In the February issue of Vogue, editor in chief Anna Wintour scolds Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton for blowing off a photo shoot because of a “fear of looking too feminine,” or so the former woman was told by campaign brass. The idea that Mrs. Clinton “must look mannish in order to be taken seriously as a seeker of power,” Ms. Wintour wrote, “is frankly dismaying.”

Well, then! With the fashion czarina’s opinion in the public domain, and Super Tuesday around the corner, Off the Record wondered: Would major women’s magazines—which have historically enjoyed quite a cozy relationship with first ladies—take a stand and endorse Mrs. Clinton for president?

Five of the half-dozen surviving “Seven Sisters” publications—Family Circle, Ladies Home Journal, Redbook, Good Housekeeping and Woman’s Day—all said no.

“Just because she’s running this year we wouldn’t change our tack and endorse her because she’s a woman,” said Linda Fears, the editor in chief of Family Circle, which published Mrs. Clinton’s rolled-oats-laced chocolate-chip confection recipe after her 1992 homemaker-offending gaffe about how she “could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas” instead of becoming a hotshot lawyer (it trounced Barbara Bush’s submission). “We wouldn’t endorse along party lines for any reason—it’s not something we do.”

But isn’t this a different election since, finally, there’s a woman with a serious shot?

“I know where you’re coming from and it’s a good headline for you to say ‘All Women’s Magazines Are Endorsing Hillary,’” Ms. Fears said, “but I only can speak for myself and the history of this magazine.”

O.K.! Well, what about Ladies Home Journal (typographical emphasis now on the Home Journal rather than the Ladies)? They have a history of interviewing presidents and covering campaigns.

“Why are you asking only the women’s magazine editors if they are endorsing Senator Clinton because she’s a woman?” wrote LHJ’s edtior, Diane Salvatore, in an e-mail. “Are you asking the men’s magazines the same question? Or are you asking the men’s magazine editors if they are endorsing Senator Obama or Senator McCain (because they’re not women)?”

Meanwhile, over at Woman’s Day, editor Jane Chesnutt said there was simply no way she could throw her weight behind Mrs. Clinton. “We go to press with our November issue before the conventions are even held,” she said. “So to endorse anyone is, you see—even if you assume the candidate is set—a physical impossibility.”

Plus: “I have to say that I don’t sense this monolithic support for her among women,” Ms. Chesnutt said.

Nor was Rosemary Ellis, editor of Good Housekeeping, conferring her magazine’s renowned Seal of Approval on the senator from New York. She wrote that the publication “doesn’t endorse candidates, but we do educate our readers about the political issues they care about such as health care, education, and violent crime reduction, so they can make informed decisions about who they’d like to see in the White House.”

Perhaps if Mrs. Clinton were elected, she could visit the Good Housekeeping dining room. like past presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan. “They all seem to love our famous popovers,” Ms. Ellis wrote.

No one seemed to have considered the possibility of soliciting baked-goods expertise from the country’s first potential First Gentleman. “If we got a recipe from Bill this year, that would be pretty fun,” Ms. Fears said thoughtfully.