“I Mean…What?!?” – Abe Gurko

New Word Alert: prada v. prada-ed, prada-ing, prada-s a. To go crazy, to  flip often used with out. b. To react strongly and especially enthusiastically: She pradaed over the new men’s collection from London. Nothing has made me happier  than when I was pradaing (see above) from the images at London Men’s Fashion Week only to discover that the long, lost Manzie is back… and potentially with a vengeance. Only time will tell though as we prada through Milan, Paris and New York. Let’s face it, menswear has become one bland sea of plaid and quasi-butch-realness. Coupled with the horrible… Read More »

Since I Mean What established the expression, Manzie, people have been sending me emails asking what is appropriate to wear for fear of not looking like a Manzie. Now that we are drenched in the middle of the August heat, the topic of Men In Shorts came up from a guy named Bruce. Hey Abe, About the Manzie thing…I was wearing a pair of shorts the other day and because I’m not tall a.k.a. short, they were a little long and I was worried that that were looking like men’s capris!! I may never be able to wear those shorts… Read More »

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 »

UPDATE March 8, 2011: It’s official: black IS back! Don’t believe me? Check out the dark mood at Chanel. We all know that Karl Lagerfeld rules the fashion roost worldwide. So, if Karl says “Black uber alles” then so it is. And, from the looks of his somewhat over stuffed collection, black is here and hopefully to stay. When I say overstuffed, I mean the quilted, unflattering jumpsuits that will never live on the streets, but just in the magazines. For now, I am reveling in Black Power! March 7, 2011: For the past few seasons, fashion editors have been… Read More »

Fresh from Paris and Milan, we have the Manzie Report featuring the latest trends, mistakes and mishaps for Fall 2011. The over-arching story for men is luxe, sophisticated, elegance. There were boxier shapes and shorter skorts. No, I am not kidding. Since Marc Jacobs wears nothing but kilts, Parisian menswear designers took that look to the next level and hiked up the length of skorts for men. Let’s face it, the kilt length is not all that flattering, and men’s legs are just as lovely to look at as women’s…especially when they are long, lean and muscular. Collections from Hermes,… Read More »

I want to be Mary Alice Stephenson when I come back to Earth in my next life. Tall, blond, female, smart, beautiful, industrious, glamorous…need I say more? Either I want to be just like her or a French poodle in a Jewish household on Long Island. Both lives are charmed. I met Mary Alice at a fund-raising event…you see…she is perfect…and we have since kept in touch. Recently, we both were speaking on a panel about the future of the fashion industry. There she was, clad in red Calvin Klein fierceness. I mentioned interviewing her for IMW-TV, though at that… Read More »

It has been a while since the last round of men’s shows where we first met The Manzie, which we sometimes refer to as “The Manz” or “La Manz”. You newcomers need to be brought up to speed. What is a Manzie? (pronounced man – zee), hence, What is a Manzie Report? At last season’s men’s fashion shows in Europe, the overarching trend was something that I hadn’t seen in quite some time, actually ever. I came up with the term Manzie to capture the moment. A Manzie is not a Dandy, nor is he a Pansy, hence the revised… Read More »

“Menswear should take cues from womenswear, and not just the other way around,” says Muccia Prada in BlackBook. Now, you all know how much I love to trash a good manzie (click to get official meaning). It has been eons since I did a session on that “look”, which confuses many of my readers, while providing many good laughs. “But, Muccia, what items in womenswear can men pull off without looking like big, nelly queens?”, I Mean…What!?! wants to know. Leggings for starters. Leggings have been on trend and a huge best-seller for the past few seasons. But on guys?… Read More »

Earlier in the week I did a report on the Milan Men’s Shows an noticed a burgeoning trend that I lovingly call the “Season of the Manzie”. Now, maybe I need to clarify here. A Man-zie is not like a Dandy, nor is it like a Pansy, hence the revised spelling. In my book, a Pansy doesn’t necessarily need to dress effeminately in order to be called a Pansy by a bunch of blokes. On the contrary. They just need to have a sisssing “S” in their speech or run with their arms flailing or become cheerleaders. A Dandy on… Read More »