Vintage Rag Mag Review

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OK, I admit it but you already know it; I picked it up, at first, because it was gratis. What can I say? I’m tight. Nowadays, I rarely actually buy glossy magazines as I find them terribly expensive for what they are and full of information and imagery I can access online. This goes for both fashion and food ... and in particular lifestyle. As soon as something is ‘vintage’ or ‘craft’, the cost-to-quality ratio seems to veer completely off centre.  Prior to picking up the Vintage Rag Mag I was in a sour mood with Vintage periodicals ...the culprit was not this magazine, and furthermore not free at all. It was handbag sized, not that glossy and at almost £4, full of typos and badly framed photos of makeovers that looked like they’d been taken on a mobile phone. I shall let it remain nameless; if you wasted your cash on it, you’ll know which one I mean.

In contrast, the Vintage Rag Mag is one to look out for in shops and venues; I picked it up from Love Alexandra’s vintage stand in Ruislip’s Duck Pond Market.  It’s handily sized and contains a fine range of articles. Alongside the obvious fashion items, there are homewares, recipes and – something I found a great strength, being the lesser vintagehead in my household – content aimed at men.

The last two issues have started out with a focus on a twentieth century decade with some simple styling tips, tutorials and some nice glam photos of models posing in that languid way they did in the 60s and 70s. The first ‘chunky’ article is a gentle guide around the decade and key items for the look. Their advice might well be too simple if you are already clued up about fashion history – most of us know to ‘look out for’ knee high boots when shopping for a Mod style. Nevertheless, the images and tutorials are inspiring and well selected, and when I skimmed the article I was glad to find some tips on finding a particularly good Youtube tutorial.

Although some articles are purely tutorial or inspirational, it is clear immediately that – being free- various suppliers, shops and salons are supporting the magazine with advertisements and editorials. I didn’t find this a problem at all, in fact, quite the opposite. I’ve discovered that I use the magazine almost as a directory, keeping it to hand when indulging in some cheeky online shopping. And let’s face it, how many times have we had a product pushed in Cosmo or Marie Claire? At least with vintage suppliers, I won’t be getting the exact same item I see in the magazine, just an idea of what they stock. Quite a few of the articles are introductions to companies (Peekaboo Vintage, for example) or reviews of fairs and events in the Rag Mag Visited section. I personally find this part great fun but I do live in London and drive; those further afield may find the focus on the capital frustrating. However I am sure that as the magazine grows, so will the range of events covered.

Wherever you live, touches such as granny’s recipes and cute paparazzi photos (of everyday gals) whilst out and about make the magazine worth a flick through – or a click through, as it’s available online. I don’t think I shall be returning to more expensive rivals; the quality of copy, layout and photography in this free publication were, to my mind, pretty high and the fact I can access it on paper, online or on Facebook makes it a really convenient choice.