“I Mean…What?!?” – Abe Gurko

While we Americans were chomping on barbeque, watermelon and “oohing” and “aahing” over the 4th of July fireworks, Paris was not sizzling as the Fall Couture Shows got under way. There is nothing sadder than looking through the images of Christian Dior, the one show that I waited for with bated breath each season, knowing that John Galliano would not disappoint. I even looked forward to what kind of drag he would sport at the end of the show. There was nothing of the sort for Fall. Or nothing of the short for fall. Fall short…get it? Surely the reviews… Read More »

Let’s get off the Manzie Report for one minute and focus on the grooming during the recent Paris men’s shows. The iconic references were almost palpable. Some of the looks were clearly inspired by the biggest icons from our youth, be it movies, television, or books. There they were, front and center, sashaying down the runways like the ghosts of Christmas past. Follow us on Twitter.com/imeanwhat or Sally Field Us on Facebook.    … Read More »

You have designers like Kris Van Assche and Kris Van Assche showing perfect menswear collections and then there is Thom Browne, using Paris to show his US brand of retardo fashion. Whenever we go there it is never a good thing. Case in point Zac Posen. I don’t even want to go on and on about how pretentious the Thom Browne collection is. I have said it all before and will sadly continue into the future.  Browne is so hell bent on replacing John Galliano’s fashion bad boy reputation in light of the him missing from the scene, that it… Read More »

Q. What is a Manzie? A. A Manzie is not a Pansy or a Dandy. A Pansy doesn’t necessarily dress effeminately to be teased by a bunch of blokes. They can have a sisssing “S” in their speech, run with their arms flailing or cheerleaders. A Dandy dresses like a gentleman with a touch of avant-garde. A Manzie is desperately trying to be “on trend”. A Manzie can be a straight man trying too hard to be stylish or a straight-acting-gay-guy who acts extra butch to compensate for his quirky fashion choices. Comprende? Some runway looks fall under the umbrella… Read More »

Talk of Adolf Hitler rages on, between the recent John Galliano flap nightmare, coupled with the resurfaced, vintage footage of Francoise Dior, Christian’s lovely Nazi niece, chatting about how much she loves Hitler, too. My idea for an I Love Hitler T-shirt is not such a bad idea. Well, think of the press it would get. But I digress. The above picture is Eva ‘I Love Hitler’ Braun, pictured in black face, inspired by her favorite film The Jazz Singer, starring Al Jolson, the Jew. What is wrong with this picture? Besides everything. It is like the N-word in a… Read More »

In what is clearly the most insurmountable public relations snafu on Earth, well, fashion Earth anyway, Christian Dior was challenged to stay the course and host their fashion show today in Paris in spite of the debacle that is John Galliano. The above picture features the staff from Dior ateliers, who took the final bow at the show. This is the most fantastic, emotional, democratic, loving way to handle such an awkward moment and to thank those who attended the show. Yesterday The Huffington Post asked its zillions of readers whether or not the Dior and John Galliano shows should… Read More »

Boy, it has been way too long since I did an entry of The Nobody News. Summer is usually the best time for TNN because virtually every nobody thinks they are somebody and virtually every nobody is wrong about that. We are all entitled to a good time for sure, just let’s relax about who gets included in Wire Image and Patrick McMullan. At least in The Evening Hours by Bill Cunningham in The New York Times Style section they feature people that are doing some good by attending fundraisers. So…nobodies with money. Ouch. This edition of The Nobody News… Read More »

The Paris Fall Couture Shows are under way and from the looks of it, my editing services were surely needed at all the shows, except maybe Christian Dior. A freind of mine asked me why I didn’t goof on the recent John Galliano men’s show in Paris, and my response was, “John Galliano can do no wrong”. He is such an incredible creative force that he could put doody in a bag, and I would say, “Brava, Maestro.” Anyhoo, back to the couture story at hand…rather… petites mains. Shall we start with Chanel? Look, I know he is the lion… 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 »

Boy, am I glad I am not a socialite or one of these ladies-who-lunch that have to wear Haute Couture in order to justify my existence. Pawing through the images from this week’s 2010 Spring Couture shows, it is hard to understand why some of these designers even bother. Naturally, there are choices galore at Chanel, Armani Prive, Christian Dior and even Stephane Rolland (major improvement this outing, click for last season’s yikes). You really have to be uber-fabulous and have even more uber-fabulous places to go in order to justify some of these eccentric pieces of art to frolic… Read More »