The Dangers of Reading Fashion Magazines

Reading fashion magazines is a dangerous pursuit. I almost think that they should come with a warning label. Most obviously, and on a serious note, I believe reading this stuff does incalculable damage to girls' (and women's) self-esteem and body image. What female hasn't, at one time or another, closed a copy of Marie Claire or Harper's Bazaar feeling vaguely dissatisfied with themselves? Notwithstanding the fact that fashion journalism can make me feel fat, the magazines are also very effective at fattening my credit card balance. Let's face it, every single page is advertising, designed to make you want to buy things you don't really need. And I fall for it--I have an unfortunate tendency to head for the mall shortly after visiting the newsstand.

But here's a lesser-known danger of fashion magazine reading. It can make you neglect your knitalongs. It can exacerbate mild cases of startitis. I was reading Lucky, and saw an article about the layering look for fall. There was a feature about tiny chunky knit vests with flowy things underneath. How cute. But how likely is it that I will want to wear it next fall? Not very. I thought to myself, I could absolutely make one of those vests. From my stash.

Thus, Laura enters the world of design-your-own-knitwear. Callously, I cast Weasley and Kepler aside to work on this little project. Yarn harlot, indeed--I'm dumping these worthies for a knitting one-night-stand. This is a garment that Fiber Snobs are bound to hate: a trendy shape, bulky gauge, made with two strands of Lion Brand Wool-Ease worsted held together. But it will satisfy my desire to indulge in a trend, at low cost in terms of time and money. And it's fun to create your own design. When it's done, I'll have a big reveal. Meanwhile, I'm on my way to buy some flowy things to go with my new tiny vest.