Which magazine is better: Elle or Vogue?

What should I major in if I want to end up writing for a magazine like Elle, Harpars Bazaar, or Vogue?

• I'm going to be a college freshman next year, and I was planning on majoring in journalism and marketing. However, I don't know if I should consider majoring in something else if I want to end up writing for magazines of that specific caliber. And yes, I do realize journalism is dying, no need to remind me :)

• Answer:

  Communications, Strategic Comm/Advertising, Marketing, Journalism (geared toward Magazine or Feature Writing), Digital Media. Go to your classes, pay attention, establish a killer GPA the first semester or 2 & ride it out the rest of your syllabuses (syllabi..?) until graduation time & hope things are better for your economically than they were for me (Mizzou Journ grad BA in Magazine Journalism '09) In all seriousness & sincerity, the best thing you can do is start blogging. Every day. About stuff you like. Products that you maybe can't afford but admire. Don't just self-promote & talk about your life. Be funny. Be yourself. Write every time you get a chance. If you have an aha moment during the day that would be worth blogging about because it's either amusing, exciting, awkward, lovely, frustrating, chic, fugly, write it down in your Moleskin or whatever trendy overpriced notebooks are hot right now. Or put it in your phone's notepad for later. Blog about anything but if you're really passionate about the glossy gilded world of fashion mags, it will write itself. Start early & engage with your followers. Launch a Tumblr. Then use an app like Overgram to design a quick cute Instragram post directly people to your site. Tag acccordingly (#instafashion, #instastyle, #swag, #designer #bags #fashionblogs #fashion #shoes....anything relevant you plan on blogging about). Cast your hashtag net & cast it wide. Don't just reblog other user's #ootd posts. Provide real life recommendations & add value to an audience. Create a community & connect people through your blog. It's an excellent creative outlet & can garner you years of opportunity if you get started now (provided you can write well & connect to your readers so they keep coming back, maybe even bookmark you) Be honest. Be realistic. Sure we all love oogling over luxury handbags boasting a price tag comparable to the cost of braces for a family of 5 so post some really amazing bagporn every now & then but also change it up with DIY posts. Do your research. What kind of little beauty tips & hacks aren't well-known amongst your peers? Pinterest is an excellent resource for stuff like this. Did you know that conditioner is 1000 better than any dedicated Schick shaving cream for silky smooth legs? Baking soda added to your shampoo once a week clarifies yours hair garnering some of the fluffiest, bounciest locks I've seen in years. See? This is what girls want to know. How to cut costs in this area so they can then buy something in another area :) The fashion industry is all smoke & mirrors. You would never guess that the Elle Magazine offices in New York located right at 50th & Broadway had mildewy carpet, off-white walls completely worsened by dirty beige cubicle dividers, bathrooms that were worse aesthetically than my public high school's & the intern computers did not even boast flat screen monitors (this was 2008 I'm talking about & I was working as an editorial intern for the .COM department). Think dingy Compaq Presario desktop computers (like the ones you used to run Encarta 99 off of for your homework assignments) a la Montgomery Ward 12 inches tall & 20 inches back. Our revered "beauty" editor had terrible taste & even worse adult acne. You can only fake it til you make it for so long & print pubs like the ones you're mentioning is all about facades & living outside of your means. Approach your new editorial ventures in a fresh, revamped way & be honest in your posts. Look at fashion blogs. Peruse them. Scour them. Find the ones that are doing more than just posting pretty things that were pulled down from ThisIsGlamourous or something equally anticlimactic & invaluable. ManRepeller  is one of my favorites. She is an industry vet, she's terribly uncouth, wears the oddest combinations in the iffiest trends of the current moment but she is magnetic & accessible & people flock to read her every day. She doesn't care what's coming down the runway because no one care afford a $17,000 trench for Resort 2014. Yes it's the trickledown effect so we'll find a similar-looking trench in our neighborhood Forever21 6 months from now & then it will start to deteriorate because it's crap quality. This is now the direction to head. Blog about your experiences, how your clothes, your shopping behavior, your online product obsessions, beauty swag you definitely don't need but want nonetheless because http://Sephora.com just has that effect on us ladies & gentleladies.  I interned for FREE for over 500+ hours with Elle.com & Ellegirl.com & it literally went nowhere. I should have been considered immediately after graduation for an E.A. or Fashion Assistant position because I went through the necessary hoops but the fashion industry doesn't follow rules. It's political, it's unfair, it's over-the-top & hard-working, straight-laced girls frequently finish last because they didn't know this connection to the Senior Editor from shared Connecticut upbringings, bullshit, bullshit, bullshit.  Start a blog. Tweak it as you go along. If you're serious about writing, write every day. It's a skill that must be practiced in order to become better. Don't be afraid to self-promote your posts on your FBook, IG, Twitter, Google+,  LinkedIn, Pinterest, wherever & drive traffic to your blog through your existing connections. Once you start delivering good content out a sheer organic place via your authentic affinity for fashion, the rest will follow. Your friends & followers will share it & so on & so forth. You'll actually find yourself doing what you love, building an audience to then have influence in the fashion blogger space while also marketing via content (aka content marketing which is the future of online advertising). You're in an awesome place right now with so much opportunity a WiFi connection away. Good luck & feel free to message me for any help getting in the door with the right people :) I have a rolodex that someone should be taking advantage of! Read some of my current & former postings & musings here: http://amberintheapple.blogspot.com/ http://maddox-madison.tumblr.com/