‘Fashion, you’re incomprehensible!’ Teenage girls, Jackie magazine and fashion as a negotiated social statement in the early 1970s

Abstract

The hugely popular girls’ magazine Jackie (1964–93) was a significant source of guidance for its readers on a range of matters, including fashion. This article analyses archive editions of Jackie held in the Femorabilia collection at Liverpool John Moores University to re-examine its fashion content during a period marked by a shift in emphasis from creativity to consumption. It also revisits Angela McRobbie’s highly influential research on Jackie, arguing that Jackie’s fashion coverage fulfils a broader social role than simply supporting the ‘ideology of femininity’ that McRobbie’s contemporaneous work identifies as central to the magazine. Examining issues from 1973 to 1974 illuminates a period which is more nuanced than is often suggested, and which is marked by both continuity and also substantial change. Jackie’s depiction of early 1970s girlhood shows the necessity of negotiating public space for teenage girls. Its fashion content represents the balance of moderation, experimentation and adaptability offered by the Jackie reader’s self-presentation. Findings demonstrate the heterogeneous meanings on offer in the magazine: while Jackie readers are urged to show restraint in engaging with fashion, they are also encouraged to explore the wider world, dressed and ready for it.