“I Mean…What?!?” – Abe Gurko

Spring ’12 is shaping up to be the war of the print worlds. How is a buyer to determine which print will sell better than another? It is a daunting task to decide which blown out floral will be the better choice. As if with two fashion show venues, The Tents @ Lincoln Center & Made (Milk), coupled with the endless other indie fashion show locations, then you have the challenge of determining what to buy. I gotta hand it to the buyers who have to navigate that kaleidoscope of color coupled with no taxis and feeling like you might… Read More »

Lady Gaga is a dichotomy. She is the sum of two totally different parts. She is the only person who can land on The Not Best Dressed List and be acknowledged as looking fierce on the same day.  Entertainment Weekly reported that Lady Gaga paid a visit to Springfield to do a guest spot on The Simpsons. She looks fantastic channeling Ursula Andress. Whenever she dresses like a lady, she looks great. When she becomes a cartoon of herself, then fotz. Wonder what the real cartoon version of Gaga will be.… Read More »

  Yes, I am going to take full credit for Abercrombie & Fitch‘s recent move to pay off The Situation in order to have him cease and desist from wearing A & F crap. Yesterday, The Situation was prominently featured on The Not Best Dressed List besides which, I Mean What has done endless coverage of the Jersey Shore, from seasonal reviews to lamenting on how the popularity of this ilk proves that the end of the world is nigh. While I was writing this, Women’s Wear Daily reported that A&F reported a 64% gain in net revenue this quarter,… Read More »

Throughout all this talk of the debt ceiling, the Republicans are now officially beginning to look like cartoon characters. The release of The Smurfs movie frames this debate in a very insightful way. Will these weirdly colored creatures survive their situations? Oh, I am talking about the orange folks in the Republican party, lead by John Boehner. He and Donald Trump are like the Tom & Jerry of orange blabbermouths. Nothing would be more genius than if John Boehner started crying over this process, caught on tape. The tension must be so thick in his chamber, that you can cut… Read More »

Resort has become my favorite collection cycle since the fashion industry realized the value of this critical, transitional shipping period, and more importantly, key press moment. Throughout June, the 2012 Resort collections have made headlines to a fever pitch. Yesterday, Salvatore Ferragamo presented one of my favorite ready-to-wear collections this year, resort or otherwise. Creative director Massimiliano Giornetti conceived the collection with old-world glamour in mind, a nod to the Golden Age of Hollywood when Salvatore first made his name designing shoes for the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren.The collection is simple, elegant, and screams luxury. The company… Read More »

Welcome to a world where truth and justice is actually the American way. I started this site shortly after the 2008 economic boom, as in ka-boom. The manifesto has always been about finding truth and humor in a world obsessed with fashion, celebrity and politics. I Mean…What?!? is a daily reportage on what’s not quite right in the world. IMW has become the insider’s go-to resource to get a humorous take on the truth, the Emperor’s New Clothes, celebrity fashion designers, and the other absurdities that plague our pop culture landscape. Finding humor in a world filled with dolts and… Read More »

Frankly, I am not a fan of these capsule collections at Target, Kohl’s, K-Mart and BlaBla’s. Who cares if some blubbery couch potato gets access to a Missoni sweater? Do we need to see more overweight people trying to look fierce? Oh, come now. Have you been to a Target lately? Just because their advertising and marketing is slick, that does not automatically translate to the clientele that moseys around the store. On the contrary. Yes, Target does do great events, like that amazing fashion show held at The Standard New York. And they get fabulous press, to the point where… 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 »

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 »

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 »