Thanksgiving dinner according to the glossies vs. how it really looks. 

We’ve all been to a great many Thanksgiving dinners with parents, extended family, friends, at home, and abroad.  We’re willing to bet these dinners ranged from all-you-can-eat buffet style feasts and formal sit down gatherings to camp stove cooking in the mountains and cross country drives. But according to glossy magazines, our Thanksgivings should be perfect like this:

Um, Martha. You didn’t mention that this was going to be a raw affair. Where’s the turkey?

Ah, cute. We’re having Cornish hen this year.

If you’re a Real Housewife of Beverly Hills, a table and turkey like that might fly. But if you’re celebrating Thanksgiving like the rest of us 99%, turkey day is messy, sloppy, disorganized, cluttered, always late, and occasionally vegetarian.

Take a look at the following series of photographs. Featured on the left are idealized Thanksgiving dinners sampled from leading designers, glossies, and Hollywood. On the right are actual people celebrating real life Thanksgivings.

In HGTV land where toddlers sit at tables entertaining themselves with sunflowers vs. real life where they whine, “Is it ready yet?”

A still from Funny People the movie vs. funny people in Akron.

“Oh you thought I was inviting you over to eat?” vs. sitting down to chow down with people that love you.

A table lined with decorative apples vs. a table lined with grandma’s tried and true recipes.

Better Homes and Gardens lighting vs. your mom’s house.

Martha Stewart vegan vs. edible vegetarian.

A Preston Bailey extravaganza vs. food people can really dig into.

Where carbs are not on the menu vs. a side of high fructose corn syrup.

No matter where you end up celebrating this year – whether in a glossy version or not  – we’d like to wish you a very happy Thanksgiving!

Images: Martha Stewart; Sweet Paul; HGTV; Snunemaker;  Editor B; Emily Barney; Snunemaker; The Purl Bee; Heather Kaiser; Eddie Ross; Better Homes and Gardens; Eddie Welker; Martha Stewart; Thomas Cizauskas; Lotus Haus/Preston Bailey; Brad Trump; Studio Ten 25; Buxtrosion

The post Thanksgiving Dinner: The Glossies vs. Real Life appeared first on EcoSalon.

What we read, and what you should read, too.

As purveyors of conscious culture and fashion, our reading list is long (and our reading is never done). But these are the websites we find ourselves drawn to again and again. They’re bookmarked in our daily reads, noted on EcoSalon’s Reading List, and are worth getting to know. From some of the most-beloved print publications online to rambunctious upstarts and indie standouts, you won’t find a more dynamic reading feast anywhere online.

BEST ONLINE READING IN: FASHION

WWD – Women’s Wear Daily

Tagline: “The Fashion Bible” (and it is).

Publishing since 1910 (print).

Refinery29

Fashion news from everywhere.

Ecco Eco

News on eco textiles and art farming projects from fiber artist and writer Abigail Doan.

Publishing since 2006.

Social Alterations

A platform for design educators to benchmark themselves against other educators not only within their own field, but across various design disciplines.

Ethical Fashion Forum

The EFF delivers support and ethical news for fashion businesses and conscious readers alike and serves as a resource for connecting to sustainable sources.

Publishing since 2004.

Coco Eco Magazine

Coco EcoMagazine is a digital multi-media lifestyle brand celebrating sustainable fashion, beauty, celebrity, and culture.

Publishing since 2008.

Ecouterre

Tagline: “Green Fashion Is More Than A Passing Trend.”

Publishing since 2009.

Vogue.com’s Green Style Blog

It’s Vogue, what more is there to say?

Publishing since 1892.

EcoTextile News

News, comment and analysis on sustainable textiles and clothing.

Style.com

Vogue’s original venture into the land of HTML.

Publishing since 2000.

Josh Spear

The four corners of the world of design, and everything in between.

Publishing since 2004.

Organic Exchange

“Creating Material Change”: a non-profit committed to promoting sustainable textiles.

Publishing since 2003.

The Square Project

The blog of Tara St James, owner and designer for the clothing label Study.

Publishing since 2009.

Goodlifer

Inspiring news and articles on sustainable fashion, travel and food trends, shopping and living the good life.

BEST ONLINE READING IN: FOOD

Chow

News, articles, recipe-hacking and the ChowHound online community.

Publishing since 2006.

Chez Pim

Professional cook, professional eater and internet cult figure Pim Techamuanvivit’s food site.

Publishing since 2001.

Foodzie
“Taste Something Different” – an online marketplace connecting small-scale food producers & growers.

Publishing since 2008.

