I haven't done a magazine review in a long time and so here goes:
Despite all that bad impressions How I Met Your Mother gives us of Canada (I'm trying to look smart here by making a cultural reference so work with me), the often forgotten other half of North America has some pretty awesome stuff to offer us: blistering cold temperatures that only seem to get colder every year, weird people who speak a mix of french and english, and also Worn. I was pretty psyched when I received my copy in the mail for Christmas because Worn is magic, like Santa Claus in paper form.
I was initially quite bothered by its title because Worn is obviously not a fashion journal. I somehow can't quite grasp why this magazine is being grouped along with other pretentious publications that seem to exploit rather than educate. But other than that, this magazine is obviously made up of fairy dust. I am a huge essay nerd so I tend to love long lengthy elaborate articles and Worn seems to hit all the right notes with this. The articles here are incredibly well-researched and the magazine also provides highly intelligent and opinionated feminist social commentary (mainstream fashion magazines really do need to include more of such articles). It is clear that this is not your regular fashion magazine, one that pretends to cloaks itself around feminist ideals. In short, Worn is pretty much an anti-fashion fashion magazine. The topics of the articles are as varied and unexplored from the history of tweed to vintage glasses to the history of the uniforms of air stewardesses. There are hardly any ads in this magazine which means that this magazine practically revolves itself around its readers rather than any sort of commercial activity. The editorials here also do not contain any trendy, seasonal clothes but works its way round vintage finds and one was done entirely out of the editor's wardrobe (tell me how cool is that). There's a zine-like free spiritedness to this: if I like it, I put it in.
Do note that there is nothing glamorous in Worn, everything is just straight in your face sincere, honest and fun. And as Worn puts it, "we're an idea bank and a what-if-you-try-this list." I DO NEED A SUBSCRIPTION SO BADLY.
P.S. While I'm fully aware that this blog is primarily about menswear, I feel that Worn is not specifically a girl-fashion kind of magazine. It's for anyone who enjoys clothes and good writing. And because the magazine does not work itself around seasons and trends, it will still be relevant even if the pages start turning yellow.
An interview with Grant Heaps, costume director of the National Ballet of Canada. And whose enviable collection of neckties and bowties I must steal......
You do not know how excited I was about this section. Tweed is of course my favourite material ever.......
Incredibly fresh and insightful article about the history of air stewardesses and their uniforms. Goes to show how much research is done here...
