Recently, Seventeen magazine put a brief archive of their magazine’s 65 years! Covers include some 80s style tips (hilarious), Will Smith at his best, and the beginning of Brooke Sheilds’ reign as top model. These covers are little mini time capsules, peaks into the past if you will. For more covers, read here

Below are our top 10 picks! Read More »

I always feel bad for Nikki Reed. I know she’s in the Twilight movies, but she definitely feels more like a third or fourth tier cast member. I feel like whenever anyone thinks “ladies of Twlight,” Kristen Stewart and Ashley Greene are the first to come to mind, and Nikki only gets recognition/interviews when Kristen and Ashley are otherwise preoccupied. Although at the end of the day, she’s getting far more bank than I ever will (and has way better hair than I do), so maybe I should save my pity for someone more deserving. But why does she look like a gun is being held to her head on the cover? She’s too pretty to look so deranged.

Luckily, the inside of the magazine is a lot more aesthetically pleasing. There’s an abundance of cute holiday fashion (at mostly reasonable prices). I also really appreciate that Seventeen did not promote dieting this issue. They supported eating your favorite treats, but emphasized the importance of moderation. I definitely prefer that message to deprivation, so brava Seventeen. Of course, no issue is complete without relationship advice. This month was definitely focused on “decoding” guys. Without further ado… Read More »

Seventeen continues to perturb me in ways that Glamour never has. I just can’t get over the one-dimensional messages this magazine is sending to girls. Maybe my pearl-clutching is a little out of hand, but it makes me nervous that right there on the cover is the tagline “Hair & Makeup Ideas That Make You Instantly Prettier!” Like teenage girls don’t face enough pressure in regards to conforming and being pretty in their every day lives. That said, I do appreciate that most of the girls who appear in the fashion spreads aren’t preternaturally pretty and actually look like girls you’d see wandering around a high school.

The relationship advice is mostly pretty harmless. Their section that is dedicated to getting inside the male mind was pretty standard, although I wish they would have included a snarky comment next to the guy who says he’s always thinking of ways to go even further sexually – stay classy, William, aged 19. Their quiz asking, “Do Guys Think You’re Desperate,” though, was way too harsh! Read More »

This month’s Seventeen is extra bright and peppy and I find myself unable to turn away.   Maybe it’s the presence of the word “FREE” on the cover, or maybe it has more to do with the promise of perfect hair all summer. Hell, maybe the cover is such an assault on my eyeballs because its cover girl, Lucy Hale (who is actually totally cute and cool and has amazing style!) is decked out in some seriously neon colors, complete with an attention-grabbing feather earring.  And I’m not gonna lie – I totally want to see if I can rock that single feather earring myself.

The cover story was predictable sap, a famous star insisting that she’s really just a big dork who, in this case, loves to sing Taylor Swift songs in her car.  Twenty-one-year-old Lucy also makes a rather unfortunate comparison between the character she plays in her newest movie and Miley Cyrus, and pulls out some sermon about what it takes to be a role model.  But she plays the best character on one of the most addictive TV shows out there (Pretty Little Liars), and has really pretty eyes and a surprisingly beautiful singing voice, so I’ll her forgettable interview slide.

This issue kept going with the whole bright theme – from urging readers to wear hot pink matte lipstick (try it, it’s actually really fun) to pimping out some crazy neon hair accessories.  The not so bright spot in all this?  Their fashion section, which tells girls everywhere that it’s cool to wear flat oxfords with a nice dress, accompanied by a picture of Kendall Jenner looking totally leggy and gorgeous in her ensemble.  Like, HELLO?  We don’t wear heels because we love the way they feel; some of us need a little stiletto so that our legs don’t look like little stubs.  Every bone in my five-foot–tall body burned at this.  But hey, if you can get away with this look (or have a body like Kendall Freaking Jenner), more power to you. Read More »

Ah…another month, another chance to crack open a fresh issue of Seventeen.  A chance to take in the season’s hottest fashions (many of which include stripes, plaid, or polka dots – the same as EVERY FREAKIN’ SEASON).  A chance to pick up some killer flirting tips (“that shirt is hot on you!” = my new line.)  A chance to – IS THAT REALLY ANOTHER ARTICLE THAT REVEALS “THE TRUTH ABOUT HOOKUPS?”  Like, seriously, Seventeen?  You don’t need to to talk about that in every single issue.

