More Bla Bla on "Milan Manzie"
Milan’s Odds As It Ends
The Spring 11 shows came to a close in Milan, and overall there were great, sexy, safe collections sprinkled in with those few designers that love…and are committed to…Manzies. There were noticeably less mandals than last year, more blue than black and less quirky man-hats, which makes me very happy. Yes, there were Mad Men, but more along the likes of Coo-Coo, rather than Jon Hamm lookalikes. The Milan Maznie Report ends by featuring these few designers who we can live happily ever after…without.… Read More »
The Milan Men’s Shows are under way and we are off to a “two snaps up” start. The few looks by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen are very promising indeed. There is one trench coat (above) that is really great, but coupled with my father’s Long Johns, well, it’s her first outing so I will be kind. Today let’s just trash look at the new collection by Haider Ackermann, whose collection was inspired by the film Lost In Translation…only in that the models are lost in gobs of fabric. Lost being the operative word here. And we’re off. Stay tuned… Read More »
In today’s Women’s Wear Daily, the discussion is whether New York deserves a Men’s Fashion Week, similar to those in Milan and Paris. Listening to the argument, one has to side with the reality that New York needs one in order for these designers to compete with the international business cycle. Naturally I MEAN WHAT?!? has a different agenda, and are voting in favor of New York Manzie Week. Imagine how much fun we will have, especially with the next series of shows being Spring 11, when light frothy outfits come tra-la-la-ing down the runway on gossamer wings. (Note: Whoever… Read More »
New York Manzie Report
“It’s good to be the king.” So said Mel Brooks in History of the World, Part 1. The reason I bring this up is because the men’s collections for Fall ’10, between Milan and Paris and now in New York City, are really great…and very butch. So, my quote for this season is, “It’s not good to be the queen”. In what I am calling an immediate response to my Manzie Reports from last season, every designer on Earth quickly revisited their sketches for this season and chose to man up. Thank you all for taking note, but now what… Read More »
Manzies Marching On
Overall, the men’s collections in Milan are pretty great. Sifting through all the images to mine for Manzies was not quite as easy as last spring. Somehow I would like to go out on a limb and take some credit, that my Manzie Reports impacted some of the designers. Seems like many of them worked overtime to avoid making Manzie Faux Pas, for fear of being included in the Manzie Reports. What I can say about Fall 10 is that there’s much ado about nothing special, since quite a few collections played it really safe. Perhaps it is a no… 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 »
Yup…Here’s Another Manzie Report…Just What The Robust Market Needs
Somehow I must have been asleep at the wheel or something, but somewhere between Paris and Milan, several designer shows slipped under my radar and have just now surfaced. If the Manzie Report bores you, by all means, leave now and wait till we cover the NY Fashion Shows in September. And if you are that high, then I suggest taking a spiritual aerobics class.… Read More »
Just when you thought it was safe for Manzies to come out of the closet in droves from Milan, comes the newest crop of shows from Paris. And what a difference a city makes. Milan was uber-butch in comparison. Before I do my show and tell, the one major trend that kept appearing on the catwalks was “Men as women.” It seems to me that the statement is: since men fucked up our global economy (for the most part), why not dress them now as women so they feel castrated for their actions. At least that’s what I am taking… Read More »
Milan Men’s Shows…What The Man-zie Will Be Wearing Next Spring
Several weeks ago, I noticed a trend in men’s fashion that goes beyond metrosexual (a.k.a. frigid bi-curious), which was screaming out for its own moniker…hence…Man-zies. Man-zies are categorically “quirky”, which in men, is never a good thing. From the “quirky man-hat” to overly printed shorts to neckie scarves worn for no reason, like in warm weather, the Man-zie can be seen everywhere these days. It’s the evolution of the men’s fashion industry, I guess, but somehow, even on the runway, it doesn’t work. As the Milan Men’s Shows are in full bloom, one couldn’t help noticing that there was a… Read More »
Many of you must know by now that I have coined the phrase “fotz”. There ‘s many applications to this term. But, what, do you ask, is FOTZ? Etymology: What started out as a sarcastic reference to something that is or someone that “thinks” they are fascinating. So, it went from fascinating to fotzinating to fotzy balloons to fotzy to the currently, most used…fotz. Here are a few good examples. Bing is fotz. What Madonna wore to the Costume Institute Gala was fotz. George Bush was fotz…still probably is. Most Republicans are fotz. Susan Boyle’s first makeover was fotz. People… Read More »
