“I Mean…What?!?” – Abe Gurko

The Jean Paul Gaultier collection was fantastic and one of the funner elements was his inclusion of couture menswear, for those rich Manzies out there who want to wear a skirt or dress and are not feeling the recent collection by Rick Owens. Not sure if anyone saw some of the comments from my recent Paris menswear shows, but some anonymous person really has it out for me for being a hack. This person does not seem to think that we are all entitled to our own opinions. And (B), hack, is what I was doing (hacking) when I saw… Read More »

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to bid a fond farewell to The Manzie*. (*See below meaning of Manzie for those of you new comers.) What was once a vibrant, hysterical fashion statement that captivated the runways of Milan and Paris—heck and New York for that matter—looks that left us speechless, or gagging anyway, have now gone to that great fashion graveyard beyond… Ebay. Who won’t miss those retarded styles by Thom Browne, or some of those collections from Rick Owens and Walter Van Beirendonck’s Big Bird ensembles from Spring ’10? And surely we can never forget that madcap John… Read More »

Andrej Pejic is an unconventional beauty and there is nothing conventional about him. Andrej was catapulted into spotlight from the Jean Paul Gaultier Fall ’11 fashion show in Paris and continues to take the fashion industry by storm. When asked by journalist, Hilary Alexander whether he would ever consider getting a sex change, he dryly said, “Perhaps if Victoria’s Secret would offer me a contract. Otherwise I am quite happy being me.” As he should be. The cover girl/boy tops the list of this year’s OUT100. You know, that Gay It List that any queen would otherwise kill to be… Read More »

Q. What is a Manzie? A. A Manzie is not a Pansy or a Dandy. A Pansy doesn’t necessarily dress effeminately to be teased by a bunch of blokes. They can have a sisssing “S” in their speech, run with their arms flailing or cheerleaders. A Dandy dresses like a gentleman with a touch of avant-garde. A Manzie is desperately trying to be “on trend”. A Manzie can be a straight man trying too hard to be stylish or a straight-acting-gay-guy who acts extra butch to compensate for his quirky fashion choices. Comprende? Some runway looks fall under the umbrella… Read More »

Fresh from Paris and Milan, we have the Manzie Report featuring the latest trends, mistakes and mishaps for Fall 2011. The over-arching story for men is luxe, sophisticated, elegance. There were boxier shapes and shorter skorts. No, I am not kidding. Since Marc Jacobs wears nothing but kilts, Parisian menswear designers took that look to the next level and hiked up the length of skorts for men. Let’s face it, the kilt length is not all that flattering, and men’s legs are just as lovely to look at as women’s…especially when they are long, lean and muscular. Collections from Hermes,… Read More »

It’s over…and the fat lady sang. (Beth Ditto at Jean Paul Gaultier.) As World Fashion Week came to a close in Paris, the question is, “Who wins the I Mean…What?!? Best Collection Spring ’11. It is a toss up between a few designers that seem to be hell bent on showing conceptual nonsense or what I call Pre-Halloween. It is astonishing that companies like Wunderkind (whose name seems to be from a time gone by) and Maison Martin Margiela (ditto) even bother to spend whatever dollars to show pieces that are preposterous, unnecessary and frankly an insult to injury….as in,… Read More »

As the Paris Couture Shows march on, there is still a continued need for a discerning eye (mine) to help edit some of the looks going down the runways. Overall, the shows are great. And with the ever shifting economy, and the need to get young-uns into these ensembles, I am begging for the opportunity to work alongside everyone to stick in my two cents before showtime. Granted, that may never come to pass, but surely it would be beneficial to all.… Read More »

The Milan shows bring out the masculine guns of the fashion industry. Armani, Zegna and Gucci lead the charge in sophisticated, sexy, masculine clothes. One can consider it boring (some of my readers, you know who you are), but it is at the core of the business and must be respected as such. There is less frills on the runways in Milan, than let’s say, it’s sister fashion city, Paris. The shows got off to a hootenanny of a start here in the City of Lights. Once again, we were presented with the quirky man-hat, a look that I was… Read More »

Has the parade passed us by? Is it over yet? Can we breathe? Can the dresses just stop careening down the runways now? Damn, World Fashion Week is endless. Thankfully they saved the best for last…and no, I do not mean Louis Vuitton. That shizz screams Emperor plenty. That, or, since he is so big in Japan, there is a touch of Harajuku sprinkled in the looks. Besides, LV is far more interested in the bags than the clothes. If you remember correctly, all the LV ensembles worn by the likes of Madonna, Lake Bell (zzz) and Leighton Meester ended… Read More »

At the risk of being redundant to those of you who have been following my Manzie Reports for quite some time, I wanted to take this moment to review, remind, and introduce to the new readers, “What is a Manzie?” (pronounced man – zee) and why are we reporting on it? After reviewing the recent European Men’s shows, the overarching trend was something that I hadn’t seen in quite some time, actually ever. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, until I came up with the term Manzie, therefore declaring Spring ’10, the “Season of the Manzie”. To clarify,… Read More »