“I Mean…What?!?” – Abe Gurko

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 »

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 »

Hoola-fontz is a word that appeared on the Gurko vernacular years ago that describes going out partying, flirting heavily or as gays put it “kiki-ing”. And there’s plenty of all of the above going on in Fire Island Pines…to the nth power. Throngs and throngs of people are hoola-fontzing here. Hoola-fontzers you will never want to get into a conversation with, swarming like bees to honey, or in this case…the bar. Anyhoo, how fitting that while surrounded by the unending Marlene parade that the lead stories in the New York Post is about Madonna and the long lost love letters.… Read More »

I was just reading on the The Daily Beast about how stylists are being cut from budgets and all other sorts of nonsense. The article was an outtake from a bigger story in The New York Observer pointing out that these “celebrity stylists” are being bypassed as the actual celebrities are going directly to designers. There seems to be less and less patience for these spotlight grabbing stylists such as Rachel Zoe, Phillip Bloch and Stacy London. Well, let me pipe in here and say hold on just one minute. Unless you have been a stylist, you can take these… Read More »

Excuse me…but…can we please, at least, begin to move on from this Michael Jackson Celebrity Death Match? I know, it’s sad. Death as a concept is sad. Yes, I believe in the after-life, but that doesn’t mean I want to get there any sooner than need be. So, for now, death is still sad. But I think it is time to move on. Ok, day 1, the shock. I get it, lots of news. Day 2, details emerge, some stories abound. Day 3, the family speaks. I remember when my father died, also at 50 years of age, I couldn’t… Read More »

There’s nothing like an awards show to warm the cockles of my heart. It gives me a chance to put forth the I MEAN…WHAT?!? Not Best Dressed List. And last night, the CFDA Awards did not disappoint. There were some mini doozies…but doozies, just the same. It is probably best that I MEAN..WHAT?!? put out the Not Best Dressed List since we are not “true” fashion insiders and objectivity is the key. A “true” fashion insider is not likely to say something like, “What the hell was Aerin Lauder wearing, doesn’t she own a mirror?” because a true fashion insider… Read More »

Between the Tony Awards and The Young Hollywood Awards, there was much fodder to fiddle with as stars rolled down the red carpet and made their usual attempt to grab that extra bit of spotlight. Sure, the Tony’s don’t get the same rush and sizzle of The Young Hollywood Awards or the MTV Movie Awards, but you might see a little more grace and elegance-ish. There were plenty of red carpet mistakes last night on both coasts.  I’d like to give props to the theater community crowd because it all starts and ends with the craft of acting. Somewhere along… Read More »

I’ve been an underdog my whole life. First as Jewish kid being raised in a predominantly anti-Semitic, blue-collar, armpit of a town in New Jersey. Second as a fat kid being raised in the pre-obese kids era that we live in now. I could go on, but will spare you my heartbreaking saga (the book is being written, naturally). As a new “blogger”, I am in the underdog position again, since there are 7 million to 10 million active blogs on in the Internet at any given time. Reading today’s Style Section of The New York Times (yes, I still… Read More »

Being a man of many opinions, and having commented extensively on the horrendositude of what Madonna and Leighton Meester wore to the Costume Institute Gala, I’ve decided to elaborate on that train of thought and create my own worst dressed list. Having worked within the confines of the industry for years, it never ceases to amaze me how The Emperor’s New Clothes fable is alive and well and entrenched in the fashion industry. My seasonal “I MEAN WHAT?!? Was She Wearing List”, will highlight the women (and men) that made me say, “Don’t they own a mirror?” or “Don’t they have any real… Read More »

Call me crazy…you wouldn’t be the first…but the members of the “Axis of Evil” are yay interested in Obama and his minions. Kim Jong-Il and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad don’t give a hoot about this new administration and are hell bent on acting like peacocks and showing off their lovely feathers. That or, “My dick’s bigger than yours, Barak Obama”, is the message here with all these nuclear threats and tests. (Clearly the bigger dick thing is not the case with Kim Jong-Il, but I digress.) So, what are we supposed to do with these mother fuckers? Can’t we just take them out?… Read More »