I was one of the first subscriber to Martha Stewart's magazine in the early 90s. I read her articles on potted African violets and antique tea cups and the proper method to fold fitted sheets. I wasn't a housewife, just a grad student getting by on a shoestring budget in a studio apartment in Manhattan, but I admired the pretty pictures. When I got married, I copied the flower arrangements, which were artifully arranged in her wedding magazine.
Then I got bored. I stopped picking up the magazine in the supermarket. I moved onto Apartment Therapy and other blogs for interior inspiration. I googled recipes for how to cook the beets that arrived at my CSA. I watched online photography classes. There were plenty of places to learn how to do cool things, but didn't have the housewife, perfectionist, dainty vibe.
On a whim, I picked up her magazine about six months ago and was totally surprised by the change in the content. She showed pictures of Brookyln apartments with an industrial edge. She profiled younger hipsters. It was sort of cool! I kept buying the magazine and now have a subscription on my iPad. (I did get a free subscription from attending a conference.)
There have been a slew of articles about Martha's relationship with Artisanal Pickles crowd. (Thanks to Russell Arben Fox for pointing me to them.) The New York Times and the New Republic all weighed in.
These articles say that the Martha influenced the hipsters. I'm not sure about that. Martha might be courting the hipsters and the bloggers, because her original audience has moved onto the graduated retirement communities. Ultimately, Martha is a business woman who knows when she needs to shift direction.
Apt. 11d 
I think she is a savvy entrepreneur and good on her!
I attended a design blogger conference in August that was held at her offices in Chelsea in NYC. And not in a conference area of her offices – we walked past the test kitchens and the prop rooms to get there. And by the offices of the staff and editors. It was all happening around us. She even ducked in to speak with us.
She is one of few entrepreneurs at her level who have not only built a media business, but a business that sells products. She adapts to the times. She is more than just “blah blah blah” like Trump.
Funnily enough, I don’t read her mag any longer as I find content more to my taste in blogs and online mags. But she certainly is someone that I admire.
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I’m sure that the next move for hipsters is going to be to move into retirement communities. Anyway, there is an 80 year old Italian guy who sits by us church who looks just like a hipster. Hat, smoke (after mass), tremendous mustache, cane, skinny suit. He makes his own sausages and everything.
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To keep up, I’ve started wearing a jacket to church despite the very real danger they’ll make me an usher. I’ve been trying the facial hair also, but so far not even remotely thick enough.
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I think the first time I ever heard of Martha Stewart was from a girlfriend in college who liked to read her magazine at least in part as a neo-hipster move of being too refined among the unwashed. That was quite a while ago, long before Stewart went to jail. Even then, though, the “K-Martha” line of goods was popular among certain avant garde but not wealthy sub-populations.
I’ve been trying the facial hair also, but so far not even remotely thick enough.
I read a story the other day about the rise of mustache transplant operations in Turkey. I’m not sure if you need a live donor, and I doubt most insurance plans cover it, but it might be worth looking in to.
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Matt,
link?
my boyfriend is Armenian/Italian, and has the most luxurious, thick, and fast-growing hair on his head. I and everyone else assumed he could grow a giant mustache just as easily, however his mustache is relatively sparse and weirdly light colored compared to his beard and hair. Judging by oil portraits and albums of ancestors I’ve seen, the Armenians had no problem growing luxurious mustaches, so maybe it’s the Italian side?
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