In many respects, the queen of teen magazines, Seventeen, is the same.

The back-to-school issue is packed with fashion trends like blazers and tights. And you can still make over your body; see page 130.

What’s different from the Seventeen of a generation ago? The sex survey; the celeb-of-the-month cover model (Jessica Simpson); and the holy grail of hotness: “The cutest jeans for your butt.”

But the fare’s cleaner than that found in the magazines teens are picking up in droves: Cosmopolitan, People, Vogue.

As traditional teen magazines have watched warily, the trend of young people seeking out older publications has grown in recent years.

A report issued by Simmons Research Group found that 23 percent of teen girls surveyed last year said they had read Us Weekly in the last six months, compared with 6 percent in 2000.

And according to the same report, teen girls who read Seventeen dropped from 71 percent in 2000 to 60 percent last year.

Free State High School senior Sally Campbell doesn’t subscribe to Cosmo, People and Vogue, but she reads them nearly every month whenever she visits friends who have them.

“I’m a celebrity person; I think they’re so interesting,” she says. “The National Enquirer is my favorite. You know none of it it’s true, but it’s hilarious.”

On opposite ends of the spectrum, Sally reads Cosmopolitan and National Geographic, the latter because she likes world issues “that aren’t written in little blurbs.”

She knows that Cosmopolitan is pretty adult for her age group.

“That’s the kind of stuff that people like to read about,” she says. “It’s not really appropriate for high school – most of it. And definitely not for younger than high school. But it’s still interesting to read.”

Sally used to receive Seventeen every month.

“It has good hair tips, clothes and makeup tips, and it alerts high school kids to high school problems, like hazing,” she said.

But she recently canceled the subscription, anyway, to save money.

Kansas University freshman Lauren Bornstein has embraced magazines with more mature content. She likes Oprah’s magazine for the recipes and also The New York Times Magazine.

But she also likes Vogue, Cosmopolitan and People.

“Part of it’s the fashion, but I also kind of get the fashion from The New York Times,” Lauren says. “I like to see what they think is in and out. People think, ‘Oh my god, I can’t wear the tweed.’ And I watch people at school around me and see what changes. It’s pretty funny.”

Though at 18, Lauren is exiting the target age group, she’s not impressed with teen magazines that focus on younger readers.

“As I have come across Twist and YM, they don’t seem to change their pattern. They only appeal to girls who are 12 to 15, or maybe just a little older or younger, and they’re very static,” she says. “They ask fashion questions and focus on ‘oh, he’s cute’ or ‘oh, he’s hot.’

“I’d rather see them make a magazine about average boys, ones you don’t see all the time. Magazines may feature the ‘everyday guy,’ but he has an eight-pack and surfs and drives a Corvette he shouldn’t have for another three years.”

Samir Husni, a journalism professor at the University of Mississippi who publishes an annual guide to consumer magazines, notes that Seventeen is shifting its focus to try to reach the college market and also creating a partnership with MTV.

“It’s a good gamble, but it’s a big gamble,” Husni says. “Can you really afford to lose your 13-, 14-, 15-year-old audience?”