A few weeks ago, I finally made my way to the city’s ReUse Center – and hit the magazine jackpot! Let me explain.
For those of you who are not familiar with it, the ReUse Center is basically a shopfront where the City of Edmonton puts out small items that get donated/tossed out but, instead of being recycled, can be reused by others. Most of what we’re talking about are paper-based products, craft stuff, decorations, containers of various descriptions, and similar categories of things. Everything is free – you just pick what you want, weigh it (they keep track of what gets “upcycled” this way), and go.
There is a section for magazines, and when I went, it was quite large and full. I was in heaven!
In total, I ended up with about 60 or so magazines. Some to use for scrapbooking, and some to keep in my personal collection at home. This included some amazing vintage magazines – and even a collectible, the inaugural issue of George, with Cindy Crawford on the cover. That thing is selling for hundreds of dollars online! I’m going to keep it, as a piece of JFK Jr./CBK memorabilia.
Here’s my scrapbooking haul:
And these are some of the vintage magazines I’m keeping:
Talk about nostalgia! These are all from the mid-to-late 90s, aka my teen years. Flipping through them gave me one flashback after another. Some good, some bad. I was a shy, nerdy teenager (and not very well-off) so I spent most of my adolescence feeling like an outsider, watching from the sidelines while other people were having all the fun – cute clothes, parties, boyfriends, etc. Magazines were a window into a world to which I had no access. I loved them, but they also made me feel bad, tbh.
Now, 30 years on, I have enough emotional distance to be able to look at these magazines with the perspective of my current self (who’s living 15-year old Adina’s dream life, tbh) while also holding space for the memory of my old experiences. Bittersweet, but also just quaint and sweet.
The December 1994 issue of Seventeen hit extra nostalgic:
Little Women was my generation of teenage girls’ Roman Empire. And the one and only Laurie:
There was also an ad for a just-released Sun, Moon, and Stars – still one of my fave perfumes.
I couldn’t afford it then, but a couple of years ago, I was able to track down 2 vintage bottles (one thrifted, one on Poshmark) so I’m set now for a while. I believe they still produce a perfume under this name, but it’s not the original formulation, so I had to make sure to get the vintage ones. They smell like the 90s, in the best way.
I also found some outfit inspo … of course. How fun is this outfit:
I have a few vintage oversized blazers that could work, and a similar necklace, but I need to track down a pair of daisy-printed leggings, haha! Here’s hoping the thrift gods deliver. Remember how popular daisy prints were in the 90s? I’ve been looking for a dress like that for ages now, too, to scratch the nostalgia itch. Picture it with a white tee and some Dr. Martens boots or mary janes – it would be perfect! Haven’t found one yet, but I’m not giving up yet.
I thought this was pretty funny — predictions for fashion, 10 years into the future (so, 2004):
The caption is actually quite prescient — though it’s quaint to think that we’d still be walking around with literal faxes and radios in our pockets. But the spirit of the future was definitely haunting the page 😉
Anyway, I’ll be back at the ReUse store soon and keeping my fingers crossed that I’ll find another treasure hoard.