Tatler

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. 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, it absorbed The Bystander, creating a publication called The Tatler and Bystander. In 1961, Illustrated Newspapers, which published Tatler, The Sphere, and The Illustrated London News, was bought by Roy Thomson. In 1965, Tatler was rebranded London Life. In 1968, it was bought by Guy Wayte's Illustrated County Magazine group and the Tatler name restored. 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. Wayte, "a moustachioed playboy of a conman" was convicted of fraud in 1980 for inflating the Tatler's circulation figures from 15,000 to 49,000.

The magazine was sold and relaunched as a monthly magazine in 1977, called Tatler & Bystander until 1982. 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 the Publishers Condé Nast. Brown subsequently transferred to New York to another Condé Nast title, Vanity Fair.

After several later editors and a looming recession and the magazine was once again ailing, and 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 The 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. Under Reardon's directorship, Tatler has retained its position as having the wealthiest audience of Condé Nast's magazines, exceeding an average of $175,000 in 2013.

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.

Little Black Book

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.

Past contributors

Other editions

There are also 14 Tatlers in Asia – Hong Kong (launched 1977), Singapore (1982), Malaysia (1989), Thailand (1991), Indonesia (2000), Philippines (2001), Beijing (2001), Shanghai (2001), Macau, Taiwan (2008), Chongqing (2010), Jiangsu (2010), Sichuan (2010) and Zhejiang (2010). The Asian Tatlers are now owned by the Swiss-based Edipresse Group.