MAGAZINES TO READ

MAGAZINES TO READ

The modern world, is ever changing in fashion and trends. If you’re aiming to keep up with the suave men of the moment, the high rollers from the smoke and the nouveaux riche then, you have to start by finding out what it is they’re getting excited about.

This changes frequently, so let’s start with magazine subscriptions. The ones that ooze a certain lifestyle. Aim for when they have offers on if you can but it’s not essential.Of course if I were you I would look out for when they have an offer on and save yourself a fortune.

Then there’s the choice, which ones to subscribe to. Now being a surfer and living in Cornwall I am later going to throw in a curveball but I’ll let the inner city boy escape first.

Top of the list has to be GQ, it’s the biggest and most recognised mens or should I say gentlemen’s fashion magazine, the mens version of vogue. It features all of the biggest names and all of the designer goods you’d expect. As well as this towards the back and I’m talking the last few pages there is actually a section for shall I say normal people, you and I. Here they feature outfits, although not made by Versace or Prada some very stylish and up to date trends made up of much more reasonable products. Although if you’re like me, you do have to treat yourself sometimes, a few hundred spent on a nice coat or pair of shoes is a few hundred well spent.

One of the best ways to keep up to date, is to follow their website as well as social media links. Their parties look awesome on Instagram.

Also Bear Grylls now has a column and I mean why wouldn’t you want to read that? That alone makes the subscription worth it.

Mens Health is, of course following closely behind GQ, produced by the same company (Conde Nast) it’s a must have.

Fitness has finally become a trend, and with it the recognition that it’s actually beneficial rather than just boring. So you know go for a run or two, or maybe just read about it in this magazine.

The bulk of this magazine is focused on healthy eating and sharing fitness routines, all aiming to keep your body healthy. Okay it can be heavily focussed on that beach body and the washboard abs but look past that, there’s much more to be learnt from this one. There is also the occasional trend edit thrown in there which is practically an extremely small version of the GQ’s one but it does focus slightly toward the fitness market of course.

Now, if you haven’t heard of this next one you need to get educated and fast. This is by far the most expensive however the most coveted and the best. Cereal. Yes GQ and Mens Health are good but they’re mass produced. Drowning in adver

ts by the same brands and people every week. The only way to get your hands on Cereal is direct, subscribe and wait. It isn’t cheap and only a limited number of copies are made. Also look out for their handbooks and guidebooks because they are special indeed.

Cereal has the most beautiful design. Its aesthetically wonderful. Simple. Modern. Clean.

But the content is what really makes the ‘magazine’ special. From the latest trends to brands you may never have heard of, to the best coffee and hidden cafes. Like any good luxury magazine it fills you with envy and longing for things you’ll probably never own.

Cereal is only produced twice a year which of course makes it stand out.I know it is a long time to wait but it is worth it. They pack the magazine full of everything. In the six months between one magazine and the next I think they must have only made room for a coffee break when they really needed it.

Now for my fellow surfers. And everyone else too.. Wavelength. Not heard of it? Doesn’t surprise me. It’s pretty niche, as magazines go. However if you have then we will be on the same page and you’ll understand why I’m throwing this one in.

Fashion is not a big deal here in fact very rarely mentioned at all. But it is packed full of goodness and quite literally.

Being a surfing magazine the lifestyle is heavily featured. The sunsets, the perfect waves, the vans, brands you’ve probably never heard of before and beaches. But as well as this there are some things I feel relevant to the wider audience which is why I’m sharing it here.

Innovation. Yes, one powerful word and the industry is full of it. Surfers are commonly linked with being at one with nature for that is the aim, correct? To be in the ocean and feel at home, camp in random fields waiting for a swell, getting lost. That’s the lifestyle right? Right. Surfing is actually extremely damaging. The wetsuits, the boards, the travel. All have massively negative impacts on the environment.

It is the innovation of the industries big names, the ones that don’t care in other sports, ones that don’t have to care but they do. Their innovation, especially of late is driving sustainability. New wetsuits made from recycled plant material (Patagonia), experimenting with new foam and glassing techniques. Honestly it is incredible. However as with many things it starts from the bottom, the way some surfers outline and define the stereotype is incredible.

As well as this the pictures are pretty rad (first surfer word creeping in), I can have massive envy over some of the swells I have missed.

Overall its a great read and a good way to keep up with some of the worlds issues without realising it.

Cheers and gone.

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