Emily Stisser
Contributing Writer
Darling Magazine is a unique, honest and evocative magazine that provokes the meaning of femininity. It empowers women, propels discussion, parades crucial authenticity and aims to be a catalyst for positive change.
CEO, editor-in-chief and founder, Sarah Dubbeldam, first started Darling with her husband, Steve Dubbeldam, in 2009. The blog gained a following and then later became a kickstarter campaign to raise money to print its first issue.
Darling’s first issue was released in the fall of 2012, and the magazine has remarkably grown since then. The print magazine is sent out seasonally, (every three months), and the blog is updated daily.
Readers can also receive email updates and stories sent from the website. The magazine can be purchased at Anthropologie, Whole Foods, many boutiques, or sent to one’s house. A digital and print subscription is $60, and includes a full digital library of all issues and new issues sent to your door. A full digital print subscription is $40 (includes all issues digitally), and a single printed issue is $20. Each printed issue seems to top itself over, and over, again.
A key selling point and major principle of Darling is their guarantee of untouched, real photos. Darling Magazine is the first and only print publication to ban retouching of women in its pages. In a world of Photoshop and a distorted look of the world shown through media, this promise allays readers concerns. Darling makes its readers feel understood. Near the front of each issue, after the table of contents, a two page spread reads, “None of the Women in this magazine have been retouched.” Darling’s main idea has gained the support of all women and really hits home. This audacious reminder sets an alluring precedent for Darling’s mission.
The Fall release, being Issue No. 21, focuses on the idea of Balance. Some past issues have been centered around the theme of Complexity, Time, and Compassion. The magazine also follows the same personally diverse format that readers look forward to every time. This unique approach features eight different types of women throughout each magazine. Those ranging from The Dreamer, to the Explorer, etc. It is brilliant that Darling chose to feature all of diversities of woman because it validates that there is not one type of woman.
Every feature takes readers down a path of incredibly real interviews, pure photography, poems, cogent articles, and beautiful illustrations. The magazine shows it’s true artistry in capturing raw feelings and authenticating to women that they are accepted, appreciated, and understood. Darling is a testament of all women.
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