“I Mean…What?!?” – Abe Gurko

What started out as a great way to connect college students has turned into a key marketing strategy for many industries…most notably…fashion. When you think that a bunch of beer keggers were the original sought out members of this non-elite community, one can’t fathom how that changed to the point where now, so many fashion designers are retooling their public relations efforts to reach their audience through such a down-market channel. Most of the people trolling Facebook would otherwise be shunned. You too can be a member of the Chanel or the Oscar de la Renta fan club. The thing… Read More »

The highlight of the Tony Awards show last night was not the musical numbers, but just how great so many of the women looked as they sashayed onto the wet red carpet. It is odd that the women of the the-A-ter outshone the women in fashion, when you look at the recent CFDA Not Best Dressed Awards. Here are the best and worst of the last night’s lot, in no particular order.… Read More »

I MEAN…WHAT?!? presents Apples and Oranges, a new feature by Merle Ginsberg (Editor-in-Cheif, fashionrules.com) and Abe Gurko. This new column is a dialogue between two veteran style mavens as we trash…I mean…comment on The Best and Worst Dressed of the MTV AWARDS. Why Apples and Oranges? Well, Merle is based in Los Angeles and I am in New York…hence the fruity reference. Though Merle is currently in Tel Aviv on assignment, we still can call it Apples and Oranges because Israel has those kick-ass Jaffa oranges. The plan was to do the 5 Best and 5 Worst Dressed girls on… Read More »

I Mean..What?!? loves a good best dressed list…but there’s nothing like the exact opposite to warm the cockles of  our heart. That and Suzy Menkes. Of all the film festivals…and there are millions these days because all you need is a Chamber of Commerce and ta-da…but I digress…the Cannes Film Festival is the one where fashion really matters most. Sure the films are important too, but there’s no red carpet other than the Oscars that commands such drama. Sorry Emmys and Golden Globes…get over yourselves. Anyhoo, I could not help noticing a few fashion faux pas from the AmFAR Benefit…probably… Read More »

Last night was the big kahuna of the New York City social whirl, The Costume Institute Gala, a.k.a. Anna Wintour’s Playground. If you were not there, then you do not exist. If you are not on Anna’s guest list, you might as well just curl up and die. If you are not BFFs with a top fashion designer, then you might as well just call it a day and move out to the suburbs. Sounds harsh? Perhaps…but it is true. The theme this season was American Woman. There’s all sorts of good reasons for this theme since America’s schmatta business… Read More »

Help…I am drowning in a pool schmattas designed by celebrities. Someone throw me a line…and not a line designed by a celebrity. Unless you have been living under a rock, you would have noticed that a slew of celebrities have taken to multitasking, branding, adding layers to their illustrious careers by cultivating their secret childhood fantasies of becoming fashion designers. Literally every week I report on another astonishing member of this new clan of celebrities, who we can lovingly call brand whores. Every entertainment management firm is out there selling their talent to anyone that will pay anything, in an… Read More »

Faster than a speeding publicist… More powerful than a glossy editrix… Able to leap tall models in a single bound. Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird… It’s a plane… It’s Super-Fashionista. Yes, Super-Fashionista, the new sub-human that has cropped up since the CFDA starting centralizing New York Fashion Week under the Tents at Bryant Park. Super-Fashionista. Once a lowly wanna-be…now a self-proclaimed stylist/blogger/insider/personal shopper. Two years ago, Super-Fashionista only wondered what it would be like to hang around the inner sanctum of fashion victim-land, a.k.a. the tents. Now, they are a welcome force to be reckoned with. Once… Read More »

Oh man. Will the celebrity-turned-designer cycle ever stop? Or at least slow down? Everyday this week, Women’s Wear Daily has reported YET another celebrity-designer collaboration, which is beginning to make my skin crawl. Must every actress try her hand at designing (and I use that term loosely here) a capsule collection? The only capsule I am interested is one that can be washed down with fluids and alter my reality. But the new reality world of celebrity designers is like living in Bizarro World. We now have Sarah Jessica Parker heading up the Halston legacy (click link for yesterday’s IMW… Read More »

THE I MEAN…WHAT?!? BEST DRESSED OF THE EVENING AWARDS…AT THE APOLLO CIRCLE BENEFIT Welcome to The Softer Side of I Mean…What?!? I was recently invited to join the Patrick McMullan family of bloggers, so I thought it would be fun to fill the Mr. Blackwell void and determine the I Mean…What?!? Best Dressed of the Evening Awards. Each week, I will select an event covered by Patrick and stick in my two cents about who were the Best Dressed of the Evening. Since I don’t get invited to these glammy evenings (hence I do not own any gowns or a… Read More »

The competition is fierce between New York, Paris, London and Milan for “most important fashion week”. It is an ever evolving process as to which city owns the top spot. Surely Paris has to be the most influential due to it’s rich history and deep fashion roots. That plus the perception that if you can make it there you can make it anywhere. Yes, New York thinks that phrase only pertains to a New York state of mind. But I am here to tell you, that ain’t true…especially in reference to fashion. New York has been trying to hold on… Read More »