March issues: The Battle

We may be online girls, but our hearts still beat hard for printed paper. So when we received the March issues, they had to be examined from front to back immediately and May and I decided to take on the battle once again against each other. As always, I was team ELLE and May was team Vogue – some things you just shouldn't want to change.

The scent

What we miss from online is the smell that a magazine has. We're considering inventing a new internet where you can also smell a certain scent when opening a website, but until then, we make do with the pages – and both ELLE and Vogue pass this test.

The pages

Both magazines have 196 pages, with ELLE having 55 ads and Vogue 35. So I win that easily, especially since the opening spread is from Louis Vuitton with Maartje Verhoef.

The fashion series

Hmm, I reluctantly admit that Vogue wins this round with five fashion series compared to four from ELLE. And May shouts something about them being shot with Dutch top models, but who really cares about top models anymore? No one, right? Right…? Right?!

The cover

I'm starting to feel a bit hot under the collar because Vogue wins this round too. Julia Bergshoeff, Ine Neefs, and Maartje Verhoef are breathtakingly beautiful, and you want to frame this cover on your wall. Ymre Stiekema at ELLE is also very beautiful, and also very Dutch and also very much a top model (I only care about top models when it benefits me) but it remains three to one. Vogue wins.

The articles

Yes, ELLE wins that. I admit that I really want to know everything about Vogue's top models, but in ELLE I read a brilliant story by James Worthy, a delightful series about guilty pleasures (who knew Sjaak Hullekes secretly collects nude paintings?) and a laugh-out-loud story by Stefanie Bottelier about celebs who are flocking to buy art. At Vogue, there's a piece about Bibi van der Velden's house, and we understand the appeal, but Bibi's houses and studio have appeared in magazines quite often, and we know it by now.

And then this

ELLE makes a bags & shoes special, and we can never get enough of bags and shoes. Extra points, then. Moreover, in a series, a pantyhose with a cat head is used, and my favorite shoes from Sophia Webster (the ones with a flamingo) are featured, which is really a super duper score for ELLE.

Finally

While counting the ads, I kept losing track because I wanted to read everything that came by immediately. ELLE is a master at this; the headlines pull you right into the story, leaving little left over from counting ads.

All in all

We count and we weigh, and we decide that ELLE wins this battle. Especially because of the content and the fact that I forcefully push my opinion through because the cat pantyhose and flamingo shoes – those are already winners in themselves.