“I Mean…What?!?” – Abe Gurko

“To err is human; to forgive is divine” – Alexander Pope. The funny thing about our hypocritical society is that we are so quick to judge and so reluctant to forgive. The United States was created by a bunch of uptight religious zealots, Puritans, and their values are still immersed in our culture. No matter how modern we get, like Tiger(s), we do not change our stripes. As much as I am trying to ignore the Tiger Woods saga, it is impossible for me not to chime in every once in a while, especially when I see the Puritans having… Read More »

Not many New Yorkers, or humans, for that matter, will have had the pleasure, or rather, the great fortune of seeing Cate Blanchett in A Streetcar Names Desire. The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) was lucky enough to feature the production, directed by Liv Ullman at the BAM Harvey Theater, the coolest venue. I have long been obsessed with great actresses. It started as a child when I happened to notice Bette Davis’ eyes peering from the television screen in Dark Victory. With the blink of those eyes, my life changed. Bette Davis was my first obsession, followed by food,… Read More »

The whole experience of releasing the Muse Magazine images of Lindsay Lohan, shot by Yu Tsai, was an unbelievable experience in understanding the Anatomy of a Lindsay Lohan hater. There were plenty of them, who sent me hateful or angst ridden emails, about  why she should not have done the photo spread, as well as others who blamed me for her career choices. Please note: that 99% of these kooks were linked to me from Fox News. I kid you not. Most of the time I just deleted these comments, and sometimes I responded via the public forum. But the… Read More »

Everywhere I turned today, there was some visual or written reference to Mad Men, and how it has “changed” fashion. Look, I know how dire things are at retail, but please, that story seems week to me. I am sure that Mad Men is impacting the editorial landscape, which in turn, some people’s fashion  choices. Style is definitely created by the few and worn by the many. Cases in point: Kurt Cobain made “The Grunge Look” a household word and Marlon Brando and James Dean gave new meaning to the white T-shirt, while the Rat Pack, the original mad men…and… Read More »

Sure, the lackluster economy does not top the list. Nor does the endless coverage of Tiger Woods and his barrage of hookery-tramps. Today it is all about taking a deep breath and thinking back to what you have to be grateful for. Though this year was turbulent, your job is to identify where there was joy. Gratitude lists are very personal, and since I feel so close to many of you (except those kooks who were obsessed with Lindsay Lohan), herewith is my list. I urge you to make your own, because as the year comes to an end, it… Read More »

Anyone who is anyone that reads I Mean…What?!? knows my opinion on the fashion phenomenon called World Fashion Week. New to town? Let me explain. Just about every city on Earth except Peoria, Illinois, ‘has been’ hosting their version of a Fashion Week. Sure, we all are obsessed with New York, Paris, Milan and London…Tokyo even. But this year, there seems to be an epidemic of Fashion Weeks spreading like the H1Ni Virus. I have reported on Los Angeles Fashion Week, Madrid Fashion Week, Lakme Fashion Week, New Zealand Fashion Week, Pakistan Fashion Week, Arabia Fashion Week, Dubai Fashion Week,… Read More »

The Story of the Week in Women’s Wear Daily is about the beauty brand MARK selling their wares via Facebook. Do you really want to add another layer to your already meaningless visit to Facebook? Precious time that does not include reconnecting with your 8th grade friends…those who have gained all sorts of weight and are stuck in Podunk, reaching out to you for those last vestiges of a life? I didn’t think so. Look, I could be proven totally wrong here, but I am not convinced that Facebook is the place to shop. Not for me anyway. Facebook is… Read More »

‘ The New York Post, a.k.a. the non-thinking man’s New York Times, has sunk to a new low. Granted, I read Page Six online daily, who doesn’t, but every other aspect of that rag is nothing I refer to for much. Now they have sunk yet to their lowest low. The Post just launched Ask Ashley, yes, that Ashley, as in Ashely Dupre, hooker extraordinaire, to be their resident love columnist (think the low to lower-middle class Carrie Bradshaw) for their fifty cent pooper scooper. Well, can you think of a better usage for The Post than that? Yes, now… Read More »

The news has been so uninteresting, especially these days, with the Tiger Woods story monopolizing the media with his bevvy of hookers (I know, they all aren’t, but they are, Blanche) jumping face first in front of any camera that will have them. Who was it that said, “Eeny meeny miney mo, catch a Tiger bye his…well…surely not his toe.” Oh, right, yours truly. 🙂 I have tried to limit the I Mean…What?!? coverage of The Tiger Woods Saga, reason being…it is boring as hell. How the media has made milk toast into a sex commodity is by far the… Read More »

Last night I was invited to speak on a panel with the fashion industry’s coolest and/or smartest people including Mary Alice Stephenson, Patrick McMullan, Dani Stahl, Stuart Elliott, Annabel Tollman, Brian Reyes, Alex Gonzalez and Moi. I was representing the New & Social Media portion of the swimsuit competition. It was a lively discussion on “Redesigning the Rules of Fashion in Today’s New Media”. I was honored to be invited by Michael Flutie, Madwood Media, who hosted this event for the The YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund. The meeting of the minds (OK, a little too much ego here) was held… Read More »