“I Mean…What?!?” – Abe Gurko

Last night’s Costume Institute Gala was the New York City version of the Oscar Red Carpet. As Joan Rivers will surely attest this Friday night on Fashion Police, there were hits and plenty of misses. Before I share my best and worst list, I must give a shout out to Stella McCartney. This really was her night. Sure, Sarah Burton was the star of the night politically, but in terms of which designer had the best showing on the glamor-pusses? It was Stella by a mile because she dressed some of the major players of the evening.… Read More »

Madonna is rumored to be in talks to play Norma Desmond in the film version of the Broadway musical Sunset Boulevard by Andrew Lloyd Weber. That would make me very happy. But a few things would have to happen. Madonna would have to surrender to the director. She would have to allow herself to look and act somewhat demented. Not like a caricature of Norma Desmond, but a real broken, lonely, lost icon. I thought Madonna was fantastic as Eva Peron, and surely, if all the stars align for Sunset Boulevard, this will be the seminal moment of Madonna’s career.… Read More »

How does one maintain relevance in an industry obsessed with youth? Where “one day you are in and ze next day you are out”? In this town you need to know a Roitfeld or be a fashion blogger worthy of a front row seat. As a veteran of the fashion industry, I was challenged with this conundrum. So I revised my business model, focused on social media, developed my own blog, I Mean…What?!? and in turn became part of an extensive network of online media outlets. The viral landscape is hungry for original content so I began to develop fashion… Read More »

Having worked in fundraising for wonderful charities, it is with a heavy heart  to learn about the horrendous scam circling Madonna‘s now ill-conceived school for girls in Malawi. I say ill-conceived because if this project was properly structured, with vigorous oversight, then 3.8 million dollars would not have vanished. Who is to blame? Surely the Executive Director, Philippe van den Bossche, who became involved with Madonna’s trainer, Tracy Anderson, in the middle of the project. Now it makes sense why Madonna fired her “celebrity trainer ass“. Now, someone tell me how a 15 million dollar project allows for a 3.8… Read More »

The news that Lindsay Lohan dropped her last name to go by her first name only, is a move that I thoroughly support. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Abe, and I, too, go by my first name only. My business card says Abe and my company’s name is Abe. In fact, I don’t think anyone knows my last name. I sure don’t. It’s sort of like Just Jack, in that I am a gay man, but unlike Just Jack, I am a real person, which makes me more like Cher and Madonna. Since childhood, I have gone… Read More »

As an aging beauty, well, aging anyway, I am forever on the prowl for amazing moisturizers. My mother taught me at an early age to slather on the moisturizer. She was a Ponds Cold Cream and Helena Rubinstein addict. I guess my tendency for addictions comes from her. I have spent the last 30 years going from one moisturizer to another, since Helena Rubinstein went out of business, and left to my own devices. Until last year, I had been using Queen Helene Grape Seed Extract Skin Firming Cream, until that was taken off the market. I snapped up every… Read More »

Whether it is rumor or fact, if Lindsay Lohan is hitting up on Oprah for her own post rehab reality show for the OWN Network, then all I can say is fotz. And Oprah should know better. First of all, though Malin Akerman is cute and bubbly, who can compare the value to having Lohan in the Linda Lovelace biopic, Inferno, to sweet Malin? What do I know…besides plenty. I had been asked by Mashable to weigh on what Lindsay should do to bounce back during the jail era, and my thoughts still stand. She should do a theater piece… Read More »

OK, so Burlesque is not the best movie ever. And yes, perhaps Christina Aguilera is not our finest actress. Agreed, this camp classic rivals Glitter, the vehicle that made Mariah Carey a laughing stock. But the fact remains, this little musical is as entertaining as any ditsy musical from the MGM musical era, where the storyline is simple, the acting is cartoonish and the music is the only saving grace. But the outright disrespect from the audience at the screening of Burlesque confounds me. The movie opens with Christina alone in a restaurant somewhere in Podunk, with her belting out… Read More »

I would hate to be retailer right about now. Forget the fact that the economy is still in the doldrums. Only the luxury brands are cleaning up now because Wall Streeters and their wives are shopping like they have just been told that the end of the world is really nigh. Meanwhile the rest of the world who misses shopping and spending, has been reduced to “just looking” and trying on…the poor man’s retail therapy. Brace yourself, the retail environment is about to go through yet another shift…if not slump. Google announced their foray into the schamtta business joining the… Read More »

Let’s face it….if you were Madonna, you too would date a young dancer type. The papers are agog with rumors that Madonna was seen out and about with a younger man…not Jesus Luz…at a Meatpacking District hot spot SL dancing the night away with a hottie named Brahim Rachiki. The fact is, this Brahim was the choreographer from her recent Sticky and Sweet tour. But here’s the interesting bit. She apparently is not dating Rachiki, but another dancer named Brahim. Really? There is another dancer named Brahim? How random is that? Look, if they are young and hot and fit…why… Read More »