Savannah Black / 20 June 2026 / Categories: Media, Magazines, Books, Other Books

Tatler A journey around the globe with food, lifestyle, shopping, art, books and fashion thrown in

Like Sienna Spiro I too am a material lover I discover

I rarely buy a magazine and when I have in the past it’s usually around fashion or travel.

Most of my reading of articles and newspapers is done online but I wanted to share a recent encounter with 350 year old society publication which I devoured from cover to cover, and found to be a colourful journey of lifestyle, humour, history, culture, current affairs and lots of wit. I would say the value, pleasure and education I received way exceeded the £6.00 price tag, one and a half of my favourite daily cups of coffee on my way to work.

I wouldn’t describe myself as a typical “Tatler” gal. Working class, definitely not a socialite, love nice food, a great museum, a cracking film and a meaty novel, pretty well educated, but state schooled, watch football over rugby and choose beer over wine any day. The editors at Totty Towers, the affectionate name for Vogue House in Mayfair home to Tatler until Conde Nast moved to the Strand would definitely not see me as their demographic, in fact they may shudder if they bumped into me at a bystander event, more likely to be mingling with a bottle in my hand saying “more Champagne madam” in my South Yorkshire twang, softened by years working in London but still enough to trigger the question “where are you from?” than an actual guest.

I discovered the Bystander pages, the society parties and socialite gossip catalogued in images of the beautiful people last. I found out later these are the pages regular readers visit first, whose who, whose where. As an outsider I didn’t recognise any of the names so it was not where I started.

First I visited the fashion, a wild and wonderful 10 or maybe 12 page feature of Millinery, the article entitled “Hat’s All Folks, the nod to Looney Tunes made me giggle, styled some might say over styled in the most theatrical ways. I am a hat lover so flicking through these pages, definitely delighted. The creative was full of whimsy, ridiculous really, fur stoles, over the knee socks, rafia sculpted hats and long brightly coloured leather gloves, not remotely wearable but so theatrical and out there, I loved it.

This was followed up by a story told about Lock and Co, the famous London hat maker. The writing moved around the page with references from Oscar Wilde to Louis Carrols creation of the Mad Hatter said to be based on the eccentric 19th century shopkeeper. I imagined the architecture of the coffin staircase and the present day staff propping up the bar in the Red Lion Mayfair and thought to myself I would fit right in here.

Then it was on to Yorkshire, home turf and the wily windy moors of North Yorkshire, a travel piece about places to stay and rest a while following the latest hype around Emerald Fennels recreation of Wuthering Heights.

Then a funny and real story about royal photographer Hugo Burnand. This piece had a real human element, how a shy young guy had fitted in behind his camera at parties and became the Tatler capturer able to get his subjects together in unlikely combinations.

I realised as I turned the pages what was different to most of what I read online. This was alive. I got to know the writers, a blooming hilarious opinion piece from Simon Mills and how loud I read obnoxious the younger generation of posh folk are becoming. The writing was lyrical and the language not challenging but definitely not mundane. I felt I was getting something more from Tatler, talent, knowledge like I the reader was treasured, appreciated. It felt really good. Like being invited.

When I heard Sienna Spiro talking on the One Show, how I don’t know as I never watch the One Show, about her inspiration for the hit single Material Lover, the title track for Devil wears Prada 2, how she likes tangible and how the song came about as she watched the movie and was touched by it’s decline to a digital format, I related.

By the time I had finished with my Tatler it was torn, smudged and dog eared but there again change the way you look at things and perhaps this is the greatest compliment to the Editorial and writing team.

So good I may even subscribe.