Fashion month starts this week (New York, London, Milan, Paris) so I wanted to revisit when I guest edited the September 2014 issue of Town & Country.
The scalding tea is behind the paywall for paid subscribers, but here’s a taste for free…
In 2014, Town & Country commissioned me to guest edit their September issue. I would be the first outside editor in their 168 year history. The theme was my Los Angeles.
When I was a little kid, I wanted to be a magazine editor. I started a family newspaper, The Goldwyn Bugle, and appointed myself Editor in Chief (EIC.) In addition to news features, we had Agony Aunt and Personals sections, most of which I wrote or cajoled my younger brother, eldest niece and nephew into contributing.
Needless to say, I didn’t have the same level of editorial control at Town & Country as I did at The Goldwyn Bugle. At that level, there’s a lot more cooks in the kitchen, advertisers to satisfy and a carefully crafted image to uphold.
Below is an extremely photoshopped image of my brother Tony and I from the T&C September 2014 issue. I adore the photographer, Max Vadukul, but I hate how vampirish and sandblasted smooth I appear. Not to mention elongated to the point of ridiculousness. Also I’ve never seen Tony scowl like this, outside of playing a bad guy in a movie.
The first time I received such drastic photoshopping was in January of that year for a Vogue shoot with my friend, supermodel and fellow red haired Capricorn,
. Karen has been modeling since she was a teenager and has many stories to tell. Hopefully she will spill some of them on her new Substack, The Lipstick Letters. The Vogue shoot we did was tied to our charity sale, “Vintage Vanguard,” benefitting Dress for Success. I was not pleased with resembling an AI alien from Planet Hollywood, especially given the context of the sale—helping homeless women and survivors of domestic violence feel good about themselves and get back into the workforce. Maybe they were trying to make me look more like a supermodel next to Karen, but I would topple over if my calves and ankles were that frail.
My experience being photoshopped by Vogue aside, I was still idealistic about putting my stamp on the Town & Country issue. I wanted to reflect the diversity of talents that make up my hometown, Los Angeles, and the creatives I admired.
Little did I know how much politicking that would involve….