Tatler (stylized in all caps) is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. It focuses on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. Targeted towards the British and global upper class and upper-middle class (Tatler Asia etc.), as well as those interested in society events, its readership is the wealthiest of all Condé Nast's publications (surpassing even Vogue etc.).
Tatler is published in Asia by Tatler Asia, in Ireland by Business Post and previously in Russia by Condé Nast.[2]
History
Tatler was introduced on 3 July 1901, by Clement Shorter, publisher of The Sphere. It was named after the original literary and society journal founded by Richard Steele in 1709. Originally sold occasionally as The Tatler[3] and for some time a weekly publication, it had a subtitle varying on "an illustrated journal of society and the drama". It contained news and pictures of high society balls, charity events, race meetings, shooting parties, fashion and gossip, with cartoons by "The Tout" and H. M. Bateman.
In 1940, the magazine absorbed The Bystander, creating a publication called The Tatler and Bystander.[4] In 1961, Illustrated Newspapers, which published Tatler, The Sphere, and The Illustrated London News, was bought by Roy Thomson.[5] In 1965, Tatler was retitled London Life.[6][7] In 1968, it was bought by Guy Wayte's Illustrated County Magazine group and the Tatler name restored.[8] Wayte's group had a number of county magazines in the style of Tatler, each of which mixed the same syndicated content with county-specific local content.[8] Wayte, "a moustachioed playboy of a conman"[9] was convicted of fraud in 1980 for inflating Tatler's circulation figures from 15,000 to 49,000.[10]
The magazine was sold and relaunched as a monthly magazine in 1977, called Tatler & Bystander until 1982.[7]Tina Brown (editor 1979–83), created a vibrant and youthful Tatler and is credited with putting the edge, the irony and the wit back into what was then an almost moribund social title. She referred to it as an upper-class comic and by increasing its influence and circulation made it an interesting enough operation for the then owner, Gary Bogard, to sell to publishers Condé Nast. Brown subsequently transferred to New York, to another Condé Nast title, Vanity Fair.
After several later editors and a looming recession, the magazine was once again ailing; Jane Procter was brought in to re-invent the title for the 1990s. The circulation rose to over 90,000, a figure which was exceeded five years later by Geordie Greig. The magazine created various supplements including the Travel and Restaurant Guides, the often-referred to and closely watched Most Invited and Little Black Book lists, as well as various parties.
Kate Reardon became editor in 2011. She was previously a fashion assistant on American Vogue and then, aged 21, became the youngest-ever fashion director of Tatler.[11] Under Reardon's directorship Tatler retained its position as having the wealthiest audience of Condé Nast's magazines, exceeding an average of $175,000 in 2013.[12]
Reardon left the title at the end of 2017. The appointment of Richard Dennen as the new editor was announced at the beginning of February 2018, and he took up the post on 12 February.[13]
In 2014, the BBC broadcast a three-part fly-on-the-wall documentary television series, titled Posh People: Inside Tatler, featuring the editorial team going about their various jobs.[14]
One of Tatler's most talked-about annual features is the Little Black Book. The supplement is a compilation of "the most eligible, most beddable, most exotically plumaged birds and blokes in town", and individuals previously featured have included those from a number of backgrounds: aristocrats and investment bankers sit alongside celebrities and those working in the media sector.
Editors and contributors
Past and present editors
Clement Shorter
1901–1926
In 1900, he founded Sphere, which he edited up until his death in 1926. He died on 19 November 1926.
Edward Huskinson
1908–1940
Killed on 14 November 1941 by a train at Savernake station, Wiltshire[16]
Reginald Stewart Hooper
1940–45
Died in office. Previously editor of The Bystander from 1932.[17]
^"Busy Cupids". The Tatler. 21 December 1921. Retrieved 17 November 2022. At St. Peter's Church, Eaton Square, on January 4, [1922] Mr. J. A. Middle- ton, M.C., is to be married to Miss Dorothea Beighton, and on...
^City Editor (28 November 1961). "Magazine Group Purchased By Mr. Thomson New Development Planned, "Illustrated" Ring Accept Offer". The Times. p. 12. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
^ abc"Editor For 'London Life'". The Times. 20 November 1965. p. 6.
^ abRiley, Sam G. (1993). Consumer magazines of the British Isles. Historical guides to the world's periodicals and newspapers. Greenwood Press. p. 209. ISBN0-313-28562-4.
^ abc"The truth about the new Tatler". The Observer. 10 March 1968. p. 40.
^Wintour, Charles (11 March 1993). "Obituary: Harry Fieldhouse". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
^Garner, Raymond (29 March 1978). "Raymond Garner takes tea with the Tatler, which is reborn next week with an American editor". The Guardian. p. 11.
