I haven’t posted here in months and I love it.

Though I couldn’t help but laugh wickedly when goss about ACP moving to a cheaper building…. North Ryde. Won’t those glossy hags throw a fit and wished they were as lucky as Sig and her new gig at Vogue Australia. Though one does have to wonder how much work she actually does, wooing advertisers and all when Kristie Clements is basically endorsing Olay in their new Definity ads. Sure the copy reads “Vogue readers recommend” but who’s granny-bobbed head is talking in the first few seconds of the ad?

Good to see Grazia keeping her recontructed chin up with news of, not a closure, but of a price reduction. 50% off on your newsstands now! Down from $5 to $2.50. That’s cheaper than your morning skim-cap, which I would not give up for a copy of Grazia. Have you seen the dribble they have in the kitchen?

Also I’ve been meeting a lot of former mag hags these days in my world. One gushed about her time with Murdoch Mags then ACP. Snoooze. Eight years in mags and now you’re teaching non-mag-ish stuff? WTF?

Then there is the Queen Bee on Twitter, with the former Queen Bee / BFF on Twitter too. Love fest darlings, love fest. I refuse to comment on the other hags on Twitter because it simply came around too late for me to give you all updates on Big Bird, the Sesame Street Gang and of course my darling friend Andie and her boss… DAILY. Imagine how fun that would have been.

By the way, I would like to report that Big Bird has a new friend on the *muah muah* circuit. Wish I could tell you my name for her, but it may offend *wink wink*. I should be sad I’m no longer BB’s event circuit friend anymore, but unfortunately I always looked better in photographs and I got more fabulous invites – of course.

Oh and it’s fashion season so one would be following the fashion girls around to see what’s news. But since they’re all working over time or at least pretending to, we’ll have to wait to see them come out of their sparkling wine haze around RAFW time. FUN!

Time to fly. I’ll be back soon. Promise.

Happy new year mag-ites/gots!

Just a few things to kick things off in the new year.

• Does anyone care about Vogue anymore? Cathy Horyn doesn’t. I especially love the paragraph saying:

“There are too many stories about socialites – or, at any rate, too few such stories that sufficiently demonstrate why we should care about these creatures… Ditto staff-member accounts of spa treatments and haircuts.”

All Australian beauty “editors”, I’m looking at you.

• Does anyone care about magazines? No matter how many newsagents are willing to sell them (they have to be willing, what else would they sell?) I’m over all their glossy page preaching to me like I need their advice on what to buy, who to gawk over and how to get a ‘red lip’.I think I need a new job and to figure out this web thing to join other mag hags turned web hags.

… you want to see the Australian Grazia team take a leaf out of their British counterparts and make an entire issue of the mag from a shopping centre.

The British team are working out of the new Westfield in London this week, so how would you like to see the Australian girls set up shop in your local shopping centre?

All bets are on that this will be pitched to shopping centre’s and major department stores in Australia, but would you actually see Alison Veness-McGourty “working” out of a pop-up office? Or any beauty ed’s actually spend time at their desk’s?

Until then, we will have to settle with watching the fabulous British Grazia team work out of their stark white walls.

Watch as the British team discusses how they will move 46 staffers into one shopping centre and still manage to put a magazine out. A lot of pre-production I’m assuming. It all sounds like one big mag promo according to the video anyway.

The economy is going bottoms up and there are rumours of magazine closures left right and centre.

Perhaps working in magazines isn’t the way to go after all?

I see the little work experience girls – usually two by two – riding the lifts to “go fetch” and I think, is it worth it? Will there be a mag hag job at the end of the tunnel that will somehow pay the rent?

While we’re all holding tightly to our seats, hoping that it won’t be pulled out from under us like it was for those PR/Events girls in house, should us print girls look around and see the light? But then, wasn’t Gen Y (which 80% of mag hags are these days) raised to think the world is their oyster and we can have it all?

Well we can, just not in a dying industry where people don’t want to pay $5 a week for a magazine which isn’t all that relevant or is just rehashing content from Perez or Defamer a week too late. Yes you weeklies, I’m talking about you.

The only exclusive contact weekly magazines have is the “real people stories” and the celebrity stories they pay for. And they don’t even pay for good stories – do we care that Michael Clarke and Lara Bingle got engaged in New York and some magazine was conveniently there to sign the check and take the pictures? Or that Kyle Sandilands and Tamara Jaber got hitched and her dress cost more than most mag hag’s salaries?

If we must stay in print, perhaps we should all learn how to design, style fashion and beauty shoots, know how to write (which I can proudly say, Big Bird can do to some degree now), edit and kiss arse with advertising clients.

You can have it all ladies, as long as you can do it all.

P.S. as per a comment – does anyone care why Amy Sinclair left? After all no one is asking about that other ex-editor, Nedahl Stelio, now. But just for fun, she has popped up here in agency land. You have to love good old Google.

This was just too comical to not mention…

The Media section of the Australian said ACP aren’t making enough money, and the bosses at PBL happy. And PBL may combine competing magazines which share similar audiences.

Two nominated mags (besides the men’s ones) is Cleo and Cosmopolitan.

