Cover girl

A cover girl is a woman whose photograph is used for the front cover of magazines. She may be a model, celebrity or entertainer. The term would generally not be used to describe a person making a single, casual appearance on the cover of a magazine. The term first appeared in English in about 1899. Russian-American film producer Voldemar Vetluguin is credited with the popularization of the usage of cover girls in magazine covers. The term cover boy is occasionally used for men.

Women are on the cover of the majority of general-interest magazines in the west for both men and women, with exceptions as discussed below.

Celebrities feature on the cover of magazines such as Redbook for women, or Gentlemen's Quarterly, Maxim or Esquire for men. The use of royalty or aristocracy is linked to the primary objective of recognition.

Some magazines for women feature an unknown model that represents the style of the magazine, such as Seventeen. A parallel to this trend is reflected in men's magazines such as Men's Fitness or Sports Illustrated.

An intermediate category is the use of a model or supermodel who is recognizable due to exposure in magazines or advertising, a strategy often adopted by ELLE magazine.

In most cases, the objective is to maximize sales and differentiation, while also expressing the brand values of the title.

Editorial decisions concerning the positioning of the magazine in the market-place are a key influence on the portrayal of women on the cover.

In the 20th century, numerous women's magazines would feature royalty or aristocracy on their covers. In the 1980s and 1990s, Diana, Princess of Wales would be a popular cover choice—but usually for weeklies, usually shot by paparazzi, so strictly these were not "cover girl" images. However, there were exceptions where authorized portraits of royalty, such as Diana, Princess Beatrice of York and Queen Elizabeth II, were taken for Vogue, Tatler and Harper's Bazaar. Despite public complaints about exploitation in the 1990s, publishers have not shied away from using royalty when possible.