Farewell, Teen Vogue

This past week it was announced that Conde Nast has made budget cuts, and although Teen Vogue’s website will still be up and running, the magazine itself will no longer exist. I’m not going to lie, I was really, really bummed to see this. On the one hand, it makes sense that Conde Nast would no longer print the magazine; going digital is the way to survive in the world today. At the same time, there are going to be so many young girls and boys out there who won’t have the chance to devour the magazine the way I did when I was younger, and that makes me a little sad.

I personally think we underestimate just how many people still buy and read physical magazines (and books!) There are so many rural communities in the U.S. that don’t have access to internet the way we do in larger cities, and they will continue to lose access to reading material if everything keeps going digital; it’s kind of a catch-22 but that is another story altogether.

Below are some of my favorite covers from past issues of Teen Vogue, eons ago. (Do you even remember a time when Karlie Kloss was not a household name? If I’m not mistaken, Teen Vogue was one of her first covers.) The issue I remember most distinctly was the one on the bottom right with Emma Watson. I was so in love with the mood of that photoshoot, all the darkness and purple dresses and giant bookshelves. Please tell me someone else remembers that?

I used to cut out pictures from Teen Vogue and use them to create inspiration boards. Yes, old school posters, with tape or glue, pasting together all my favorite pictures of people and places and colors that I loved. It was the original Pinterest.

In the last year Teen Vogue became so politically woke that it was impossible to ignore in the mainstream media. I was so happy to see the content they were producing, expanding from fashion to cover politics and social issues that affect teens and young adults today. The realness was undeniable and I was a little jealous; where was this when I was in middle school?! Still, knowing how empowering the new content was going to be to so many young readers was a nice thought. Teen Vogue has continued to have so much more value than other teen magazines (I’m looking at you, Seventeen!). There is a substance to Teen Vogue that consistently puts it one (or two or three) steps above the others.

Teen Vogue’s final issue, which will be out on December 5, was edited by none other than Hillary Clinton. I cannot think of a better sendoff. I know that I personally will be making a point to go to Barnes and Noble to buy my final copy, just like I did in the good old days.