“I Mean…What?!?” – Abe Gurko

Ahhh, The Sunday New York Times Style section. My secured ticket to an I Mean…What?!? And it rarely disappoints these days. No matter how lame some of the articles in The Times Style (remember, this an oxymoron) can be, I will never stop reading it because the Sunday Times is everyone who’s anyone’s ritual. And now with these commentaries, it’s my new, improved ritual.… Read More »

There aren’t many films that get me all goosebumps and giggly like the upcoming The September Issue has. You won’t see me camped out at the Ziegfled waiting to buy Harry Potter nonsense. Truth be told, I have not seen any of those films. Can’t figure out why, just ‘cuz. Nor was I highly anticipating Twilight or Transformers: Revenge of the Whatever, and you can relax about Ironman. Yeah, I’ll see it, but can we discuss the Anna Wintour movie for a second? Obsessed. I’ve seen the trailer umpteen times. Haven’t you? Actually, a friend of mine who has been… Read More »

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 »

You can call me a lot of things, but a prude is not one of them. Though this week, having had an earful of utter nonsense regarding these middle-aged, Republican men and their illicit sex romps, I may come off a bit puritanical. Excuse me for acting all Queen Victoria, but I do not need to have the visuals of Mark Sanford, Silvio Berlusconi or John Ensign…naked with some hooker…dancing in my head. And with the amount of attention to these guys have received, it’s there, stuck in my head, and I need to get them out. All the Manzie’s… 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 »

I’ve been an underdog my whole life. First as Jewish kid being raised in a predominantly anti-Semitic, blue-collar, armpit of a town in New Jersey. Second as a fat kid being raised in the pre-obese kids era that we live in now. I could go on, but will spare you my heartbreaking saga (the book is being written, naturally). As a new “blogger”, I am in the underdog position again, since there are 7 million to 10 million active blogs on in the Internet at any given time. Reading today’s Style Section of The New York Times (yes, I still… Read More »

Recently I pointedly pointed out how silly looking The Quirky Man-Hat was and that guys who wore these too-small-for-their-head hats, looked like Man-zies. The newest addition to the “Must Not Do” list for men is wearing designer shorts. Unless of course, you don’t mind looking like a big ol’ Man-zie. The New York Times’ recent, lame-ass editorial spread on men’s looks for spring…a.k.a. MAN-SIES GALORE was all sorts of wrong. The Style section is an abomination: so after the fashion fact and past the curve of relevant. Oh and by the way, Cathy Horn needs to leave The New York… Read More »