Delicious Days

“I Eat Merely To Put Food Out Of My Mind” – home of a food-lover based in Europe (and one of TIME’s “50 Coolest Websites”).

Publishing since 2005.

Foodspotting

“A visual guide to good food and where you find it” via user-recommended dishes.

Publishing since 2009.

Tastespotting

A user-built grab-bag of gorgeous images leading to recipes, articles, tips…anything goes. The ultimate in food porn.

Publishing since 2007.

Summer Tomato

Scientist and foodie Darya Pino shares nutrition tips, healthy recipes and farmers’ market finds.

Publishing since 2009.

Serious Eats

Sharing and celebrating food enthusiasm! (With some serious chef talent on the roster.)

Publishing since 2006.

Food News Journal

Articles, essays, blog posts – the best in food current events.

Publishing since 2009.

Civil Eats

Driven by the politics of food – and the need for a serious dialogue about the American food system.

Publishing since 2008.

Organic Authority

Everything organic! (It’s right there in the name).

Publishing since 2004.

BEST ONLINE READING IN: SEX

Jezebel

Tagline: “Celebrity, sex, fashion for women.”

Publishing since 2007.

Bitch Magazine

Providing and encouraging an engaged, throughful response to mainstream media and popular culture.

Publishing since 1996.

Ms. Magazine

The legendary feminist magazine in its online form.

Publishing since 1971.

Ad Age

Advertising agency and marketing industry news.

Publishing since 1992.

Feministe

“One of the oldest feminist blogs online designed by and run by women from the ground up.”

Publishing since 2003.

Feministing

Tagline: “Bringing you brainy, bad-ass feminist news.”

Publishing since 2004.

The Hairpin

Founded by Edith Zimmerman and Cassie Murdoch, Hairpin features writing by women for women.

Publishing since 2010.

Girl With Pen

Tagline: “Bridging feminist research and popualr reality.”

BEST ONLINE READING IN: SHELTER

Apartment Therapy

Aiming to make homes more beautiful, organised and healthy.

Publishing since 2007.

Dwell

“At home in the modern world” – promoting pragmatic, beautiful modern design.

Publishing since 2000.

Desire to Inspire

A showcase for the beautiful side of interior design.

Publishing since 2006.

Remodelista

Tagline: “Sourcebook for the considered home.”

Publishing since 2007.

Wallpaper

Tagline: “Designinteriorsfashionartlifestyle.” (Which rather says it all).

Publishing since 1996.

Not Cot

A growing network of design sites including the famous NotCot.com.

Publishing since 2006.

Better Living Through Design

Tagline: “Your guide to home, style, travel.”

Publishing since 2005.

Design Milk

A web magazine dedicated to design (and a favorite of Google’s engineers).

Publishing since 2006.

Rum Magazine (in Danish)

Interior design with a Scandinavian twist.

Publishing since 2006.

BEST ONLINE READING IN: NEWS & CULTURE

The New York Times

Still the best.

Publishing since 1851 (print).

The New Yorker

Commentary, reportage, criticism, essays, and fiction with a twist of wry.

Publishing since 1925 (print).

The Atlantic

The literary and culture commentary magazine.

Publishing since 1857 (print).

The Daily Beast

Tina Brown’s Beast recently merged with Newsweek. “A fresh take on the news from around the world with sharp opinion.”

Publishing since 2008.

The Economist

The week in international politics, business, science and culture.

Publishing since 1843 (print).

Treehugger

The most well-known green website.

Publishing since 2003.

Wired

Covering the impact of new and speculative technology on world culture.

Publishing since 1993 (print).

TechCrunch

Technology news and analysis, and everything regarding online startups.

Publishing since 2005.

Hacker News

From Ycombinator, aggregating the best news.

Publishing since 2005.

Ecorazzi

Tagline: “The latest in green gossip.”

Publishing since 2006.

Vanity Fair

Pop culture, fashion and politics.

Publishing since 1913 (print).

More Intelligent Life

The must-read quarterly lifestyle and culture magazine from The Economist.

Publishing since 2007.

GOOD

A magazine reporting on the people who are “moving the world forward.”

Publishing since 2006.

PSFK

Providing inspiration for creative professionals.

Publishing since 2004.

Laughing Squid

Featuring the best in unique art, culture and technology.

Publishing since 1995.

Gawker

Daily gossip/news on celebrities and the media industry.

Publishing since 2003.

Fast Company

Progressive business media, ethical economics, leadership and design.

Publishing since 1995.

TED

Tagline: “Ideas Worth Spreading.”

Publishing since 2006 (online).