“there is concern the two titles are cannibalising each others’ markets and may be forced to merge”

Can you image…

• Perennial competitors, Bron and Sarah would have to work together! Or would one lady have to make way for the other? No prizes for sharing who you think deserves the job as EIC of Closmo, but where would all the glossy mag hags go? They can’t all fit on the one masthead and there are only so many jobs at inhouse mags, Madison, Shop, Grazia (which isn’t doing so well apparently), Dolly and Harper’s Bazaar… perhaps the girls should hope that Aus Glamour still have some jobs available?
• Speaking of Aus Glamour, Cleo are hoping to get a jump start on the soon-to-be-launched title by making a handbag sized version of the mag. Didn’t they try that a few summers ago and it wasn’t worth it? The old girl’s gotta try something I guess.
• If the girls go out of a job, who else will buy up the junk at that bargain basement shoe store next to McDonald’s?

Who/what else do you think will be affected if Closmo ever happened?

P.S. We got a mention in the Australian too.

And in that time frame, so much has happened! I just caught up with all the newest comments – which had me cackling with glee. I’m glad the truths about certain people had come out in the time while I was on hiatus.

The other day I heard a few girls talk about this little baby and it reminded me that it was quite fun in a naughty way, so I might have to return to semi-regular updates.

Since it has been a while, I need to know a few things:

• What do you think of Huckbody’s Bazaar? Chica than Vogue?
• Is Grazia worth it’s $20 a month price tag?
• What did you think of Paula Joye’s performance on Project Runway Australia and the gushing contestants who were in awe of her title.
• Did you hear that nasty rumor flying around about the “‘gong blonde“? I definitely need to talk to her one of these days and get to know her, she sounds like my kinda gal
• Is anyone looking forward to Australian Glamour? After waiting for it to launch since Shop first did, does anyone actually care for another Marie Claire/Madison/Cosmo/Cleo-esque title? Zzzzzzzzzzz. At least Sig has a full time job to call home again.

So the final question on your glossed lips are – where have I been? Oh darlings, that is a secret I’ll never tell.

Gosh how cliched. But that the world of glossy magazines and lip gloss right?

So tell me, what have YOU been up to?

Hi guys, Stacy here… you might remember me as the girl who was on Merrick and Rosso a few weeks back. I think a link to the radio interview is on their site somewhere. They’re closing line is the funniest.

Well I’m going to be blogging here at 4 Inch Heels Only for a few weeks while MagHag is working on a some projects. I’m a little new to blogging, so bare with me.

I really don’t have much else to report just yet, but we did get a rather amusing piece of information that I wanted to share and to let you guys know someone is still here.

Here’s a little something we got from J.J. last week, we had to edit the second sentance a little… but you get the drift:

The industry is shocked to hear Donna Armstrong is going to edit a US title when she sunk New Woman. It should be interesting to see if she continues to be “inspired” by other overseas titles and makes full use of her sub editors over there.

x Stacy

Ever since I started this blog, its becoming increasingly obvious to me that magazines are beginning to become irrelevant. Once the pinnacle of things to read for the latest insightful fashion, beauty and lifestyle pieces, they’re dying a slow death in Australia.

And the latest circulation figures have proved just that.

The web is a booming industry, where information is free and you don’t have to read rehashed articles and second rate celebrity interviews.

Then again the industry can’t be doing so badly with more girls announced as Grazia staffers, with it’s launch issue coming to a newsagent near you in just a matter of months.

Joining Alison Veness-McGourty, Mark Vassollo, and Edwinna McCann at Grazia is Lucinda Pitt (nee Mendel) as the Beauty and Health Director, and BeautyHeaven.com.au’s editor Tracey Withers will join as Beauty Editor.

Good to see they have compiled a nice list of women who haven’t clawed their way up the ACP stock pile, instead they have done the hard yards outside of a spray tanning booth. Not that I want their jobs, a weekly deadline is murder on the social life.

I’ve been keeping a low profile. Managers on my tail and all.

Then again, they should watch their backs.

In the meantime, funniest comments EVER.

Lindy:
Since Mag Hag isn’t leaving much gossip – here’s a little tit bit…

Beware Level 10. You have just inherited a woman that knows how to let them rip and does so frequently. Must be all the indulgent food.

and…

PR Chick:
Oh, give poor Leigh Campbell a break, ladies & gents ….. I’ve always found her very nice to deal with (I’m in PR and work for non-advertising clients so she doesn’t have to be so nice!) and feel she is very undeserving of all this spite.

Of course she doesn’t have to be nice PR Chick, but the freebies might dry up. And I haven’t given her much crap, it’s my daaaarling commenter’s who got on her back after her “paying for rent with mascara” comment. If you put yourself out there like she did, you must be willing to take the good with the bad.

In the mean time… leave tidbits for me in my contact form. You know you want to tell me about how the girl next to you picks her nose or have lunch time quickies… Actually, did anyone hear of a certain maghag keeping her affair un-hush-hush??

And everyone thought she was a sweetheart too.

Word abound is that a ‘top’ fashion magazine website is seeking a street style photographer.

Think you could be the next Scott Schulman for Style.com. Apply now but don’t expect to be paid much. They’ve already approached some budding photogs around Sydney-town.

On a side note, did you hear that some girl is trying to claim she’s me to get freebies?

P.S. Is it just me or is it disturbing when one of your high ranking bosses gets in the lift and has dandruff all over his designer suit?