If you're reading this blog, there's a good chance you enjoy fashion, and if you enjoy fashion, there's also a good chance you've grown up reading magazines, and still do so!

I fall into that category. More often than I would like to admit, I find myself lurking into news agencies... just to stare at magazine covers, and have a look at their spreads –their lookbooks, articles, layout and graphic design. And all this fuels my ultimate goal, which is to work for a magazine.

If you're a bit like me in this, and you enjoy day-dreaming about writing for a fashion magazine, you might want to (not) use your free time wisely and do a movie/documentary marathon filled with fashion magazine goodness!

Here's my top 10 pick! (*)


10. Love and Other Disasters (2006)

Brittany Murphy plays the role of a fashion magazine assistance always on the go that loves playing matchmaking games with the people around her, making her pessimistic and blind to her own love life.

This movie lightly showcases the daily perks of working as an assistant in a fashion magazine, probably  for only 5% of it. It's more about bringing the irony and strict guidelines of typical movies to light. Being truly honest, I thought the movie was somewhat pushy and that it tried to hard not to be a cliched movie, which makes it look messy and random. But the best selling point would be Murphy's character, whose fascination with Breakfast at Tiffanies is reflected in the way she talks, acts and dresses, bringing the 60's bright spirit back to life and looking fabulously inspiring in every scene.

9. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)
Kate Hudson stars as a happy-go girl, who finds herself stuck writing the "how to" section for a fashion magazine, when she wishes to be writing about politics and humanitarian affairs, until she is given her assignment that could make her dreams finally come true. She has to write an article about dating a guy, and doing the most horrible mistakes all girls mindlessly make that cause relationship breaks, in order to, yep, make him break up. Hoping she gets her big break, she accepts, and as a predator goes looking for her victim.

This one is a proper happy, girly movie. There's not much substance to it, so you can just sit back and enjoy it. If you're feeling like watching something to distract yourself with, injected with a small dosage of fashion magazine flavouring, this could be a perfect match!


8. Paper Giants: Magazine Wars (2012)

This one's actually a biographical miniseries, but I thought it was worth mentioning. It's an Australian show that narrates the real events of publishing wars between Woman's Day and New Idea to have access to the women's magazine throne. Set in the 90s, the 2-episode-long series shows the rise of the celebrity and paparazzi culture through the eyes of two competitive editors and their reporting teams.

As Paper Giants: Birth of Cleo (keep reading for that one), this series shows quite an in-depth and realistic view on the magazine business. Even though I didn't find the main character, Woman's Day's editor, that charismatic at first, as she's doesn't represent that "Vogue style" kind of person, she eventually grows on you, which makes you enjoy learning more about the story and characters, and about the Australian magazine scene.

7. Funny Face (1957)

This is Audrey Hepburn's first role in a musical film, playing the book worm girl that gets discovered by a popular fashion magazine to become their brand's fresh face. She accepts reluctantly, and starts a journey filled with Parisian dreams, pretty clothes, camera flashes and new found love.

This movie is like watching a mix between Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast (in which the magazine is the beast) and Singing in the Rain. It's entertaining and colourful and with scenes flooded with a mix of structured and pastel coloured fashion that would later develop into the 60s style. It's not very informative, as fashion magazines go, but it's an upbeat, colourful, song and dance filled film that will surely brighten up your day!

6. 13 going on 30 (2004)


This movie tells the story of a 13-year-old fame-starved girl who has her dream come true when she wakes up and, you guessed it, she has suddenly turned 30. She soon realises she has the life she's ever imagined as a girl –she's popular, dating a famous guy and an editor at her favourite mag. But, will this make her truly happy?

I have to confess I really enjoy this movie... it always makes me smile! The protagonist (Jennifer Garner) creates a very likeable character that flows well within a cutesy plot line full of 90s fashion flair. But in all honesty, the way fashion magazines are portrayed in the story are quite far from reality (or from what I understand them to be, at least!) I guess it falls in the category of Friday night movie and happy rom-com.


5. The Remaking of W (2013)



This short documentary (only 11 minutes long) showcases, with quick visual paint strokes, the recent design and content changes of American fashion magazine W. Due to its length, It is not very thorough, but if you want to just have a quick look around their offices, have a backstage pass with the models they work with, learn a bit more about the work that goes into rebranding and producing a publication, and also meet the ingenious man behind the glossy pages, this is for you! Watch it here for free.


4. Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009)
This movie presents a girl in her mid-twenties who adores fashion... so much that it has become a problem! After too many sales attended, and too many credit cards spent, she comes to the conclusion that she needs to find a new job, the job of her dreams! And... drumroll... that would be at the top fashion magazine of the country. However, her dreams have to take an unexpected turn, as she is rejected and ends up working at a Savings magazine within the same publishing company. Will she get to the top?

In all honesty, this was a movie I thought I wouldn't really like just based on the trailer... but also one that didn't fail to prove me wrong! I loved it. It was fresh, had characters with strong personalities and a well written storyline that acknowledges some of the dangers of fashion and its culture. What I liked most, was how she shows you can write for a magazine, even a "boring" one, without losing sight of who you are, and staying true to your personality, likes and interests, always trying to look for new points of view on a trivia matter so that you can relate to it. That, for me, is an inspiration and something that cheered me up!


3. Paper Giants: Birth of Cleo (2011)

This one's the first part to the documentary miniseries Paper Giants. It's an Australian show, only 2 chapters long, that narrates in a very light and entertaining way, the birth of the Cleo magazine in Australia –a magazine that mirrored the American Cosmopolitan back in the 70s. It's a show infused with great vintage fashion, an introspective view on main characters, and laugh-filled moments. It really shows how a magazine was created from scratch, and how it evolved, with the input of colourful characters, to become one of today's biggest teenage magazines in the country.


2. The September Issue (2009)

Follow the iconic Anna Wintour into her mighty world of articles, photoshoots, celebrities, deadlines and high-end fashion!  You will see the fashion and magazine industry through her experienced and acute eyes, as well as the people surrounding her working so flipping hard, 24/7! You also get to see pieces from their personal lives, struggles and weaknesses, and start creating characters that are not flat or perfect. It is amazing how realistic and surreal it all is at the same time!

I was surprised at how easy it is to watch –sometimes, when watching something with slow scenes, I tend to start doing something else at the same time. But! For this documentary, I watched it all in one sit,  and before I had time to make me a tea, the credits started rolling! That is indeed a good sign of how well this film is done, and how it is able to immerse you effortlessly into their crazy world.


1. The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

I know you might be thinking… oh, what a surprise! (insert ironic tone) But this film, for me, ticks all the boxes! Anne Hathaway plays the role of an Arts graduate looking for a job where she can write about serious, deep stories. However, she ends up working as one of the senior editor's secretary at the major fashion magazine in the US. Here she will have to quickly learn how to look fashionably great, work extremely hard and, above all, patiently bear with the demanding quirks of her boss.

It might be a very Hollywoodesque coming-of-age movie, but I think the mixture of the plot, settings and cast (Hathaway and Streep) make it a movie to be seriously considered as pseudo informative, partly showing you what a job as the secretary/intern of a fashion magazine editor would painfully be like. It's also an inspiring movie that showcases the art of fashion and of hard work.


(*) There are, of course, some other movies and shows that could fall in this category, such as How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, Don't Tell Mum the Babysitter's Dead, Sex and the City, and Carrie Diaries. These weren't included for personal taste reasons.

Do you have any other movies on fashion magazines? I'm always on the hunt for new ones to inspire myself with! Tell me about them on the comment box down below!