Do you remember Just Seventeen?

I've discovered my collection of magazines.  Come join me down on memory lane.

I don't know about you but in 1994 I lived for Wednesdays.  Every Wednesday, before I had arisen from my slumber my lovely dad would go to the paper shop before he went to work and buy me Just Seventeen, leaving it on the dining room table for me to find when I got up. Every Wednesday. Without fail. Thanks Daddy!

I guess perhaps this is where my love affair with magazines began, I still adore buying a new one (or five) and sitting down with a cuppa. For me, it's one of life's little pleasures. We try to ignore the amount I spend on them.  I used to have an eager flick through the magazine before school, obviously having a good look at any free gift first and then skipping to the problem pages and horoscopes. I'd then would come back later to read it all in greater detail and complete the quiz. Remember those? 

My parents never got around to the "birds and bees" chat (bit late now mum) and so I'm pretty sure aside from the playground, I learned everything I needed to know from these magazines. The problem pages were always filled with those burning questions that you really wanted to know the answer to but were either to scared to ask or afraid of being laughed at. My particular favourite was the "mythbusters" section.

We poured over the sex tips, even though we were far from needing them, and we used these magazines to try and understand those mystery creatures (boys) a little bit better. Right down to analysing the handwriting in their loves notes. Email, Facebook and texting really sucked the life out of that one, huh.

We enjoyed the fun articles, reading about what was hot and what was not (or in this case what was sizzling and what was fizzling) and taught ourselves hair and make-up tips whilst slobbering over pictures of the J17 male models like Malcolm.

I don't ever remember cooing over Prince William but clearly he was being labelled as hot totty back in 1995 at the tender age of 14. Wonder if Kate Middleton read J17.

I guess I'm a bit out of the teenage-magazine-loop so I don't even know if something like this exists anymore? I'm guessing certainly not a weekly one. I think it's a shame but I guess time marches on and with the internet nobody needs to wait for news and gossip anymore, we have access to it 24/7. Got a problem? You don't need to write into an agony aunt, just Google it. Forums and message boards mean you can get instant advice to your most embarrassing problem anonymously at any time of the day. 

Did you read any magazines as a teenager? TV Hits, Smash Hits, Big, Mizz - they all made it into my hands at one point or another, especially if they had a good poster of Take That in them... (Clearly, being a hoarder I still have said Take That posters).

For the record, whilst I enjoyed the fashion tips in the magazine, I most certainly did not dress like this

Just so you know.

love & kisses

Mrs M x