“I Mean…What?!?” – Abe Gurko

Is anyone else besides me sick and tired of listening to doom and gloom media reports about the economy? I sure as hell am. Not a day goes by without negative headlines, where media induced fear mongering is the plat du jour. Yes, the economy is not what is was last year…duh. The turning point was mid to late September, when the first shoe dropped and early October when the other one fell…with a large boom. Everyone experienced a shift in the economic free fall. OK….it happened. We must all learn to shift our perspective and spending accordingly. Today, I… Read More »

Guy Trebay wrote an interesting article in The New York Times Style (?) section yesterday. The essence of the story is that men with bellies are on trend, sporting “the Ralph Kramden”. Though it’s called It’s Hip To Be Round, I think the better title is Belly Up. He explores several reasons why this might be the case, and as much as I enjoyed the article because the topic is top of mind (I have been belly conscious my entire life), what he doesn’t address are the critical health issues related to having a belly. As a fat kid, I… Read More »

Y’all know by now that I love a good laugh when it comes to the Emperor’s New Clothes school of fashion, be it for men or woman. The word is out that I.M.W. has people laughing out loud at the commentaries. (I do too, shh.) However, not every day has to be riddled with the bashing of people, places and things, which I do in the most loving way. If you are a steady reader, you would know that I do throw in serious items and opinions, and now that my horizon is expanding, as I’ve become a correspondent for… 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 »

Not too long ago I did a piece on these so called parties, featuring people(?) snapped by photographers that were beyond yikes. When I say beyond yikes, I mean, who are they and why are they being photographed? Well, having had a great response from the I Mean…What?!? audience, here with, another segment of The Party’s Over. When I started my career as a party goer, it was the first few days of Studio 54. Back then, the paparazzi were focused on real celebrities and interesting notables. Boy have things changed. There’s little else to say except please enjoy this… Read More »

After my heartfelt Woodstock moment yesterday, I am breching (vomit in Yiddish) from the lead story in Women’s Wear Daily, Woodstock at 40: Fields of Fashion. First of all, the writer Sarah Haight (no doubt hired for the whole Haight-Ashbury coincidence) has very little to say about the cultural, societal phenomenon; rather, she is quick to hone in on the “unfolding of the hippie chic look”…which correct me if I am wrong…is an oxymoron. The Hippie movement rose and fell as a rebellion against the stats quo…if not, status in general. Thankfully, Valerie Steele, chief curator F.I.T., points this out.… Read More »

There is a great article about the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in The New York Times today. It is a sweet love letter to a time gone by… and it made me cry. I was yay close to going to Woodstock, though only 13 years old at the time, because my family summered in the Catskills, nearby Bethel. We were en route that particular weekend, but the news reports kept us sequestered in New Jersey. I watched the news with yearning sadness all weekend, knowing that my spirit was with the Woodstock Nation. It was that defining moment when… Read More »

Ahhh, The Sunday New York Times Style section. My secured ticket to an I Mean…What?!? And it rarely disappoints these days. No matter how lame some of the articles in The Times Style (remember, this an oxymoron) can be, I will never stop reading it because the Sunday Times is everyone who’s anyone’s ritual. And now with these commentaries, it’s my new, improved ritual.… Read More »

Looking through the Vanity Fair International Best Dressed List was a bit of a head scratch-er for me. First of all, can we eliminate men from this challenge? When I think of Best Dressed lists, Mr. Blackwell’s Best Worst Dressed comes to mind as does Eleanor Lambert, who originated the Best Dressed List in 1940. Rarely do I think of men when we speak of Best Dressed lists. This year’s list in Vanity Fair had too many men, the images are lame and frankly, I don’t look to Vanity Fair for their opinions on fashion. I loves me my Vanity… Read More »

There aren’t many films that get me all goosebumps and giggly like the upcoming The September Issue has. You won’t see me camped out at the Ziegfled waiting to buy Harry Potter nonsense. Truth be told, I have not seen any of those films. Can’t figure out why, just ‘cuz. Nor was I highly anticipating Twilight or Transformers: Revenge of the Whatever, and you can relax about Ironman. Yeah, I’ll see it, but can we discuss the Anna Wintour movie for a second? Obsessed. I’ve seen the trailer umpteen times. Haven’t you? Actually, a friend of mine who has been… Read More »