But I digress – this month’s cover girl was Emma Roberts, who I absolutely despise because, according to the article, the bitch stole my man.  Yup, you heard me: she’s allegedly seeing Chace Crawford, which I just can’t forgive.  Cover girl Emma laments her angsty teenage past (which she left behind a whole entire year ago) and claims that she used to feel like no one understood her.  Yawn.  Newsflash, Em – we’ve all been there.  It’s called high school.

Aside from one really moving article about a girl who watched her boyfriend die, this month’s Seventeen was more of the usual.  There was the requisite article about the dangers of self-esteem issues and, like in every other issue, body image issues were addressed. Now, I get it.  Body image issues are really serious, and magazines like Seventeen have a responsibility to help young girls work through these problems.  I really do commend the staff of Seventeen for their efforts to promote this cause….but it would be so much more effective if they didn’t feature exclusively stick-thin models (the only exceptions seem to be the “curvy” or “plus-size” fashion spread models) on every page.  Just sayin’. Read More »

At first glance, this month’s Seventeen is a winner.  The cover girl is Victoria Justice, who is totally cute and, from what I can tell, actually somewhat talented.  I was slightly less excited about her presence on its glossy cover spread, though, when I saw the excerpt quote “In high school I felt alone and isolated.” Like, seriously, if I had a dollar for every time I heard some hot, famous girl say that….

Oh, and it’s even more annoying when said celebrity SHOULD STILL BE IN HIGH SCHOOL.

But I’ll V. Justice props -  after reading her interview, I like her way, way more.  For one thing, she actually admitted to having tried alcohol in the past. (Gasp! Shock! Horror!!) She didn’t pull some Taylor Swift-esque “all that stuff just isn’t for me, I just sit at home and bake cookies” excuse.  Unlike the girls Seventeen generally chooses, she seems real.  I applaud for discussing a controversial issue openly, just as I applaud Seventeen for publishing that quote.  A true role model isn’t someone who is perfect, but someone who is relatable.  By that standard, this girl is well ahead of her peers.

But back to Seventeen… The cover also included the question, “Are you addicted to food?”  And not going to lie, my hand totally flew up in the air when I read that one.  Luckily, the fact that I’ve never picked food over partying led me to determine that I don’t have Binge Eating Disorder – just an unhealthy obsession with Coldstone.

Seventeen was kind of low on ridiculous articles this month.  In place of the usual “I had a drink and made a mistake” story that they usually run to scare the crap out of their young and impressionable readers, this month’s real life read was a touching account of one girl’s struggle with cheering for a basketball-playing rapist.  I expected the Teen Mom article to be full of quotable gems, but the truth is, it was a really useful article. Like, it actually addressed the fact that teenagers are going to have sex and helped them understand the realities of it, like the fact that pulling out is not the most reliable method. Read More »

This month’s Seventeen cover was completely unlike any other I’ve ever seen. You see, normally the covers include one headline about how to look CUTE!, another about how to look NATURALLY PRETTY, and one that’s included to entice scandal-seeking teens (previous examples: “The Real Deal About Porn.” ) All of these headlines are generally splashed in neon colors over the smiling face of a tween celebrity who completely fascinates me (previous examples: Leighton Meester, Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez).

This month however, was different.

This month, Seventeen did one article about looking CUTE, one about looking NATURALLY PRETTY, and one about being videotaped topless (my need for scandal is soooo satiated.) Only this time, the cover girl was someone I know very little about: Miranda Cosgrove. So after getting past my disappointment about the lack Gossip Girl cast members in this month’s issue, I started to flip through.

First I saw this cute Material Girl top which I considered buying – until I saw the picture’s caption: “Miley would totally wear this.” Yeah man, I flipped that page reaaaallll quick, at which point I came upon something pleasantly surprising. Something that made me tip my fedora to the staff at Seventeen: a section on real life girl crushes. Growing up, it’s difficult to differentiate between an innocent admiration of another girl and a full-blown attraction and this article is the kind that can make a young girl feel like either way, what she’s feeling is okay. Read More »

Nothing makes me happier than seeing Leighton Meester’s (unbelievably beautiful) face on the cover of a magazine.   I mean, she’s not only one of the best-looking and most stylish (minus that whole weird, lacy jumpsuit debacle) people in Hollywood, she’s also one of the most underrated.  Homegirl was born in jail!  And if that wasn’t interesting enough, she plays one of the most fabulous characters on television right now, and any actress who can fill Blair Waldorf’s Louboutins so perfectly obviously deserves attention.