Mother Jones

The nonprofit magazine specializing in liberal and progressive values.

Publishing since 1976 (print).

The Awl

Tagline: “Be Less Stupid.” Culture commentary and humor.

Publishing since 2008.

Recommend your own required reading in the comments.

Image: liquene

The post Our Big Fat Conscious Reading List: The Best Websites of 2011 appeared first on EcoSalon.

Dwell Magazine set out to stage a minor revolution in coverage of design ideas that plant seeds for universal results. So far, we have witnessed a successful coup, one defying the dark notion print is dead. The alchemy? Making the shelter book an indispensable object of desire – one that visionaries reshaping our mod-century landscape simply cannot ignore. It’s no small feat that the magazine keeps on trucking in a disastrous era for the housing industry, proof that visual stimulus propels progress despite the odds.

“Because we offer so much in terms of design, photography and stories being told, it lends itself to print,” observes savvy Senior Editor, Aaron Britt, who adds that the magazine’s tactile allure might not apply to other books, such as his favorite, The Economist. As he sees it, a magazine that seeks to inform without necessarily exciting the senses crosses over more easily to the screen with nothing lost.

“With Dwell or National Geographic, you want to leaf through it forward and backward and that makes it an object.” adds Britt. “It doesn’t mean it is the only thing we can be or are trying to be, but it something we are really good at being.”

Really good for ten years now, the shelter magazine just celebrated a decade in print (it has an online component), a tribute to the fact design professionals value old school reference guides that complement onscreen viewing. A vast majority of its readers are forward-thinking designers, architects, landscape visionaries, and design-oriented consumers. In other words, pragmatic artists seeking to dovetail pages that inspire. In the sense you don’t have to print out an item to tack it on your bulletin board – it actually conserves energy.

At the same time, Dwell considers sustainability in its publishing practices, bypassing a conventional paste and waste process by using certified recycled paper. Its pages feel good on the fingers, less processed than its flashy, glossy cousins. The good pulp might not put the kind of dent in paper use purists rant about, but at least it’s a conscious act which shuns the frivolous alternative (see Neiman Marcus seasonal catalogs). Most likely, Dwell couldn’t live with itself without this commitment.

“Moving to recycled paper is the key to our redesign but taking advantage of the fact that sustainability has always been something Dwell has focused on, we are moving that dialogue forward which is essential to our growth as a publication,” publisher and president Michela O’Connor Abrams told Green Biz.com in 2007 about the resign introduced in February of 2008. It also resized the format from 9″ to 8.375 and along with the paper, began sparing an estimated 930 trees per issue.

You might ask if down deep, Dwell functions as yet another shopping mechanism since it does rely on ads, like most other successful media (even PBS), and does list the resources for the minimalist masterpieces showcased in articles – the tidy prefabs, the highly coveted bedroom additions. The answer is that it cannot deny it is selling something, but along the way, it goes beyond pushing product to achieve behavior modification. Dwell prefers to focus on exceptional design, which just so happens to fall into the green category in most cases.

“In a perfect world, everything would already operate in an efficient minded way,” Britt argues. “If we are successful, we won’t have to have the conversation anymore. It’s like we publish houses that have indoor plumbing. All houses do. We want sustainability to be woven into the built world as broadly as an indoor toilet and electricity.”

Meanwhile, for those needing to go directly to LEED, bamboo and solar concepts, the magazine provides an Off the Grid section completely devoted to sustainability. Much of this content also is cultivated on the web where editors product daily features. “We understand the magazine to be the bedrock of the brand, but Dwell.com and Dwell on Design are important forums to talk about things in the magazine and not in the magazine due to space restraint,” Britt explains.

One is left questioning if this enviable success story would be played out anywhere but San Francisco, a leader in progressive conservation ideas and initiatives, not to mention plenty of money to fabricate what is conceptualized, namely some of the most striking examples of nature-nurtured dwellings in the country. While Iowa-based and NYC minded Metropolitan Home offered up much of the same in its day, it really didn’t do what Dwell does to make us relate. It didn’t capitalize as much on the human emotion driving the design engines.

“Being in San Francisco give us a different purview than other design press,” figures Britt. “We are happy and proud Californians and hope some of that California-ness comes through.”

Most likely it will, as long as those patronizing the book can keep erecting what they conceive. As Dwell reminds us, the bottom line is you can build the best house in the world but we still need a better energy policy in Washington. That, and perhaps a little help from our friends, like new governor, Jerry Brown. It isn’t just a field of dreams. If you build affordable, beneficial low-use – they will come. Read all about it.

