Glamourous – More or Less

We at Midlife Boulevard love our magazines. But we also have been faced with the truth – we’re a little, um, old for some publications. Dana Hemelt refuses to give up her favorite. Read more from Dana on her blog, Kiss My List.

I am the oldest living subscriber to Glamour magazine.

Our relationship started in my freshman year of college, when receiving mail was like winning the lottery. I renewed without hesitation year after year. Other magazines came and went. I had a fling with Parents magazine for a few years, until her expectations became too high and I just couldn’t measure up. Shape magazine promised me the moon, but didn’t deliver. Never one to be exclusive, I also enjoy other publications that fulfill me in ways that Glamour cannot. Entertainment Weekly is a no strings attached fling, and I’ve recently hooked up with Oxygen because I like her tough girl attitude.

But Glamour, I just can’t quit you. I’ve been tempted to stray, especially when I was propositioned by a new magazine. This one promised it was just for me, and that it knew what I wanted and needed.

Maybe I should act my age. While I’m still in Glamour’s target audience of women ages 18-49, what do I really have in common with a young woman only two years older than my own daughter?

My new suitor More, however, is a smooth talker. She says she’s for “women of style and substance.” My style is certainly no longer short shorts and bikinis,  and in addition to having more substance in the tummy and derriere, I’d like to think I have more in the brain and heart too.

I took the plunge and subscribed to More. It was a bit awkward when both magazines arrived in my mailbox on the same day, but I kept them separated and spent equal time with each one.

More has its good points. I can begrudgingly relate to many of the articles, and I appreciate beauty advice that I can actually use. But while the articles may be meatier and more age appropriate, I just can’t get past some of the ads and the fashion. Perhaps I’m clinging to my youth, but isn’t age a state of mind? These ads aren’t helping:

Fortunately, I am not yet dealing with these issues, and these ads make me feel like I’m reading an AARP magazine. Which may be all well and good for Anita, age 66 (in the top right ad), but I am Dana, age closer-to-21-than-66. Barely, but still.

Beyond the ads, I miss the snark of my Glamour. Where are the memes that make me laugh? Where are the Do’s and Don’ts columns, complete with the black bar over the faces of the fashion Don’ts? I’m dating reading a magazine, not the Wall Street Journal. I want to be entertained!

It comes down to this: Do I want to be one of the oldest fish in the pond, or one of the youngest? I can skip over the dating/wedding/early career material in Glamour, or the retirement/hair regrowth material in More. Because on the pages in between, both magazines give me what I want and need.

So maybe I do want More, although I’m not quite ready to commit on a permanent basis. I’ll stick with my long time love, because I’m not old enough to give up Glamour.

I am going to look into getting a senior citizen subscription discount, though.