The magazine industry has come a long way since its' beginning. Vogue Magazine, famously known for their fashion features and beautifully photographed cover images, has grown a lot since their first issue. The monthly fashion magazine originally began as a weekly women's journal, and their inaugural issue " which was released on December 17th 1892 " looks very different than what we know and love today. .
Vogue was one of the first magazines that appealed to women, and is still highly read and loved today because of it. The 1892 cover showcased a black and white illustration, featuring a woman in a full-length gown, very much proving itself as a fashion magazine early in the ranks. It wasn't until the late 1890s and early 1900s, specifically 1909, that color illustrations were introduced to Vogue's covers. Vogue "who are known for bright photographs and fashion portraits" showcased the same style in their early 20th century covers. The illustrations "which were done by top artists like George Wolfe Plank, Olive Tilton, Pierre Brissaud and Eduardo Garcia Benito "were color portraits showcasing (usually) an entire outfit under a certain theme." .
But it's not just the lack of photographs that differentiates early 1900s Vogue from the Vogue of today. The iconic Vogue masthead that's featured at the top of every issue wasn't the same back in the early 20th century. In Vogue's early days, each of the issues features a different masthead " highlighting the title ˜Vogue' in different ways in each issue. It wasn't until the late 1940s that Vogue adopted the idea of using the same masthead for every issue " instead of changing to suit the illustration or design on the cover. .
Vogue's early covers also had little to no writing on them. Usually the masthead, magazine publishing information, price and date were included on the cover, and the teasers and briefs that are strewn across every magazine cover today were not used.