The Devil Wears Hot Topic

Is Vogue really ready for Web 2.0? They seem to think so: The fashion bible is launching a site, ShopVogue.TV, where readers can buy items featured in the magazine and watch Web-only video series.

Best of all, according to the Times, "The channel will also have a user-generated component, with visitors encouraged to upload photos of their own fashion looks in an area designated Fashion U Share."

Why does that sound to me like a nightmare in the making for Anna Wintour and her army of glambots? Here's why: High-end glossies like Vogue rely on an intentional misperception—you could even call it a lie—to sell advertising. They like to give the impression that their readers are actually living the ultra-posh lifestyle depicted in their pages, when they're really not. (Just see this study, which found that supermarket tabloid In Touch had a higher average household income than Vogue.)

But that lie only holds up as long as the flow of information is one-way. How happy will Wintour et al be when Vogue's actual, flesh-and-blood readers start uploading pictures of themselves in their favorite ensembles from Hot Topic and Forever 21?