“I Mean…What?!?” – Abe Gurko

My freind who used to be the creative director at Lord & Taylor told me a remarkable story. Their ads used to be exclusively fashion illustrations—it was their look. One time, The New York Times ran a full page ad, featuring a particular designer, except somehow the Lord & Taylor logo was left off the ad. That did not impact the sales of that item, at all.… Read More »

Shutter at the thought. Over the past ten years, retailers became drunken sailors, opening stores like they were going out of business. Well, you know what I mean. But it was the act of opening so many doors that they are now faced with the perception that they are failing miserably. In an effort to keep their heads above water, they have no choice but to shut down these superfluous outlets. The list is pretty serious. Saks Fifth Avenue is closing five department stores this year and the CEO hints that there might be more than that. They are experiencing… Read More »

My friend Merle Ginsberg (Editor-in-Cheif, fashionrules.com), whom I have known since her W magazine days…when W meant something…is currently in Israel covering the fashion scene, doing a few speaking engagements and ogling the hot Israeli men, no doubt. I have been to Israel several times, and my sister and I could not stop plotzing when we would see clumps of hot, young Israeli guys dressed in army fatigues. It was like a Bruce Weber wet dream. Anyway…back to Merle who has great style, humor and extensive reference. It’s kind of what I like about me too…but whatever. Here are snippets… Read More »

Looking through the Vanity Fair International Best Dressed List was a bit of a head scratch-er for me. First of all, can we eliminate men from this challenge? When I think of Best Dressed lists, Mr. Blackwell’s Best Worst Dressed comes to mind as does Eleanor Lambert, who originated the Best Dressed List in 1940. Rarely do I think of men when we speak of Best Dressed lists. This year’s list in Vanity Fair had too many men, the images are lame and frankly, I don’t look to Vanity Fair for their opinions on fashion. I loves me my Vanity… Read More »