The fall TV season is upon us and Nylon magazine has released the image for their annual TV issue; Revenge star Emily VanCamp graces the cover. The September issue is the fashion magazine pinnacle, but it is the TV issue that I really look forward to and luckily these don’t all arrive in the same month (New York magazine comes out in May and Elle’s February issue tends to be TV-centric). My not so secret admission is that I am a bit of a magazine junkie in both print and digital form – while I prefer print the bonus content included with the digital edition is really appealing – and so the combination of TV, fashion and magazines is my ideal.
So here is the 2013 cover and a love letter to TV issue of Nylon magazine.
The first issue of Nylon that I bought was the 2008 TV issue, which also happens to be the inaugural TV issue. While the 90210 cover stars failed to appeal (I really wasn’t that interested in this reboot), the many other TV shows listed on the front (ok it was probably Lost and the forthcoming Fringe) caught my eye. I did the standard flicking through the pages in the shop to make sure it was worth buying and the article that really jumped out at me was the “Gone too Soon” fashion editorial which featured clothes inspired by My So-Called Life.
Considering the influx of ’90s nostalgia it wouldn’t surprise me if we see something similar from Nylon this year – they could take a different route of course and pick other less discussed/revered shows from the ’90s or pick another era all together. In fact grunge has been circulating for a while as the photo shoot with Nina Dobrev cites Angela Chase and has Dobrev in chunky cardigans, plaid flannel shirts and DMs from the 2011’s Christina Ricci covered issue (Pan Am we hardly knew you).
It isn’t just the recent-ish shows that Nylon covers and the 2008 issue looks to older characters like Peg Bundy from Married… with Children, The Cosby Show’s Clair Huxtable and Samantha Stephens from Bewitched for makeup and hair inspiration. Iconic female characters aren’t the only source of inspiration and who would have thought that Lt. Columbo would have a highly covetable look? Well thanks to his trench coat he is. TV Ate My Wardrobe was primarily set up to give me a place to talk about costuming and fashion on TV shows and probably somewhere along the line this magazine issue helped plant the seed of this site.
Other features include interviews with a variety of behind the scenes talent including writers, producers, composers, editors and costume designers. A big chunk is dedicated to the hottest new faces some from shows that will go on to six or seven seasons and others like Rubicon (*sob*) and Kings that didn’t make it beyond one season. This probably sounds super nerdy but it’s quite fun to have flick through and see who is now a star (even if their show tanked) and who has faded into obscurity. It also is a good reminder that shows like The Beautiful Life and the Melrose Place reboot existed for a tiny amount of time, I’m not sure how many people want to be reminded of that though.
This isn’t Emily VanCamp’s first appearance in the TV issue as she has previously represented both Brothers & Sisters and Revenge. Britt Robertson has also featured twice before for the short lived Life Unexpected and The Secret Circle and it wouldn’t be a surprise if she’s in it again for Under the Dome. Jessica Szohr not only got the 2010 cover but she’s been in two other issues showing that at least one person out there liked Vanessa on Gossip Girl. It’s not all just CW shows as Mad Men, Breaking Bad and countless other cable shows feature. The other networks are represented too and one of my favorite random pairings is Zach Gilford and Minka Kelly (random because they barely shared a scene on FNL).
The debates that rage online about series finales and what constitutes a great show also feature in these pages – I’m so happy to see Six Feet Under at the table for both of these conversations. Though in the last couple of years these types of discussions haven’t been so prominent, hopefully this issue will make a return to these kinds of debates.
For a look at the past TV issues of Nylon magazine click on the images below. As you can see from the styling of the cover short shorts are common as are clashing patterns. I think Emily VanCamp’s crop top has hypnotic powers as it’s hard to stop staring even if it kind of hurts.
TV Ate My Wardrobe 
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