sadly the only time i ever buy a magazine these days is when i am about to get on a flight and i know i’m going to be without wi-fi for the next few hours (also, i recently dropped & broke my trusty kindle so now that option has flown out of the proverbial window seat). i’ll get 2 or 3 lady mags from the usual selection at the airport book store, and then flip through them – slowly – so as to pass the time. but inevitably i find myself sitting there with nothing to do because, well, they’re just not my thing. there has been a quiet resurgence of intelligent print magazines in the last few years, most started by sets of like-minded people who are unsatisfied with what’s currently out there, and many are self-funded in today’s print-is-dead-all-hail-the-internet climate. this is exactly what Roxanne Fequiere (editor-in-chief) and Allison o’Shea (creative director) set out to do with Golly. and, together with an amazing team, they’ve succeeded.
Our mission was to create a “ladymag” that didn’t feel cringeworthy, one-note, and/or vapid, and we looked to magazines like LIFE, Gentry, and mid-century Esquire for inspiration as we went about putting it together. As we began brainstorming this project, we knew that we wanted this to be a print venture. Risky, we know, but so worth it. We’re currently seeking funding through Kick Starter, a campaign that is going very well, I might add. The fund raising will allow us to continue working with amazing contributors, including Heather Sten, Amanda Jasnowski, Lizzie Garret Mettler and Jimmy Marble.
Allison (whose blog i have been a fan of for years) was kind enough to send me their first issue and i am still making my way through it! highlights: a round table discussion with successful editors in the publishing business (think Refinery 29 and Rookie), a beeeaaaautiful editorial called TOO HOT and an interview with pâtissier Ayako Kurokawa of Burrow fame. you can pre-order your copy by supporting their Kickstarter campaign here.
they also have a great tumblr & cool instagram to follow.