Lucky: The Magazine I Hate to Love (and Sometimes Love to Hate)

The girls over at Jezebel have a well documented hatred of Lucky Magazine.

Among the accusations are that the magazine’s editors could really use a thesaurus (the words ‘elegant‘, ‘gorgeous‘ and ‘sophisticated‘ appear 8, 9 and 12 times respectively in January’s issue), that they insist on adding -y to the end of pretty much any word (retro-y really just means the same thing as retro, ladies…), and my own personal favorite, the abuse of the ‘_____ just screams _______ construction, i.e. “This little sun dress just screams French Riviera in June!”

Does it? Does it actually scream? I don’t want a screaming sun dress.

I think Jezebel is totally on-target here. The magazine is poorly written and shamelessly devoted to convincing women with average incomes to spend their hard-earned cash on overpriced items they don’t actually need. I t’s the embodiment of our consumer-driven culture–no love advice or human interest stories here, just pages and pages of things. Shiny pretty things with big big price tags.

So why do I love it so much?

Since the magazine began, I have shelled out my hard-earned cash ($2.99 per issue) to flip through their pages and gawk at $385 toggle sweaters or $3,295 “menswearish” watches. Can I afford a $3,295 watch? Obviously, no. But now I will be on the lookout for a cheap mens watch next time I’m at my local thrift store.

There’s also something refreshingly honest about a magazine that bills itself as “the magazine about shopping and style“. Flip through any issue of Glamour or Elle and look closely: almost every page is trying to sell you something. Lucky cuts the crap and tells you “here are some pretty things, you probably want to buy them”.

If you’re smart, you don’t have to go out and purchase that exact item (thus blowing your entire week’s paycheck on one pair of shoes), but instead you can use the magazine like your own personal stylist, taking inspiration from the combinations they put together and getting your own version, custom-tailored to your budget. I’m sure some of you out there have a little extra cash to spend at that exclusive boutique, some of us love our chain stores, and some may spend hours scouring the local second-hand bins.

So there you have it. My name is Sarah, and I’m addicted to the gorgeous, sophisticated and totally consumer-y Lucky Magazine. Although maybe I’ll buy the editors a thesaurus for Christmas.