Even worse is the fact that the internet breeds an inauthenticity, making us and everyone else fake – whose idea was this anyway?

I jest, the internet is the most incredible invention since… ever BUT too much is too much. I find myself nostalgic for a time when I was barely conscious or not even born yet. The time where life existed outside of a metal supercomputer in my pocket that I cannot bear to be without. The time where life was offline because there wasn’t an online to be on. The time when we spoke to each other.

(Obviously minus all the discrimination and lack of rights for minorities and women.)

I think blogging and the early days of vlogging was the golden age. So, that is what I am going to try and emulate.

So, this is for those who would like to have a slower pace, who still dream of seeing their name in print, but who also love Instagram. <3

As this is my first post, I will also endeavour to introduce myself. I am Abi. I’m a 20-year-old student in Manchester but from London. I study languages – French and Italian – so I am also going to be travelling this year – which I will hopefully share with you. I love fashion and I hope to one day be a part of that world. I hope to one day write for one (or all) of those glamorous publications à la the Andies of The Devil Wears Prada and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. I am super into fibre arts - knitting and sewing are my favourites. I love second-hand and vintage fashion. My favourite couture brands are Prada, MiuMiu, and Dior.

So, welcome to my space. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Abi à la mode xx