DC Capitol Style File, Uniquely the Same

Wow! Washington has recently received the gift of not one, not two but three frothy, fluffy new lifestyle magazines. What did we do to deserve this?

The magazines are called DC and DC Style and Capitol File, and the similarity of names has caused some folks to complain that they can't tell them apart. But those people just aren't paying close enough attention. Sure, at first glance all three mags appear to be empty-headed excuses to sell ads for luxury goods. But a closer look reveals that each is empty-headed in its own unique way.

Here at The Magazine Reader, our staff has pored through all three mags and after intensive study we can now reveal the subtle but important differences among them:

· DC bills itself as "the magazine of luxury lifestyle" while Capitol File calls itself "an ultraluxury magazine" and DC Style describes itself as a "fashion-forward lifestyle magazine."

· DC has a feature on fur handbags while Capitol File has a feature on leather handbags and DC Style features the "crocodile commuter bag."

· DC features the favorite cocktail of local bartender Michael Brown, which is the Fahrenheit Five Martini. Capitol File features the favorite cocktail of local bartender Derek Brown, which is the Old Thyme Martini. And DC Style features the favorite cocktail at a restaurant called Taberna del Alabardero, which is not a martini at all but a rum drink called a Sangritini.

· DC Style has a brief article on Wolf Blitzer. Capitol File has a brief article by Wolf Blitzer. And DC is the magazine for people who prefer their magazines 100 percent Blitzer-free.

Obviously, these magazines are very different, each the product of a unique editorial vision. But there are certain similarities. All of them are packed with ads for expensive stuff, as well as articles about the same kinds of expensive stuff. And all of them run page after page of pictures of people who are posing for pictures at the kind of businesslike Washington parties where nobody ever gets so drunk that they end up trading punches or making out with a stranger on a bed piled with the other guests' coats.