“I Mean…What?!?” – Abe Gurko

Merle Ginsberg (Editor-in-Cheif, fashionrules.com) and I continue our cross continental SKYPE dialogue and compare notes on the CFDA Awards. MERLE: Shall we start with worst dressed? ABE: Is there a better place to start? How about the Olsen Twins? MERLE: Dumpster chic. ABE: I saw this fantastic video look book that The Row did on style.com, it featured nothing like those schmattas. They are such fashion icons….why I don’t know…but they are and they never get the red carpet down. MERLE: They are too young and too thin, to hide under all this fabric at a black tie. I also… Read More »

Box Office Mojo reports, “It was Princesses over Persia among new releases, but the Middle Eastern desert romps generated such little heat that a relatively low-grossing Shrek movie topped them in its second weekend.” Ouch. Look, both Princess of Persia (as I like to call it) and Sex and the City Par Deux seemed so uninteresting, that no kidding they didn’t live up to the expectations of the Hollywood suites.  My friend Annie likes to say, ”Who wants to see a bunch of middle aged woman acting like they are still in their thirties, drinking and talking about sex.” Though… Read More »

While dilly-dallying this morning, I came upon a few people who were recently photographed that somehow fit into a nice neat box. A fotz box. Now, I know that not everyone can be a supermodel or Gwyneth Paltrow, who has been on more red carpets lately than…well…red carpets. I just thought there was a through line between these subjects and wanted to see them up on the IMW screen-a-tron. I can not quite put my finger on it…but there is a certain yenteh quality that these folks share.… Read More »

There is no doubt that the future holds many keys to the age old question: Where can I find that dress that So-n-So was wearing in that movie I saw last night? As technology marches on, you can be rest assured that the movie going experience is headed in the direction of “escape to the movies for retail therapy”. We are talking about a far more sophisticated situation that what we have now, which is that tacky, knock-off, dress company ABS by Jewish Guy that gets featured on The Insider the night after ever big award show. “Wanna look like… 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 »

Now, correct me if I am wrong, but didn’t Dita Von Teese start out as a stripper….excuse me…burlesque performance artist? Don’t get me wrong, I think she is fascinating, beautiful, intriguing, beguiling, bewitched, bothered and bewildered. Surely she is a one-of-a-kind, that is for sure, and her iconic stature is undeniable. But, stripper plenty. So you can imagine my shock and awe at the recent revelation that Dita is considering designing a line of clothing. Clothes designed to be taken off, I guess. Must everyone who achieves any level of celebrity automatically design a line of clothing? I am beginning… Read More »

Perez Hilton reports that Christina Aquilera will be on the American Idol finale. He also thinks that this season is a bore. Just because Crytal Bowersox is not all Lady Gaga’ed out, does not make her boring at all. – PEREZ HILTON Sarah Jessica Parker is reading up on everything Halston. How about a sewing class. – PAGE SIX Madonna looks amazing in these ads for Dolce Gabanna’s next ad for MILF’s. – LIVE JOURNAL So, Anna Wintour‘s Fashions Night Out is going to be the word’s largest extravaganza. I wrote about this on February 2. Tell me something I… Read More »

You know you have hit the big top when a fragrance bears your name, or your pet’s name, or your favorite childhood memory’s name of some such nonsense. You all know my aversion to celebrity fashion designers. Now I am officially adding celebrity schtoonk-meisters to the list of things that make me say fotz or “ewww”. Let me start by mentioning my favorite exception to this parade, none other than Dame Elizabeth Taylor. When Elizabeth created White Diamonds, she was pretty much out of the movie business, still  gorgeous and well…friggen Liz Taylor. Don’t even try to put Sarah Jessica… Read More »

Wait…did I read that correctly? Tom Ford is what? Do you mean to tell me that an actual fashion designer is developing a collection for women? How is that possible? These days all we hear about are celebrities slithering their way into the fashion industry. Sarah Jessica Parker, Madonna, the Olsen Twins, Kim Kardashian, to name a few but the list is endless. Women’s Wear Daily reports this morning that Tom Ford, is in fact in talks with Givenchy designer, Pablo Coppola and a few other notables such as an accessory designer from Alexander McQueen to assemble a ferocious design… Read More »

Madonna is finally jumping into the fashion business?!? I knew that she was hankering to become a schmatta peddler for years but was waiting for the right time and the right deal. And I guess this is it. There is no time like the present and there’s no place like Macy’s…though I wish she would just stay home. Anyone who is anyone that reads I MEAN…WHAT?!? knows how obsessed I am with this whole celebrity-turned-designer quagmire that we find ourselves in. And not obsessed like “I am obsessed with my Sarah Jessica Parker for Halston number” but more like, “Can… Read More »