Read more:
• Caitlyn Jenner: 'I didn't want to look like a guy in a dress'
Photographed in a white basque, with long brown locks cascading over an enviable decolletage, Jenner made her public debut as a woman on the front of Vanity Fair, a cover that is easily one of the most significant in this celebrity age.
Choosing not to unveil 'Caitlyn' on the telly or on one of the many forms of social media, Jenner has instead gone down the path of the more traditional glossy magazine - following a fine celebrity custom of taking to the newsstands to reveal a major life milestone.
Baby, it's you
Although many of today's stars choose to forego hefty cheques for the exclusive rights to their babies' first photos in favour of releasing their own pictures on Twitter, magazines have always been a popular avenue for unveiling brand spanking new celebrity spawn.
Perhaps two of the most famous baby magazine debuts are those of Shiloh Jolie-Pitt and Suri Cruise.
Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes stunned everyone when they announced they were expecting a baby early on in their relationship. And, like Caitlyn Jenner, they chose Vanity Fair magazine to reveal their daughter's first public photos back in 2006.
Above the headline 'Yes, Suri, She's Our Baby,' the couple were shown looking down at their baby girl, cosily tucked up in her dad's leather jacket. The cover caused an absolute media frenzy.
That same year, a couple of other Hollywood superstars, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, celebrated the arrival of their first biological child together.
Photos of their girl, Shiloh, were also feverishly anticipated, as the world wondered if this baby would be as beautiful as her parents' combined genes would suggest.
(Spoiler alert: She was and still is.)
But as memorable as these magazine reveals were, they pale in comparison to what Caitlyn Jenner has achieved this week.
Yes, the arrival of any baby is a momentous and lovely occasion - but any Tom (Cruise), Dick and Harry can have one. How often does somebody as high profile as the former Bruce Jenner make their first public appearance as their true gender on the cover of a major magazine? Never. That's how often.
"Yep, I'm Gay!"
These days, a celebrity splashed across a magazine with the words 'I'm Gay!' has become positively yawn-inducing (in the best way possible). But that wasn't always the case.
As far as significant magazine reveals go, Ellen DeGeneres' "coming out" cover on Time magazine in 1997 is very close to being as momentous as Jenner's unveiling.
A celebrity being so open about being gay was still a rare thing back then and the repercussions for DeGeneres were severe.
Companies decided they didn't want to advertise during her eponymous sitcom and she struggled to find work for a few years, all of which is hard to believe now with her huge popularity.
But despite the rough road DeGeneres trod, other celebrities followed suit some years later, choosing to confirm their sexuality on the cover of a magazine.
These included a couple of American pop stars, Clay Aiken and N Sync's Lance Bass, both of whom chose to come out on separate covers of People magazine with the headline "I'm Gay". (Dear magazine editors of the world: It might be time to think up a few more creative ways of announcing a star coming out of the closet.)
While coming out as gay on the cover of a magazine might be a common occurrence now, somebody as famous as Jenner unveiling their transgender transformation is still a big deal. Huge.
But one day in the future, there may be another well-known face ready to hit the magazine stands with the news that they, too, are transgender.
And thanks in no small part to Caitlyn Jenner, easily the classiest and bravest woman to emerge from the Kardashian empire, that magazine cover already won't be as newsworthy.
- nzherald.co.nz
