“I Mean…What?!?” – Abe Gurko

“Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.” Somehow, that signature quote from the soap opera Days of Our Lives came to mind this morning as I was looking at the last few bits of this season’s men’s shows. It feels like time stood still this week with excitement everywhere…and yet…nowhere. It was like watching a soap opera, no? There was so much anticipation leading up to this week. Yes, Fashion’s Night Out kicked off the week with a bang but there were serious questions hovering over our heads. Was the ailing economy going to be… Read More »

Please forgive me kids…I worked till the wee hours of the AM…will report later. xoxo… Read More »

As I started reading Tim Blanks‘ review of the Thom Browne collection on men.style.com, I thought I must have landed in the Fashion Twilight Zone. Having read the Women’s Wear Daily review and judging for myself based on the images, I thought, “What is Tim drinking backstage…Thom Browne Kool-Aid?” There is little to say. WWD wrote, “The clothes were ridiculous.” Whereas Tim Blanks says things like, “Browne’s clothes felt refreshed, confident, and as upbeat as the soundtrack of Beatles songs.” Or how’s this, “He just loves polka dots and Darth Vader.” Fotz. You judge for yourself. This is a bi-polar… Read More »

Yes, the I Mean…What?!? fashion coverage is important to get out as it is news, but surely when I noticed the many style faux pas on the MTV Video Music Awards Red Carpet, I had to share this newsflash. Especially with some of the doozies I’ve noted. Part of what is so wrong with our world is that the youth centered awards shows have become a low-rent, tacky shit show. How do we expect to get back to a more genteel time, when the barometer of what is appropriate is so low? It’s why I’ve been saying, “The end of… Read More »

Yesterday was uneventful as far as Manzies go. The women’s collections are in full bloom. Alexander Wang, Jason Wu, Charlotte Ronson, William Rast, Rag and Bone, these are the collections with all the heat. That said, there was little if anything interesting going on in menswear. And when I say uninteresting, I don’t lie. I am still trying to figure out why Lacoste does a fashion show. I’d imagine their retailers would buy that in the showroom, and clearly, if they were in the 21st century, with a basic collection like that, they could handle their seasonal order and reorder… Read More »

Just when I thought that my Manzie Reports were getting read by all the right people, being viewed on all the right laptops, iPhones and Blackberries, comes the reality that I am not fully doing my job. I know that the Manzie Report has been a source of laughter and hysteria by many of the industry’s top taste-makers, creatives and editors. But clearly, there are several stylists and fashion designers that must be deleting the IMW Manzie Report and clicking to CocoPerez.com. Big mistake girl. He is not going to steer you in the right direction. Perez will just feature… Read More »

Dear Anna, It is with great joy that I am writing to you this morning after having such a great time at your city-wide…correction…world-wide shopping party last night. I hope you are sipping your coffee and reveling in your success. You know, a lot of people were looking with a crooked eye at this Fashion’s Night Out thing. From the get go…I knew this was gonna be mayjah. I believe the retailers, consumers, well, everyone needs to thank you because when you said “Jump” everyone asked, “How High?” And the higher they jumped, the better off they did. Everywhere I… Read More »

This is it…the night of all nights. The Big Kahuna of shopping nights. It’s Fashion’s Night Out and after all the hub-buh and nay saying and ruckus…it’s here. I can feel it in the air. Can’t you? Anna Wintour and I have been staring at weather.com and accuweather.com for days hoping the forecast would change. And you know, 40% chance of rain is better than 50%. So I am going to be optimistic and say, it’s going to be fine. And what’s with God anyway? Isn’t he a fan of Sex and the City? Because Fashion’s Night Out is like… Read More »

On several occasions I have featured The Nobody News and The Party’s Over, with stories and pictures of people you’d never want to meet. Kind of like Guest of a Guest or Hamptons Online only I was not serious. The people that those media (?) outlets feature on their party pages give new meaning to “the rags”. (I don’t care what their traffic is.) They actually legitimize the tabloids. I mean…seriously…reportage from a hagfest? Not only have we sunk to a new low on celebrity coverage, but now we have created an industry featuring people that you didn’t like in… Read More »

A few weeks ago I did a piece on the “End-of-Summer Stomach Ache” and now…sadly…summer is really over. Today’s headlines in Women’s Wear Daily speak to the stomach ache designers are feeling while they approach the worst economic market since the Great Depression. How is that for an Imodium Moment? While reading through the article, something stuck in my craw that I wanted to talk about. In addition to the many elements that made our economy crumble, I firmly believe that the fashion designers who made those Target, K-Mart and other down-market deals, did not do themselves or their peers… Read More »