Images: Dwell

The post Eyes on Media: Dwell, The Little Shelter Magazine That Could appeared first on EcoSalon.

And you might be right, but”¦

All style-loving gals love fashion magazines. Love them. We love the latest collections, the immaculate vision of Grace Coddington and the beauty tips. We just do! We even love the spoilt socialites, the devil dressed in Prada and the genetically freakish models. We can’t help it.

Rather than simply glossing over one of life’s harmless guilty pleasures and, with the extra day-off over the Labor Day long weekend providing the perfect opportunity to sit down and indulge, we set about finding a redeeming amount of eco love in each. Enjoy.

Vogue

P. 352. Engulfed. Julia Reed reports from the Gulf on a sense of devastation as far-reaching as the oil spill itself.

P.508. Try It! Hessnatur’s slouchy hat, designed by guest green designer, Eviana Hartman.

P.528. Style Ethics – a regular section – features Lily Cole’s eco-ethical knitwear collective the North Circular.

P.666. Royal Green. A longtime environmentalist, HRH the Prince of Wales asks fashion lovers to look to their wardrobes to save the planet.

P.668. Riding High. Monaco blue blood Charlotte Casiraghi is a rising star of show jumping and a champion of sustainable fashion.

Elle

P.94. Elle Extra. Watch ELLE.com/Premium Vintage a web series that explores how vintage influences today’s hottest trends.

P.240. Easy Risers. Self-proclaimed tomboy, model, and eco-activist Angela Lindvall gives us a few pointers on fall’s biggest trend: pants.

Harpers Bazaar

P.390. Hits Of The Season. Lisa Armstrong’s article explores fall’s move back to “real clothes you’ve been waiting for,” highlighting the current focus on timeless and functional clothing. Yes, I agree, its scraping the bottom of the barrel somewhat”¦ So come on, HB, if you’re going to announce that “Shopping is officially back” and that you have, “something for every taste, price and age, ” next time please include some eco-love.

The post Eco Love in the September Issues appeared first on EcoSalon.

Vanity Fair once got its color chart done, and for a few years, it looked very becoming in green. In May 2006, it birthed the first of three star-studded eco issues. The book’s cover featured four Hollywood power players shot by Annie Leibowitz and was entirely devoted to the environment. Julia Roberts as Mother Earth? No wonder Annie went for a mythological imagery. It sells. And so does green.

See the pretty green phat-pack celeb spread? I’m not sure Angelina’s neon wig is even a color found in nature. But this addition was needed to break up all the wonky talk. It sells. Maybe more than green.

But after three years, Conde Nast killed the annual green edition, arguing the eco movement is so ingrained in the news that a dedicated issue wasn’t really needed. A fair weather friend is Vanity, indeed.

“It’s so last year,” is how the UK’s Independent dismissed the move, pointing to slipping coverage of climate change and other concerns on the media’s agenda as the economy takes center stage. The economy is surely front and center at Conde, since it folded four of its magazines, and is at risk to lose more in a climate of social media, e-readers and emerging blogs.

Green Trend Still on the Shelves

Despite Vanity Fair’s retreat, newsstand shelves remain remarkably heavy on eco covers, from hard news weeklies like Newsweek and Time to business journals like Fortune and flatten-your-belly titles Elle and Glamour. But cynics and media insiders highlight the irony between the pages, arguing the magazines are more about making green than protecting it.

As Dan Gainor, director of the Media Research Center’s Business & Media Institute points out: “Fortune has a 10-page special advertising feature. Newsweek, Time and others turn thoughts of climate change into climate dollars with environmentally friendly ads.”

It all begs the question: Are green issues just marketing greenwash aimed at saving the dying rags?

Apart from design magazines that are home on green turf, such as Dwell and the recently bedded Metropolitan Home, reader reaction to the trend has been largely negative. We are most suspect of the fashion journals, which have always been sympathetic to fur, waste and digital make-overs. Regarding the Vogue green issue, Jezebel observed: “Despite its Style Ethics page and photo shoot of Cameron Diaz in organic hemps and cottons, the green this month’s Vogue really cares about comes from a wallet, not a tree.”

A Jezebel “Cover Lies” graphic.

Besides editorial, there is the business of green practices, and print magazines fall short here, as well.

In its feature, Deconstructing Vanity Fair’s Annual Green issue, Mother Jones (which prints on recycled paper) hammered at the inconsistencies in the 2007 issue: These included the estimated CO2 emissions from flying Leonardo DiCaprio, Annie Liebowitz and an entourage to Iceland and Germany to shoot the polar cover (89 tons); Features printed on glossy paper (2,35o tons of pulp emitting 2, 300 tons of CO2); Actual green content (117 pages), ads (150 pages; 7 for SUVs, 4 for hybrids).

