Do you remember the very first time you laid eyes on Suede magazine? I surely do! At the time I was fresh out of college and the magazine just spoke to me in ways I tried to supplement with other mags before it. Or remember when Honey was still in print? I used to love pouring through the mag taking in every word and totally relating to Mitzi Miller‘s (who is now the Editor-in-Chief at JET) hilarious antics.

See, I’ve always been a mag hag. When I was a pre-teen and throughout my teens I’d jump for joy whenever the latest issues of Seventeen and YM hit the mailbox. I felt all grown-up reading about boys and fashion and what not. Plus it was soooo much more sophisticated than Highlights.

But then magazines like Honey and Suede came along and it was like OMG–YOU COMPLETE ME! Sure there was Essence, Ebony, and JET, but finally there was a magazine for my demographic. Glossies that showed young women just like me looking fly and fabulous.

Then one by one, all the magazines folded. I was hurt. Guess it’s hard out there in those ad sales streets for mags geared to young black women.

But with the explosion of blogs since then, I can not only publish my own take on fashion and beauty, but I can also get my fix by just a few mouse clicks. I can check out young black style in Atlanta, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Lagos, and beyond without having to take my left hand out of my bag of Funyuns.

While browsing the web last night, I came across the latest issue of Vibe Vixen magazine with cover girl Tika Sumpter. I almost fell out of my chair thinking that VV was back in print and raced to the site to subscribe. That’s when I realized it was a digital issue. *sigh*

Which leads me to ask of you, Fashion Bombshells…are fashion magazines geared to young black women still necessary? Would you like to see any past favorites come back to print? And would you drop the cold hard change to purchase?

~Danielle