“I Mean…What?!?” – Abe Gurko

You gotta love Thom Browne. No matter how butch men want to be this season, he marches to his own beat and presents a collection for the man who knows that Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche. Nor do they wear the Moncler Gamme Bleu. Each season, I look forward to Thom Brwone’s collection for Moncler. He has decided that in order for queens to buy those shiny Moncler puffy crop jackets, they have to see a whole collection of nelly frocks to ski by first. The Fall ’11 collection did not disappoint. Frocks for days.… Read More »

Paris Fashion Week is under way and there is much ado about nothing…so far, anyway. Love Dries van Noten. As the week goes on we will be slayed with fierceness from the usual suspects. The parties will be amazing, the hipness quotient will be high and the front row will be…well…whatever front rows are these days. A hodge-podge of faces and names that make it all worthwhile. Notably, Balenciaga had a groovy front row with Catherine Deneuve, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Orlando Bloom and Salma Hayek. That’s pretty cool, I’d say. Anyhooo, now onto the far more pressing topic of the day,… Read More »

As we continue with the Manzie Report in Paris, I had to first mention this little story that applies to the first designer being mentioned today. I was at Penn Station (don’t ask) and noticed this guy wearing Bermuda length shorts, a suit jacket, tie and white collar shirt with leather wind tip shoes. Now as quasi-acceptable as this look is, the guy was such a nelly queen as he scurried through Penn Station, that I wondered, “Could these Bermuda suits ever take off and go mainstream?”… Read More »

Thom Browne took to the bike lanes with a breezy, cool collection for spring. As a long time bike rider, his homage to cyclists everywhere was refreshing and welcome. Usually I find more things wrong with Thom’s runway collections than right, but I am happy to report that this time around there were more wearable looks than not. Naturally, what’s a Manzie Report without a few good manzies, and with Browne’s theatrical penchant for showing more looks than necessary, there has to be a few bombs in the line-up and here they are. Calvin Klein had a few doozies, too.… Read More »

Last year at this time, I MEAN…WHAT?!? launched the Not Best Dressed Awards. It was fitting that the kick-off center around the CFDA Awards, where everyone in the room should just know better. After my initial shock at some the choices, I decided that the ones who were worst dressed had the least friends. OR, they were so feared, that no one dare contradict their choices. This year again, we see shocking taste in a room filled with taste-makers. These people are oxy-morons. Sure, I have been guilty of “Do as I say, not as I do”, but on a… Read More »

Just recently I did a think on the AmFAR From Best Dressed List at Cannes Film Festival. Well, far be it for New York City to be outdone, AmFAR held its Inspiration Gala last night a there were a few must-mention fashion moments that I wanted to share with you. Herewith, the AmFar From Best Dressed List continues. Follow us on Twitter. Click here.… Read More »

In today’s Women’s Wear Daily, the discussion is whether New York deserves a Men’s Fashion Week, similar to those in Milan and Paris. Listening to the argument, one has to side with the reality that New York needs one in order for these designers to compete with the international business cycle. Naturally I MEAN WHAT?!? has a different agenda, and are voting in favor of New York Manzie Week. Imagine how much fun we will have, especially with the next series of shows being Spring 11, when light frothy outfits come tra-la-la-ing down the runway on gossamer wings. (Note: Whoever… Read More »

“It’s good to be the king.” So said Mel Brooks in History of the World, Part 1. The reason I bring this up is because the men’s collections for Fall ’10, between Milan and Paris and now in New York City, are really great…and very butch. So, my quote for this season is, “It’s not good to be the queen”. In what I am calling an immediate response to my Manzie Reports from last season, every designer on Earth quickly revisited their sketches for this season and chose to man up. Thank you all for taking note, but now what… Read More »

Overall, the men’s collections in Milan are pretty great. Sifting through all the images to mine for Manzies was not quite as easy as last spring. Somehow I would like to go out on a limb and take some credit, that my Manzie Reports impacted some of the designers. Seems like many of them worked overtime to avoid making Manzie Faux Pas, for fear of being included in the Manzie Reports. What I can say about Fall 10 is that there’s much ado about nothing special, since quite a few collections played it really safe. Perhaps it is a no… Read More »

Being amongst a collection of collagenous junkies out here in Fire Island, where an arrogant puss is as common as sand, it got me to thinking about arrogance in general. Lord knows gays have not cornered the market on that lovely trait, but oh, how they try. Today’s news featured a few arrogant twits. All of them suffering from that terminal illness of believing their own press. And they all have something else in common: flared nostrils, slightly turned up as though they are smelling week-old fish left in the fridge. That is sooo the look of arrogance. Here now… Read More »