Review: Wonderment Magazine

Much as I love digital, I am and suspect always will be a massive fan of print media. I think there’s something quite special about the feel and smell of sheets of new paper bound together – whether matte or glossy, slick or home made. Books, magazines and zines all take on an additional quality when you can hold a hard copy in your hands. Images reflect and absorb light rather than emitting it. The turn of a page involves an arm movement rather than a finger press. It sits on your bookshelf or coffee table begging to be picked up and looked at. Sadly, content contained within these pages isn’t always worthy of such a tactile, patient and thought provoking medium. This is not, however, an accusation that can be levelled at Wonderment Magazine.

A biannual publication containing “stories about fashion and other fascinating things”, Wonderment is the perfect magazine for a lazy Sunday afternoon spent with a cup of tea and your feet up. Its stories are themed around fashion, people, places, treasures and connotations, with this first issue containing pieces on subjects like the little things that make people smile, British parks, treasured jewellery and interviews with creative people. The text also sits happily alongside some lovely photography that transports you away from your sofa.

Wonderment is the brainchild of Nicole Mullen. Following stints at The London Word, Pigeons & Peacocks, 1883 and Sunday Times Style, Mullen used her journalistic skills to set up Wonderment as an outlet for her love of the written word and the personal stories attached to fashion. Seeing as those are two things that I have a passion for myself, I couldn’t resist purchasing a copy and was delighted when it arrived with a handwritten note from Mullen tucked inside, thanking me for buying it and encouraging me to share the joy on social media. Which, of course, I did because I love sharing things I enjoy with the readers of Rarely Wears Lipstick.

It’s one of those magazines that offers a tiny glimpse into another, slower paced world. It’s like taking your foot off life’s gas pedal and simply enjoying sitting on a merry-go-round for a while, lost in your own thoughts. If you want in on Wonderment’s secrets, issue 1 is available to buy online now. For further updates, you can follow Wonderment on Facebook and Twitter.