Mademoiselle (magazine)

Mademoiselle was a women's magazine first published in 1935 by Street and Smith[1] and later acquired by Condé Nast Publications.

Mademoiselle
February 1954 cover
CategoriesWomen's magazine
First issue1935
Final issue2001
CompanyStreet and Smith
Condé Nast Publications
CountryUnited States
Based inNew York City
LanguageEnglish
ISSN0024-9394

Mademoiselle, primarily a fashion magazine, was also known for publishing short stories by noted authors such as Truman Capote, Joyce Carol Oates, William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, James Baldwin, Flannery O'Connor, Sylvia Plath, Paul Bowles, Jane Bowles, Jane Smiley, Mary Gordon, Paul Theroux, Sue Miller, Barbara Kingsolver, Perri Klass, Mona Simpson, Alice Munro,[2] Harold Brodkey, Pam Houston, Jean Stafford, and Susan Minot. Julia Cameron was a frequent columnist.[3] The art director was Barbara Kruger.[4]

In 1952, Sylvia Plath's short story Sunday at the Mintons won first prize and $500, as well as publication in the magazine. Her experiences during the summer of 1953 as a guest editor at Mademoiselle provided the basis for her novel, The Bell Jar.[5]

The August 1961 "college issue" of Mademoiselle included a photo of UCLA senior class president Willette Murphy, who did not realize she was making history as the first African-American model to appear in a mainstream fashion magazine.[6]

In the sixties, Mademoiselle magazine was geared “to the smart young woman”. They categorically stated in their editorials that despite their young, maidenly name they were not geared to young teenagers. The majority of their readers may have been in college, in a job, some may have been married. Mademoiselle was interested in reaching mature college freshmen and up, who were being exposed to the greatest literature, facing the greatest moral problems coping with all the complexities of the atomic age.

Mademoiselle continued to be a top shelf magazine throughout the eighties and nineties featuring the top models on their covers and in the pages of their editorial sections.

In 1993, Elizabeth Crow was appointed editor-in-chief of the magazine. The November 2001 magazine was the final issue. Some of the 93 employees and features moved over to Glamour, also published by Condé Nast.[7] The magazine's demise was due to multiple factors, including an editorial inability to update the magazine to appeal to a sufficient audience and an overall decline in advertising revenues across the magazine industry.[8]

Editors
  • Desmond Hall and F. Orlin Tremaine (1935)
  • F. Orlin Tremaine (1935–1937)
  • Betsy Blackwell (1937–1971)
  • Edie Locke (1971–1980)
  • Amy Levin Cooper (1981–1992)
  • Gabe Doppelt (1992)
  • Elizabeth Crow (1993–2000)
  • Mandi Norwood (2000-2001)

References
  1. Largest slice of Street & Smith's profits comes from Mademoiselle.
  2. Mademoiselle Is Seeking a Fashionable New Look, Dierdre Carmody, 1992, New York Times, accessed 2 April 2013
  3. "The Artist's Way at Work: Authors". artistswayatwork.com. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  4. "Barbara Kruger". pbs.org. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  5. "Sylvia Plath Poems, Biography and Quotes - by American Poems". americanpoems.com. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  6. "Smithsonian Institution : Email - A Picture Worth a Thousand More". si.edu. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  7. Sutel, Seth. "Mademoiselle Magazine Folds.Associated Press, October 2, 2001.
  8. Goodbye to Mademoiselle: Condé Nast Closes Magazine - New York Times, October 2, 2001
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