Comments on: Esquire Covers

Esquire Covers

ColdChef — Sat, 30 Aug 2003 09:11:57 -0800

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Sat, 30 Aug 2003 09:12:18 -0800

Find your favorite. This is mine.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Sat, 30 Aug 2003 09:12:54 -0800

Believe it or not, many magazines — including Esquire — used to publish covers that didn't have celebrities. These are those covers.

By: jpoulos

jpoulos — Sat, 30 Aug 2003 09:33:32 -0800

This cracks me up. Someone named Allegra Coleman got a cover in 1996. Talk about a one-flop wonder. I wonder which big-wig at Esquire she was sleeping with...

By: jpoulos

jpoulos — Sat, 30 Aug 2003 09:40:46 -0800

Here's one you'd never see today.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Sat, 30 Aug 2003 09:54:20 -0800

It ain't likely this one would happen either. Let's hear it for grotesquery!

By: Slithy_Tove

Slithy_Tove — Sat, 30 Aug 2003 10:03:52 -0800

Nor this one. Makes you wonder what we take for granted as harmlessly humorous today will shock our grandkids.

By: RubiX^3

RubiX^3 — Sat, 30 Aug 2003 10:05:42 -0800

jpoulos: I knew she looked familiar. Was part of a 1996 hoax by Esquire Magazine: they portrayed her as "Allegra Coleman", a hot young star, in a parody of fluff journalism.

By: crazy finger

crazy finger — Sat, 30 Aug 2003 10:11:30 -0800

jpoulos- you fell for the joke: Yes, Allegra Coleman is altogether imaginary — a dreamy creature cooked up by writer Martha Sherrill and "played" by model Ali Larter in the sometimes-doctored photos that accompany the piece. It's a wonderful parody of celebrity puff profiles Here's the rest of it.

By: billsaysthis

billsaysthis — Sat, 30 Aug 2003 10:12:20 -0800

I wonder which big-wig at Esquire she was sleeping with... But you're quite sad that it wasn't you, aren't you jpoulos? What are those weird figurines in the Slithy_Tove and ColdChef choices?

By: billsaysthis

billsaysthis — Sat, 30 Aug 2003 10:13:55 -0800

Eskey sure gets to see some leg!

By: dabitch

dabitch — Sat, 30 Aug 2003 10:14:18 -0800

favorite? perhaps the drowning Warhol in tomato soup cover by George Lois. Though I like the Ali one as well.

By: ArcAm

ArcAm — Sat, 30 Aug 2003 13:20:27 -0800

America must have stopped caring about design somewhere between 1975 and 1976.

By: pxe2000

pxe2000 — Sat, 30 Aug 2003 14:26:39 -0800

ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

By: billsaysthis

billsaysthis — Sat, 30 Aug 2003 19:51:08 -0800

pxe, that's not the same one he's accused of murdering.

By: dws

dws — Sat, 30 Aug 2003 20:16:46 -0800

It's fascinating to see how the typography, graphic philosophy, and theme changes over the years. Quality seems to come an go in waves.

By: MiguelCardoso

MiguelCardoso — Sat, 30 Aug 2003 20:48:37 -0800

Terrific post, ColdChef - makes for a deliciously stilted history lesson. I still read Esquire, though it's come down a lot these last few years. I once had the complete collection - it filled a long corridor - but I lost it in a fire. Before the 1974 revolution in Portugal, you could only get Playboy by subscription. My parents got Esquire. So for years I thought Playboy was everything Esquire was with extra naked girls. When Playboy was finally available, needless to say, I was severely disappointed and my appreciation of Esquire was consolidated. Here's my favorite cover, from the legendary Brodovich years.

By: Salmonberry

Salmonberry — Sat, 30 Aug 2003 21:13:55 -0800

I love these old covers. Instead of relying on a willing celebrity, some actual artistic skill is shown. When I look through Graphic Design books showing old magazine covers, it reminds me how much we've lost in terms of great typography and illustration. Normally I'd sit and wait for the pendulum to swing back, but with digital cameras moving up quickly in quality, I fear it might be gone for good.

By: timothompson

timothompson — Sun, 31 Aug 2003 08:17:48 -0800

This one's kind of funny.

By: GaelFC

GaelFC — Sun, 31 Aug 2003 21:48:11 -0800

Hard to beat the well-done text cover.