So I was pretty excited to see her on the cover of this month’s Seventeen – even though I knew that the article would spare us all the juicy, scandalous Gossip Girl-eque deets.  Unfortunately, it talked more about how Leighton loves baking cookies and less about where she finds the inspiration required to play such a crazy bitch so well….but I’ll take what I can get.

Luckily, the Seventeen editors saved the juice for other articles.  They actually talked about (gasp) SEX in this issue!  And STDs!  In case you didn’t know, in the land of Seventeen magazine, these two things go hand-in-hand, because if you have sex you WILL get an STD.  And die.

Also, if you ever drugs, you WILL become and addict (and die), a point that was reinforced again and again in an article about a girl who developed a crystal meth addiction thanks to a toxic roommate.

But, as usual, Seventeen also took a ride on the line between scandal and sweetness.  Just another article that touches on a risqué topic, presenting it in a way that will scare the sh!t out of especially naïve readers and by doing this, mold them into virtuous young ladies.  (Basically, if a typical Seventeen article was a TV show, it would be less 90210 and more Secret Life Of The American Teenager.) It was called “Guys’ Sexy Secrets Revealed” and it was definitely the best article of the month.

FYI – you should probably replace the word “best” with one of these choices: “hilarious” “absurd” or “ridiculous.” Read More »

The editors at Seventeen Magazine probably have more holiday spirit than your crazy neighbor who keeps his Christmas decorations and manger scene up (and lit) all year round.  If my internship there taught me one thing, it’s this: the December/January holiday bonanza of an issue is more crucial than every fashion magazine’s September issue combined.

Like, it’s a big deal.

Which is probably why I was so damn disappointed with my magazine this month.  I’m not saying this issue wasn’t amazing, I’m just saying it’s like the series finale of Jersey Shore. It’s hard to live up to the expectations, you know?

Of course, Taylor Swift is a perfect cover girl (even though her little quote about “rarely being the girl with the boyfriend” was kind of annoying.  You are dating JYKE GYLLENHAAL, for crying out loud!)  I mean, yeah, her curly ques and inspirational quotes are a tad irritating, but the twelve-year-old girl inside me totally eats it up, so I’m guessing the rest of the Seventeen readers do too.

Every year, Seventeen chooses celebrity style stars for this encyclopedia of an issue and this year’s choices were kind of…eh.  I mean, what the HELL was Victoria Justice wearing?  Is that nightgown/cardigan/MATCHING BELT getup supposed to be some nod to pajama chic?  And Taylor Momsen? Really? When are people going to realize that this girl is BAD FOR HUMANITY?

But I kept flipping through the pages, attempting to put off studying just a wee bit longer. I got some fancy makeup tips for NYE. I got the urge to buy a sequined dress. I got sucked into an article about avoiding party predators (because a title that includes the words ‘party’ and ‘predators’ is just too good to pass up) and learned to avoid the Four Loko. In an article about Facebook’s role in a romantic relationship, I learned that just because a guy doesn’t change his relationship status the second you make it official DOESN’T always mean he’s cheating. A guy who puts you on limited profile, though? That guy is sha.dy. Read More »

Seventeen magazine is supposed to inspire and mold the teens of this fine country into virtuous women, yes? So is anyone else incredibly worried that the November cover girl is none other than, Ke$ha, the hot mess who doesn’t value oral hygeine? Or that the words “AMAZING HAIR” are plastered over her straggly locks? Or that, in an interview with the infamous party girl, she expressed her dream of “starting a youth movement” with her latest album?

I mean, should we really be promoting Jack Daniels-fueled riots to 14-year-old girls?!

But that wasn’t even the most WTF part of this month’s issue. That title might go to the editors’ sage advice to send a “flirty” text message to the 8th grade boy you like by saying, “what would we be doing if I was with u right now?”  So flirty texting is the new euphemism for middle school sexting?  Cool.

But wait! There’s more. And it makes sexting advice look like a Disney movie.

Welcome to Seventeen’s guide to decoding the etiquette and mystique that surrounds America’s favorite pastime: porn. [Flips back to the cover to verify that she did not accidentally pick up an issue of Maxim.]

“The Real Deal About Dirty Movies”

Seventeen Says: “The bottom line is: as long as it’s not keeping you from doing things you enjoy or need to do, like going out with your friends on Friday night or finishing homework, you’re probably not addicted.”
Zara says: Maybe it’s just me, but I find something horribly wrong when possible porn addiction is addressed to people who have to “finish up homework.” Is this really a problem for pre-pubescent girls!? Read More »