Dear Answer Angel: Since I was a teenager I have been a big fan of fashion magazines. Vogue, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, etc., mostly in print but more recently also online.
I've learned a lot about makeup trends, skin care and clothes trends. Over the years, it seems to me that more and more of them are showing and recommending products, clothes and accessories that are way more expensive than all but the most wealthy among us could ever expect to aff ord. Why aren't they paying attention to the huge majority of us whose budgets will never stretch that far? And when they throw in a piece of clothing from a mall store or makeup from the drugstore, it's just a token mention, which is almost insulting and doesn't fool anybody that they care about us regular people.
— Celia G. Dear Celia: Two reasons. Fashion bibles claim to be "aspirational" — to give us dressing and product ideas from the high-end designers and cosmetic companies to enable the rest of us to look, wish for and try to duplicate, perhaps with one or two "splurges.
" Second, advertisers! Even a casual reader will have to endure pages (and screens) of ads from Chanel, Vuitton, Ferragamo, Bulgari, Van Cleef & Arpels before getting to editorial (non-advertising) spreads that feature clothes, perfumes, makeup and accessories from ...
Chanel, Bulgari et al. It's up to us savvy consumers to look (and covet) but to buy with caution. Dear Answer Angel Ellen: I have a beautiful diamond ring that I inherited when my mom passe.