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Gq-has it gone way down hill?

GQgeek

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The magazine has gone down hill big time imo. Maybe it's the maxim influence or something but it's hardly worth buying anymore.

Now I was never a regular subscriber, and maybe the few issues I had picked up in the past were unusually good, but to me there's way too little in it pertaining to clothes and fashion these days (maybe a few pages in a couple hundred?). It's filled with tons of other junk that's not even worth reading. It would be really nice if magazines could resist the temptation to show graphic photos of people sticking things through their mouths and *************s and focus on the things that sold them in the first place.

But I guess it's hard to do that when showing pictures of people with bloody stumps, almost naked chicks, and neat ways to open beer cans have been proven to sell so many copies.

Robb Report is so much better these days although it's a bit unrealistic for me. While I like reading about $250,000 grand complication Patek Phillipe's, it's unlikely that i'll be able to afford one within the next 10 years. Ditto for the $4000 a bottle cognac, the Gulfstream 5, and the $500,000 Ferrari Enzo (or FX).

Anyway, is anyone aware of something in between? There's gotta be a magazine with a little class left in it that covers the finer things in life without going to Robb Report extremes. I think the format of Robb Report is ideal and I'll continue to read it, but it would be nice if there were something that covered the same range of things in a lower price range (although I know it's unimaginable to drink cognac unless it's been aged for 40 to 50 years ;p)
 

pstoller

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I'm not sure GQ was ever a great magazine, but it's certainly no paragon of journalism now. Granted, the anniversary issue managed to compile good writing from over the years, but beyond that, any single issue is largely a snooze. I'm tired of high-concept photo shoots that don't show us the clothing that is supposedly being modeled (although it shows us plenty of whatever young actress/model the editors hired that month). I'm tired of the relentlessly hetero-macho editorial bent, as if GQ has to prove in every issue that it's really not for gay guys. And, I'd like to see more coverage of fashion from cutting-edge designers, instead of the same old suits and conservative casualwear every issue. Maybe we should publish our own magazine.
smile.gif
 

Joe G

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Other GQ's seem better to me than the American one. The German one is more likely to feature interesting designers, and it has more risque/artistic (and plentiful) T&A shots too. (And I don't mean bespoke shirts.) Gotta read German, though.

The British GQ might be more what you're looking for. It's more of a Robb Report lite. I still find it annoyingly pretentious, but it's at least readable, unlike TRR.

Peace,

JG
 

PeterMetro

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GQ attracts advertisers based on the quality of their audience, not the quantity. This is the main reason they haven't spiraled into the frat-boy aesthetics of a Maxim or FHM. (A funny side-note, Maxim claimed their readers had the highest household income of any men's magazine - it's because so many of their readers still live with their parents.) GQ is a Men's Lifestyle magazine, which includes everything from clothes to travel to food, etc. I actually appreciate some of the writing in GQ (I find Glenn O'Brien very funny, and Alan Richman is great, albeit a bit pretentious). I was very impressed by the anniversary issue - the James Ellroy article was super and the essay on presidential character was well-researched and insightful. I'm surprised that no one has mentioned my biggest problem with GQ: the amount of ads. Flipping through an issue, it's almost impossible to find any real content. They could fit the magazine in 70-80 odd pages, but it looks like an unabridged dictionary. The majority of these ads are totally irrelevant to me, and therefore ignored (with the exception of the Stacy Adams ads: it's like the NBA draft without David Stern). I'm also surprised nobody mentioned Esquire. It's not what it used to be, but I still think the editorial is better than GQ's. Of course, there's always The New Yorker and Atlantic Monthly if the articles are your thing. If you're a die-hard fashion fanatic (which some of us are), go to the trades: Daily News Record is a good one.
 

Stu

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Esquire has a great literary tradition dating to Gay Talese, Tom Wolfe, Jimmy Breslin, Dominick Dunne and even, I think, running all the way back to F. Scott Fitzgerald, although I might be mistaken on that.

The point being that Esquire has some vestages of journalistic royalty.
 

Mike C.

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Esquire certainly ran short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald, noted for his opulent living, thus often broke, wrote the stores for Esquire soley for money between novels to keep accustomed to his lifestyle.

On a side note, anyone see the stab at GQ in this month's issue of Stuff.
 

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