“I Mean…What?!?” – Abe Gurko

Anyone who knows me from childhood will tell you that I developed my own language, mostly words and expressions to describe things, people or activities that I found somewhat nonsensical. Now, I just say I Mean…Whaaaaat?!?! a lot, which captures the essence. One word is “okeedeer”. This is really just “OK, there”, but with a sardonic twist. Here’s a for instance. Say, The New York Times Style features a fashion spread of men’s clothing, shown on a heavily tattooed model, who looks like a wanna-be beatnik. We know he is a wanna-be, because he is in fact a model, rather… Read More »

Nothing brings me more joy that the lovely notes and requests for answers that I receive directly into my mailbox. I’ve been the go-to person for “matters of the heart” and “what to” or “what not to wear” my whole life and fielding your requests is in line with what I do best. Please keep those cards and letters coming. Hi Abe, How come you didn’t do an I Mean…What?!? on Barack Obama’s “mom jeans”? Surely I though you would have jumped all over that. Maureen Dear Maureen, I thought about that plenty. But the reason I passed on it… Read More »

What’s great about being in good company is that it supports the notion that you belong or that you have arrived. Not sure about what the hell I am talking about? Just go back to the title of this entry…The Man-Girdle. Last week I did a piece on Mancessories, included in which, was a mention of the man-girdle or as I lovingly called it, Spanx for men. Time Magazine did a whole story on Mancessories and today there is an item in The New York Times Style Section, making it all sorts of old news, if it’s there. “At Saks… Read More »

George Bernard Shaw wrote, “Youth Is Wasted On The Young”. And after watching the first couple of episodes of NYC Prep, that expression still holds true…and in the case of these pompous noodniks…in spades. There is a column in the The New York Times Style section about the show, which fails to mention just how incredibly horrendous these kids are. The stark reality of these NYC Prepsters, as is the case with the characters on Gossip Girl, is that they all want to rush through their youth and act like grown-ups. I am from the Peter Pan era where the… Read More »

What do these three have in common you ask? Well, not much, besides the fact that they are in this weekend’s news. And when I say in the news, I say that with maximum sarcasm. Jennifer Aniston was honored by some Women in Film Crystal Award or some such nonsense, because her films are so deep and meaningful. At least the redeeming quality of Jennifer is that she can finally poke fun at herself about the joke that is her love life. In her acceptance speech earlier this week, she said, “I have a strange parallel with movies I was… Read More »

Everywhere I turn there’s something big and gay happening in the news. If it isn’t the front page of The New York Times Style section (Adam Lambert), or the New York Post (Martina Navratilova’s Galimony Suit), then it’s in the The Iowa Gazette (What did we just do?). Surely gays are top of mind this season. We are the new black of news stories. It must be an economy-related phenomenon. The last time we were so “on trend” was in the late 70’s when I first moved to New York City and became a club kid at Studio 54. Then… Read More »

One thing is getting to Hollywood; the other is staying here. You can’t just stay here in the hopes of becoming a celebrity and take a job at a bank or some other menial office job in the Valley. Heaven forbid. … Read More »

It was “the only” time, and for sure, the best years of my life. Though it’s still not clear when or how, but at some point, I began running with the Beautiful People (BPs). … Read More »

Our family residence was a low-income nest nestled on a non-tree-lined street amongst a glut of row houses. Think of the East End of London without the cache of, well, London.… Read More »

Lindsay Lohan officially kisses her career goodbye.… Read More »