Can magazines by their very nature avoid these inconsistencies in an effort to do good? Well, dozens of magazines hailed as “paper heroes” by Green America Today have converted to recycled or post-consumer paper. But by checking them out (here), you will find the majority are green in nature: Adbusters, Sierra, The Herb Companion, Yoga Journal and Vegetarian Times.

It boils down to putting your money where your mouth is, and prioritizing living things over corporate dollars. It figures neocons like The National Review write opinion pieces such as It’s Not Easy Reading Green. It’s also not so easy being insured and changing our health care system. But guess what? For both print media and our planet, these kind of real changes are do or die. Read all about it on the web.

Images: Mannobhai, Business Insider, Treeugger, Vanity Fair, Environmentalleader, Jezebel, Mother Jones

The post Green: The Color of the Month for Doomed Print Publications? appeared first on EcoSalon.

E-readers are spineless compared with hardcover books, lacking the soulful carbon fingerprints of readers past. You cannot fold the pages of the wafer-thin gadgets, or make your mark with splotches of food or wine. And the idea of clutching the casing to your chest after reading the final line of a novel just leaves me cold. As one book club friend of mine waxes, “There’s just something about the smell of a book.”

Still, we all can smell and see the writing is on the screen when it comes to these devices outsourcing print media, sparing trees and saving money. According to ID TechEx, the total market size in 2010 is a whopping $131 million, and is expected to soar to $1.7 billion by 2014. Much of that growth is attributed to huge success of Kindles and other portable e-readers. “In 2020, the market value will reach $7.45 billion thanks to the availability of flexible, color displays and faster refresh rates,” the market analysts predict.

Why do users find them so friendly?

“I bought one for my wife for her birthday and enlarged the fonts so she can read the words on the screen without squinting or wearing reading glasses,” says Steve Montoya, a Bay Area IT consultant. “She’s an avid reader. Recently, she read a series she couldn’t get in e-print, and couldn’t wait to finish it and get back to her Kindle.”

While you can’t download all desirable titles now, the Amazon library and others are growing every day.

“You can get books, magazines, newspapers, even audio books to listen to with headphones,” Montoya says.

The graphite feature also is a huge power saver, he finds, noting you can get several days of reading on one charge. And since it works on a cellular network, it also makes it easy to instantaneously order books and have them appear on your library. Plus, the e-readers never seem to lose connection.

“My brother-in-law is in Afghanistan and his iPhone doesn’t work, but his Kindle does,” says Montoya.

If the prequel of our paperless future is the tragic death of magazines and newspapers, will the sequel be the disappearance of paperback and hardcover reads? Are there upsides to this plot? Here are some of the pros and cons of e-reading devices:

Cost

Pro: If you are a voracious reader without a library card, you probably will save money on an e-reader. If you are a voracious reader with a library card, you probably will save on late fees.

Con: You have to spend a lot for the cheapest iPad, which is wifi-only, holds 16GB of storage and sells for nearly $500. The Que is $649 and has a 4GB of data storage. The 3G wireless Amazon Kindle is more affordable at $250.

Storage

Pro: When the Kindle was introduced in 2007, travelers loved the benefits of of storing up to 1,500 books on a device the size of a small paperback read. And the library of available books to download keeps expanding (the first chapter of any book is free). Let’s face it, we are a storage-challenged human race with too much junk and not enough apartment and home space. This eliminates the need for shelving.

Con: Our private libraries are important for sharing with our friends and children and passing down treasured collections – classics and complementary fiction that rocked our world. Plus, it’s a lot easier to lose a gadget than an entire dusty collection.

Green

Pro: Many green publications, including Inhabitat, sing the praises of e-readers because they ultimately aid the environment by requiring no deforestation to manufacture, compared to the traditional paper publishing industry. This doesn’t even include the energy, materials, dyes and carbon from shipping that shames the print industry. According to a study by Cleantech, the carbon emitted in the lifecycle of  a Kindle, for example, is fully offset after the first year. And more earth-friendly models are on the move, like LG’s Solar ebook introduced last year, boasting a thin photovoltaic cell which keeps the juice pumping so your novel won’t go kaput during the climax.

Con: What is being offered is a new thing to buy, to keep you busy on the subway. High tech by nature is incompatible with green with exceptions such as solar panels, which also require an investment in energy to make. Green means a return to what your grandparents did, a return to simplicity: Walk a few blocks to school and work. Open a book on your front porch and snooze. That’s 18th Century technology. Also, the effectiveness of reducing emissions by popularizing these gadgets is dependent upon the publishing industry standardizing its adoption of the technology while committing to cutting down the production of physical books and other print media. Is this likely to happen anytime soon, other than by default?

