How Real is This??

Teen Vogue, and some other teen magazines, as well as the non-famous "regular girls" fashion blogs, of my particular notice, "Sea of Shoes" and "The Style Rookie," are seemingly designed to attract the normal and younger fashionistas in the world; however, I find it quite confusing considering these magazines and blogs generally boast overpriced designer digs that no real teenager (or adult for that matter) could truly afford to purchase considering they are either too young to work AT ALL or are significantly limited to working normal teenage jobs which in turn are paid at minimum wage for the part time hours a legal work permit would allow. In one issue of Teen Vogue there is a fashion piece titled, "Sugar Rush," where brights and pastels are modeled through the pages, but of interest is the brands and designers that are used to create the looks. One outfit consists of $360 D&G blazers and Louis Vuitton belts (price not listed). Another look is made up of Burberry skirts, Chanel bracelets and plastic Louis Vuitton bracelets priced at $310 to $420 each! Lots more Louis Vuitton and Chanel with a piece or two from Dsquared2, Christian Louboutin, Miu Miu, Prada, Phillip Lam and a bunch of other overpriced pieces that no normal teenager should own completes this spread! "The Style Rookie" is certainly not dictated by high end designers and must haves that 95% of the world can not afford even if they prayed on it every day of their lives, but blog owner, little Miss Tavi (I adore her but I'll get into that later) does attend fashion week in New York, she does have a recent post on Givenchy's 2010 lineup, and she does frequently rock designer pieces and accessories I, as a practicing 32 year old attorney, can not afford myself. In her defense, she does usually clarify that most of the items were given to her or borrowed, but still.... And "Sea of Shoes" (another fav of mine that I will discuss in more detail later) has all types of couture and high end designer finds that are to die for especially since no normal person, particularly teenager, could afford any of it. You would literally have to die for some of the things on this blog! But to put things in perspective and in all fairness, "Sea of Shoes," seems to be more about artistic expression and the true love of fashion rather than high end designer propaganda pushing by a teenage girl and her mom despite the expensive finds.
Overall, I'm not necessarily saying that these magazines and blogs are all wrong in what they do. There are some great articles and topics that are teen oriented and helpful in every Teen Vogue issue. There are also more affordable pieces sprinkled throughout their fashion spreads, such as those from Express, Topshop, Guess and Babyphat. Also, Elle girl is an excellent teen oriented magazine that does a great job of promoting real life teen issues and teen apparel. "The Style Rookie" is absolutely wonderful and a commendable feat for little Miss Tavi. It is one of my favorite blogs on blogger and she does an excellent job with managing her blog. Her writing is absolutely superb, her creativity is over the top, her articles and topics are very well balanced and she brings a lot of important and sometimes controversial issues to the light and let's not forget she is a 13 year old child who has to get up and go to school every day! And the same for the Sea of Shoes blog. The art of fashion, bright photography and the bonding between mother and teenage daughter is way more attractive and prevalent than the expensive clothes that no other normal teenager could afford. I love what these two blogs are presenting and I particularly love the blog owners for being young, ambitious, artistic and successful. I would encourage my followers to follow and support these blogs.
In short and to further clarify, I'm not attacking. I've already mentioned, and will mention again and again, that attacking is so not my style. I only draw attention because there is some misleading elements and there is the potential issues that some of these outlets may cause when the attracted audience (young, impressionable, awkward, emotionally imbalanced teenage girls) is desperate to get their hands on the looks and brands celebrated in some of the aforementioned medias, particularly the commercially successful magazines. Maybe they should challenge themselves to be all Teen and not just some Teen, or maybe even consider changing their name so not to deceive that the magazine is for teens and about teens only. I would suggest, "MiniVogue" or "YoungVogue" because these would allow the youthful styles without compromising the designer brand that no normal teen could afford. I'd also suggest clinging to more affordable but comparable brands and lines such as French Connection, Zara, more Topshop, Alice & Olivia, H&M, and BCBGeneration, just to mention a few. All and all, it's all just a thought???!!!! What do you think?