By Jessica Murrayand Rachel Plowden

“I’m your standard-issue Midwesterner who moved to LA via New York and Paris. I’ve been a writer for mags as wildly divergent as Paper to British Vogue to the Journal of Aesthetics and Protest. My personal style always veers vintage-ward, not just in clothing but also in my house, my perfume collection and my music.”

-Taken from Pike’s profile on thisnext.com

Similar to a pair of Dolce & Gabbana pumps Pike wore during the University of Cincinnati’s Women in Journalism week

• Born in Cincinnati in 1962

• Nine siblings• Attended the

University of Cincinnati

• Has been in the journalism field for 25 years

Favorite Attribute:Her “naturally” red hair

“I didn't think about [my career] until I was about 18. When I was growing up there wasn't the culture of career discussion and career training for young people like today. I grew up thinking it was a very slim possibility -- that people who had careers were on the other side of a large wall. My mother worked as a cashier, a cleaning lady, a waitress, so her focus was feeding and clothing all her kids -- not helping them decide what career to go into.”

• UC’s The News Record and Clifton Magazine• LA.com • LA Times• Glue• The Paris Blog• The Chic Leak• Clothes Horse• British Vogue

• MTV’s “House of Style”• Paper magazine• BBC• KKTV Los Angeles• Los Angeles Times• The Journal of Aesthetics and Protest

• Newsweek• Los Angeles Magazine

Pike’s current job is style editor for Los Angeles Magazine

• Each year, Los Angeles Magazine puts out its “Best of LA” issue, which is headed up by Pike

• This special issue contains sections such as hottest new restaurants and shopping destinations, to-die-for fashion and accessories trends and home improvement suggestions

Best of LA

Where in the world is Laurie Pike?

(We’ll give you a clue…)

• Paris, France is known as the fashion Mecca of the world

• While a student at the University of Cincinnati, Pike traveled to Paris to study abroad… and she was hooked

• She is credited with founding The Paris Blog

Glue.

•The cost of glue is $2? $3, perhaps?

…Try $100,000

•Pike’s most expensive project to date was her own magazine, Glue, which lasted three years and cost her $100,000 in damage

$100,000.00

• Haute Couture in Paris• Christian Laucroix and Chanel

shows• Tom Ford (used to design

Gucci)• Morrissey (first interview in

five years) in Hollywood• Being able to travel for stories• Manufacturers in the fashion

industry

Pike has had great success in the field of journalism, but it wasn’t without a little sacrifice…

“Because I wanted to edit at a magazine, I had to agree to full-time work. I would prefer to be freelance and make my own schedule, but you can't do that if you're a senior-level editor at a city magazine. So I had to give up being able to travel whenever I wanted and take days off whenever I felt like it. Another sacrifice was leaving the high salary of TV work for a much lower one in print and web magazines. In the long run I know it was the right decision. I was unhappy with the superficiality of TV programs. Also, my high salary was based on the fact that I was on-air. I knew that as I got older, I risked being taken off the air. At a magazine, on the other hand, you see old ladies running the show all the time!”

Less traveling/fewer vacation days Lower salaryMust follow work schedule

“I love so many things about Cincinnati. I love the order and cleanliness and friendliness that is due, I think, to the German heritage. I love the cultural richness that results from the confluence of the African-American, Jewish, Italian, Greek, Irish and German communities. I love the accents on the West side! I love the lack of pretension and the lack of a sense of entitlement that I see so often in larger cities.”

A hometown girl at heart, Pike adores her Graeter’s Black Cherry ice cream!

“It’s such a double life here. I speak a different language. I smoke, which I never do at home, I eat different foods. Here my friends are philosophy professors, writers. You kind of have a different identity.”

Pike’s Thoughts on…

Pike’s Thoughts on…

“Through blogging I have met a great bunch of people, from artists to academics to full-time moms. My discovery of blogging was the first time I realized you could turn a hobby or passion into an expertise. It’s an addictive nature that new media has inspired. I don’t think we’re at the end of good journalism; I think we’re in a very exciting phase.”

Fashion IconsPeggy Moffett

Christian Dior

John Galliano

John Paul Gautier

Rick Owens

• Susan Orlean – amazing storyteller and feature writer

• Anne Garrels – for NPR on Iraq

• Eleanor Beardsley – Paris reporter for NPR, cultural and political writer

• Lynell George – Los Angeles Times

“I like writers who, whether they have a beat or not, can really tell a story in a beautiful way; especially on a day when there’s not a lot of time, the women who can go get the story, write it, and there’s still an incredible art to it. I admire that.”

Links

Chic Leak blog:http://www.lamag.com/shop

Theparisblog.com

Sources

http://blog.thisnext.com/blog/interview-laurie-pike-from-the-paris-blog.html