Convenience

Pro: Toss the paper thin, lightweight, wireless device in your bag and you’re good to go. The new generation of Kindles is lighter than a paperback at 6″ and 10.2 oz. and you can hold it with one hand, which aids those carpal tunnel issues. This is why so many e-readers are the new companions of commuters. Hopefully, driving laws will keep users from biting into New Moon while behind the wheel. If you thought texting was was a dangerous distraction while driving…

Con: The tactile experience of gripping a book, magazine or Sunday paper can outweigh the fact it might be heavier to lug. It is this experience that is woven into our cultural wiring. No matter how hard technology tries, the tendency for consumers to prefer print over e-readers will endure for many years to come. With regard to our cultural connection to books, a graduate student at the University of Toronto wrote that his first experiences with a reader felt like “a courageous betrayal of every word written from the moment papyrus gave way to paper.”

Connection

Pro: We are a society that needs to stay connected now more than ever. In terms of signal range, e-readers never seem to drop out.

Con: Losing connection might be easier on the eyes. Having your head in a book just isn’t the same as having your peepers fixed on a screen for hours of pleasure reading. Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) cases are rising in people looking for relief from fatigue, strain and irritation caused by focusing on worlds and images on a surface without well-defined edges contrasted against backgrounds. Eyes simply respond better to most printed text of bold black letters on a bright, white background.

Images: E-readers

The post E-Readers: Cute as a Button or a Real Page Burner? appeared first on EcoSalon.

They chow down the same foods we healthy middle-aged women eat: Quinoa, lean proteins, fresh organic produce, water from chic reusable Sigg bottles. They drive hybrids and raise funds for good causes, shun the direct sun, and sometimes even wear secondhand fashion (couture, of course).

But tinsel town celebrities my age, like Demi Moore, who is featured on the cover of W Magazine this month, are not like me or any of my healthy, naturally beautiful women friends. No, unlike the mere mortal soccer moms I rub shoulders with at book club gatherings and parties, Demi shows no signs of age or wear and tear. Where is the emerging turkey neck Nora Ephron wrote about? Where are the sagging eyes? Where are the cottage cheese thighs?

“Her body of work has been notable in no small part because of her notable body,” writes Moore cover story author, Kevin West, adding that, “hers is an undeniably striking version of midlife.” He assures us the striking former brat packer has changed at 47, evidenced by tiny lines when she smiles, but she has not gone under the knife.

“It’s their job to look amazing,” observes my astute 13-year-old daughter, Sydney. She tells me if it were her full time job, she would be flawless, too. Methinks my teenager looks pretty flawless now, but she would be happier with perfect hair and no blemishes, stuff that completes you when you are 13.

It comes down to the perception of perfection, and in achieving it, stars are spoonfed support from trainers and personal chefs. Most turn to plastic surgery, even prematurely, like America’s sweetheart Meg Ryan and highly respected eco goddess Daryl Hannah. In both cases, the surgery changed the lovely features we knew, while their bodies maintain the taut physiques of teens. In all cases, the goal is achieved. Defy age. Look young.

One looming exception is Meryl, but even the consummate thespian had to shape up to play a mature hippie in Mama Mia and Alec Baldwin’s ex and Steve Martin’s lover in It’s Complicated.

Still, Streep, now in her 60’s, is probably aging more naturally than any other major star. She doesn’t succumb to surgery and I haven’t noticed her photographs being altered through Photoshop, the favorite weapon in the arsenal of Hollywood anti-aging defenses. Streep doesn’t maintain a public persona outside of her appearances, stays out of the sun and avoids alcohol. Those are pretty good defenses, too. Bon Apetit, Meryl!

While I’m certain Demi stays gaunt for her industry, the W cover shot is not the body of a 47-year-old mother unaltered. My 47-year-old friends look amazing, but none of them have bodies like that. It’s the body of her daughter Rumer, perhaps.

The cover was as surprising as the Self Magazine issue featuring American Idol Kelly Clarkson, who didn’t actually slim down the way the magazine suggests on the cover, but erased those pounds thorough digital post-production. And how ’bout that ad featuring Ralph Lauren model Filippa Hamilton, who was deemed too fat at 5’10” and 120 pounds and had to be drastically Shopped to cut the mustard?

While the option of doing digital makeovers is the choice of each publication, the star still pays a price in terms of credibility.

