Even so, there are just some things I can’t bear to part with. My piles of classic magazines are one of them! I know it’s not eco-friendly, and that I won’t necessarily do anything with them, but there’s something very comforting about knowing the recipe for a perfect margarita, details on the ultimate romantic get-away, or a guide to writing your first novel (while still looking stylish!) is just moments away once I dive into the pages. Unrealistic to think a magazine can tell you how to live? Sure! But I still enjoy the conceit that one day, I just might do some of the things they advise for life enhancement!

My favorite magazine by far is Red (a UK publication, which i buy from the lovely Smoke Signals on Polk Street), but i have (or to be accurate, had) an equal addiction to the sadly now defunct Domino magazine. This was the perfect magazine for design and interiors inspiration, and catered to those who had the ideas, but not necessarily the piles of cash, to turn their decor dreams into reality (i.e. most of us). As we pack everything up, I’ve found quite a few old copies of Domino, and even though I can see Rick pleading with me, silently, to start throwing these stacks of glossy bound paper away, i just can’t. One day, I will design the perfect living room with crafty salvage finds from the flea market and a few savvy purchases at Target! One day it will happen!

I wish the publishers, Conde Nast, would bring it back. It’s hard to believe they can’t find the ad revenues when the magazine targets one of the most valuable demographics: women who love to shop! I’m waiting for someone to start their own version of the mag, but until then, i’m making do with this great Flickr Domino Magazine pool, which houses images from the magazine over the years. How about these for design inspiration?

(Thanks to the Flickr Magazine Files pool for these images from Apartment102, Annesage82 and coco+kelley)

I was there to watch The September Issue, the fabulous new documentary about the months leading up to the September issue of American Vogue. In fashion world, that particular month’s issue is like all the Christmases come at once. It has that back to school freshness, that feeling of wanting a whole new stylin’ wardrobe for those rare, but exceptional, perfect Fall days, and has all the high-end advertisers clamoring for space.

The ostensible reason for people to be interested in the film, apart from the fabulous fashions, was to peek at the famed, and feared, editor in chief Anna Wintour. Ms Wintour is a feisty Brit who was rumored to be the inspiration for Meryl Streep’s character in The Devil Wears Prada. Indeed. I caught sight of her once, while having brunch at Balthazar in NYC, and there was quite the aura of fabulousness around her, even at 11:00am on a Sunday!

And it didn’t disappoint on that count. The documentary maker, RJ Cutler, did an excellent job of probing beneath the well manicured veneer, without disturbing even one of the very well groomed hairs on Ms Wintour’s head. Everything was very polished and very presentable. But that spoke volumes. And not always in a positive way. One of her opening quotes, which involved something about ‘women who wear K-Mart blue jeans’ struck a wincing tone with most of us, still mired in recessionary thinking, and wondering if we’ll ever come out of it.

But there was another star of the show. Vogue’s creative director, Grace Coddington, a wild-haired, strong-willed Welsh wonder, who quietly stole every scene she was in, despite a professed reluctance to take part in it at all. Grace is clearly from the old school. The days before celebrities made the cover of every fashion magazine, and before advertisers ruled the runway. In every scene, Grace lets you know, very quietly, but with oh so much passion, that she is in charge of artistic inspiration at Vogue. Anna Wintour is in charge of business, Grace is in charge of making it beautiful, and it works brilliantly together. Even something as superficial as a fashion shoot made me quite teary-eyed when viewed through the still starry-eyed lens of Grace.

And that’s before we even get to the comedy relief provided by Andre Leon Talley. I’m not quite what he does at Vogue, but it’s fabulous. Taking a tennis lesson, while draped in in Louis Vuitton, he just oozes unnecessary glamour, and you gotta love him for it.

I loved this documentary, because I love fashion, and I actually love the entire ridiculousness of it. It’s fantastic, escapist relief when things are a little bleak, and you just need to look at something fabulous. And what can be more fabulous than sitting down with the September issue of Vogue?