“I Mean…What?!?” – Abe Gurko

I’ve been feeling a bit nostalgic, remembering when Sportwear International labeled me “The Truth-Teller” and included the Manzie Report in the Who’s Who Fashion Yearbook. … Read More »

Spring is in the air. Well…maybe not the weather part but surely the Spring Couture Collections are in full regalia in Paris. Did you ever stop to wonder what you would do if you were a real lady who lunches and had the resources (and the old, fat, rich husband) to be one of those lucky few who can afford to buy couture each season? Ode to the good life. Winters in Gstaad, Christmas in Martinique with Mick Jagger and L’Wren Scott, pied-à-terres in Paris AND New York, villas in Bel-Air AND Lake Como next door to George Clooney. What… Read More »

It’s over…and the fat lady sang. (Beth Ditto at Jean Paul Gaultier.) As World Fashion Week came to a close in Paris, the question is, “Who wins the I Mean…What?!? Best Collection Spring ’11. It is a toss up between a few designers that seem to be hell bent on showing conceptual nonsense or what I call Pre-Halloween. It is astonishing that companies like Wunderkind (whose name seems to be from a time gone by) and Maison Martin Margiela (ditto) even bother to spend whatever dollars to show pieces that are preposterous, unnecessary and frankly an insult to injury….as in,… Read More »

As the Paris Couture Shows march on, there is still a continued need for a discerning eye (mine) to help edit some of the looks going down the runways. Overall, the shows are great. And with the ever shifting economy, and the need to get young-uns into these ensembles, I am begging for the opportunity to work alongside everyone to stick in my two cents before showtime. Granted, that may never come to pass, but surely it would be beneficial to all.… 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 »

By this phase of Word Fashion Week having seen two million looks from (what seems like) six thousand runways on two million models having sipped eighteen thousand glasses of champagne…phew. I am sure glad I am not a fashion editor or Anna Piaggi…which begs the question…does she still work at Italian Vogue? Anyhoo, doesn’t matter. She needs a nap. My point is: that is a lot of dresses to sift through and surely the eyes must be glazed over and I’d imagine the judgment is questionable by this point. For instance, I see plenty of blunders in such wonderful collections… Read More »

The Paris shows are where we loook for the answers to: What is fashion? What will we be wearing next season? What length will skirts be? Color palette? It’s really way to much pressure to put on one city. Especially when so much of what is shown is borderline nonsense. I wonder no more why so much of the editorial in Vogue centers around the main French houses, well, that because they are the ones worth featuring. I saw Jane Campion’s Bright Star last night and sobbed through the sheer beauty and majesty of her direction and costumes. The bright… Read More »

Who doesn’t look forward to the Paris shows? Oh…I see. Well then, let’s focus on the people like me who are very interested in what the great French houses are doing for the season. As the Paris shows wind down World Fashion Week (my new favorite term), I look forward to that large mug of coffee while perusing Women’s Wear Daily, style.com and Cathy Horyn’s review in The New York Times. I love that WWD glides over hot messes and style.com’s willingness to sift out the nugget of gold from the muck…except in the case of Maison Martin Margiela…yikes. But… Read More »

In Day 2 of the Paris Couture shows, there was definitely more hits than misses with Chanel, Armani Prive and Christian Lacroix showing stunning collections. For people like me, it was slim pickin’s. But as always, one can find horrendosity amongst the flowers, crap alongside elegance, preposterous within reach of fantastic, as in the case of Givenchy. From there we segue into Maison Martin Margiela then onto the two Alexandres.… Read More »