I feel compassion when I realize society demands its idols be, well, objects to idolize. Air brushing and retouching are just a few of the finishing tools employed in the land of make believe, the land the media fully endorse because we fully buy into it. But at the end of the day, it just makes us feel sad. We can’t possibly live up to these images of perfection, and frankly, neither can the stars.

The alternative: finding a way to accept ourselves as natural beauties who do the best we can to stay healthy and fit and happy and productive – and admire how we are able to thrive in a world with so much adversity, sickness, hunger and negativity.

The Demoiselles website did a recent feature profiling celebs moving in the direction of self-acceptance, even unlikely candidates such as Kim Karshashian, who posed for the cover of Life & Style Weekly completely unretouched.

When asked by the magazine why she is so open about her body (i.e. showing herself receiving a cellulite treatment on her reality show), Kardashian said she was tired of people pretending they’re perfect and covering up things when in reality we are who we are.

“You can try to improve that, but the reality is, nobody’s perfect.” she declared.

But maybe we are perfect, Kim. Maybe we are perfectly flawed.

This is the latest installment in Luanne’s column, Life in the Green Lane.

Images: W Magazine, Plastic Sergeant, Sony pictures, ABC News, Life & Style Magazine, Luanne Bradley

The post Photoshopping, the New Alternative to Aging Naturally appeared first on EcoSalon.

Metropolitan Home is being put to bed for good.

I suffered reflux trying to digest the death of Gourmet, one of four Condé Nast publications closed recently. I didn’t sample the food bible much but felt nostalgic about it as an American institution. I only picked up Modern Bride a few times when plotting my wedding. (I had the main prop but needed flowers and a dress.)

Now, achy-breaky heartburn ensues from Hachette’s news about dumping Metropolitan Home.

Set to fold after its December issue, the loss of the treasured shelter guide is another casualty of the ad recession – in fact, the biggest casualty to date.

It has taken about 30 years, but the ultimate collapse is what my harshly prophetic broadcast journalism teachers at Northwestern predicted in the early 80s, proclaiming, “Print is dead!”

The grim forecast prompted many of us grad students to seek careers in television, only to make our way back to print eventually. Dying or not, it offered dignity. Print was where the rubber met the road in terms of writing acumen. The words didn’t always have to match the pictures. Imagine that.

I had a personal connection to Met Home, the uber source of swank urban nesting. I began as a fan, dovetailing pages challenging us to uplift our rooms with color, modern accessories, innovative gadgets and accessible art. It had a soft spot for small spaces urban dwellers could afford. Make puny pads bold, we were told.

Later, I became a contributor. When I first hooked up with Met I was a burned-out CNN writer and reporter, frustrated by the network’s ranting, mediocre producers, sensational live coverage and zero commitment to covering visual art.

I got up the nerve to phone Met one day from the Omni to pitch a few story ideas. I was merely a fan. A fan with a good resume: I worked at CNN. I had grown up in the housing design business. I desperately wanted in.

An erudite senior editor, John Sweeney, was happy to bite when I suggested a piece on world-famous pop artist, Kenny Scharf. The magazine was going through that we need hot celebs on the cover phase and my timing was excellent. God, I miss the 80s!

Nevermind that I hadn’t spoken to my college friend in years; that didn’t keep me from exploiting the connection. After all, Kenny and I had slow-danced together like Fred and Ginger in our dorm elevators, singing Cheek to Cheek. He owed me.

I called Kenny and boom, kismet! He graciously invited me to his upstate Hudson Valley Charles Addams-style manse which he had transmogrified into a graffiti palace with his signature cartoon aliens, atomic whirls and swirls. He was even producing ancient-future furniture that was an extension of his art. Right up Met Home’s alley. Lucky, lucky me.

I never turned back after that, and Met Home invited me to continue on as a Southeast editor, contributing cutting-edge articles on inner city housing projects and urban architecture.

I found Met was always on the cusp of all that is modern and functional, all that enhances our visual world, and that happened to include good green living.

The magazine should be proud of its April 2009 eco issue, which, like many of its best editions, entertained and informed while sharing valuable decor resources. This, in addition to consistent annual coverage of “the best little green houses,” and other examples of how the world of design is making strides in sustainable living.

But pride won’t keep you afloat when the dollars go down the drain. The biggest and most prestigious victim of the ad recession has fallen. Thirteen editorial staffers will join the growing list of unemployed journalists, including Donna Warner, the editor-in-chief for the past 17 years.

Warner, who replaced wonderful Dorothy Kalins, worked at Met Home for 26 years, joining shortly after it was founded at Meredith Corp, where it was introduced in 1974 as Apartment Life.

“I created this baby and loved it a lot,” said Warner. “It’s very sad. That’s what happens when you lose one of your children.”

My journalism instructors would boast “We told you so!” And now, I must admit, I  finally believe them. Print is dead.

While I know we will save paper, it just won’t be the same not being able to tear out pages of great sofas and chairs when I’m in the dentist waiting room or at the beauty salon. Saving them on the old Crackberry just isn’t the same kind of tactile experience.

This is the latest installment in Luanne’s column, Life in the Green Lane.

The post Met Home Is Where the Heart Was appeared first on EcoSalon.

Gourmet Magazine, an American classic, found a slump in ad sales spelled the recipe for disaster.

That’s why Conde Nast Publications is closing the oldest food magazine in the US along with Modern Bride, Elegant Bride, and the parent magazine Cookie, which I have to admit I’ve only glanced at in the doctor’s office waiting room.

While the bride magazines are used as sources to stimulate ideas for women planning their big events, Gourmet has long been the bible of American epicureans, fond of cutting out recipes for those summer salads and Thanksgiving pies. The highly respected journal, described as the “magazine of good living,” was launched in 1941 by Earle R. MacAusland, and included articles on wine and travel.

Recently, the magazine increased its coverage of healthy and organic fare, even dedicating a cocktail to actor-environmentalist Brad Pitt. It said it wasn’t just his pretty face, but the time he has devoted to the planet that inspired the refreshing cooler made with organic lime, organic cucumber, organic mint, and even Crop Organic cucumber vodka.

2 wedges of organic lime
2 thin slices fresh organic cucumber
Sprig of organic mint
2 oz (1/4 cup) Crop Organic cucumber vodka
3 to 4 oz seltzer

According to the Associated Press, Gourmet had a circulation of 980,000 last year, but despite its devoted audience of chefs and food lovers, its ad pages fell like a badly-timed souffle, down 50 percent in the second quarter from the year before, according to the Publishers Information Bureau. That’s considered one of the biggest declines ever for a popular title.

Magazines have been trying to brave the recession by experimenting with their pages, even introducing video adverts inside to lure computer screen conditioned readers, as with Entertainment Weekly. In terms of the fashion magazines, there are more eco sources developing on the web. It seems, that is where they will all end up.

Conde Nast spokeswoman Maurie Perl said some 180 employees of the four titles will be leaving the company with severance packages by the end of the week. Earlier in the year, the high-level publisher shut down Portfolio, a business journal, and Domino, a beloved shelter magazine.

It’s reported that in a staff memo, Conde Nast CEO Charles Townsend said the closures were required “to navigate the company through the economic downturn and to position us to take advantage of coming opportunities.”

Conde Nast, run by billionaire S.I. Newhouse Jr., also publishes Vogue, the New Yorker and Wired. The 19 remaining magazines owned by the company include Bon Appetit, which boasts a larger circulation than Gourmet at 1.4 million. Another foodie book, its ad pages drop isn’t much better at 40 percent.

Conde Nast promises Gourmet‘s brand will live on in books and TV programming and you will still see recipes on Epicurious.com.

Source: SFGate.com

The post Ad Drought Closes Gourmet and Modern Bride Magazines appeared first on EcoSalon.

Read all about it! Entertainment Weekly has published the first video advert with built-in speakers to get the attention of readers conditioned to respond to screens.

A report by the BBC explains the screen is built into a wafer-thin, cardboard insert and contains an ad for Pepsi Max, as well as trailers for CBS television.

“This is an extraordinary way to refresh how we interact with consumers,” said Pepsi-Cola’s chief marketing officer, Frank Cooper.

Desperate ploy, marketing breakthrough or annoyance? The chip technology, which holds up to 40 minutes of video, is likened to those singing greeting cards which have gained popularity. They are activated when you open the card.

The cardboard can add bulk to the magazines, and some male consumer have already complained it makes it hard to roll up a journal and stick it in your pocket.

BBC News‘ Los Angeles correspondent, Rajesh Mirchandani, says the magazine advert is mounted inside a cardboard insert and is instantly distinguishable from a normal flimsy page.

“You can’t really flick through the magazine, because the 4-page insert that includes the video screen is relatively bulky,” he reports.

“And when you do open up the relevant page, the actual advert takes several seconds to load and play and that’s a lifetime’s lag in the advertiser’s world,” he added.

Magazine containing the screens have been sent to several thousand subscribers in Los Angeles and New York. Will they catch on by other magazines to save the trade? We shall see.

Some other facts about the adverts:

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