A-Z guide to the GRBBC (Gilded Russian Brighton Beach Community)

Typecasting · New York · by Marina Khorosh

In a faraway land, deep down in South Brooklyn, away from the hipsters of Williamsburg and the family haven of Prospect Park, lies a community that many know about, yet few brave out to explore on their own. It is called the Gilded Russian Brighton Beach Community (GRBBC), composed of Russian and Ukrainian immigrants who have taken segregation to a whole new level, creating a micro-universe complete with its own behavioral, sartorial and even jurisdictional codes. Today, we bring to you an A-Z guide that will give you some insight on this immigrant enigma.

Sunday Kind of Love: Sandra and Jonathan Goldman

Typecasting · New York · by Marina Khorosh

You know that girl who somehow gets voted Prettiest and Most Likely to Succeed in high school? That’s Sandra Udis (now Goldman), my best friend and partner in crime for some of the most epic shenanigans of our early twenties. Sometime around 2008, Sandra met Jonathan Goldman, a charming Brit who won her over with one of the oldest tricks in the book – doing the exact opposite of everything a guy should do. The rest is happy couple history, which I demanded a full recount of when I invaded their Williamsburg pad last weekend. Let’s hear it!

The Text Hoverer

Typecasting · New York · by Marina Khorosh

This brilliant theory is brought to you by a young comedian I met this week named Jared Freid (@jtrain56).

The Text Hoverer – the guy who is always on your radar via the multiple connecting touch points of your smartphone device (iMessage, WhatsApp, Snapchat for those of you who think they’re tweens), but never goes as far as instigating physical interaction. According to Jared, the goal of the Text Hoverer is to gain trust through consistency of communication, which enables him to bypass the traditional time and cost-consuming dating methods and shoot straight for the late night booty calls.

Best Date Looks from Paris Fashion Week

Those Who Can't Do, Teach · Paris · by Marina Khorosh

The Paris runways can be a trippy journey, filled with sartorial mysteries that await to be metamorphosed into wearable basics, by the likes of Zara, a few month later. But have no fear, Dbag Dating is here! To mark the end of Paris Fashion Week, we decipher a selection of date looks, hand-picked for your romantic escapades come Spring!

Does Falling in Love Make You Lazy?

Musings of the Mind · Paris · by Marina Khorosh

This summer, I almost fell in love. This is a courageous confession and I will say no more. (Love, like sex, is mine and mine alone b*tchez!) Somewhere around month two of our cross-Channel-tryst, I started feeling it, that very familiar, endorphin-laden high that I had practically laid a crest on, gradually transforming me into a big, dumb glob of mush. For months, I wasn’t particularly good at doing anything except chatting on WhatsApp, jumping on trains for romantic getaways, daydreaming while roaming the streets, daydreaming over bucketloads of rosé and just being a giant, walking waste of space.

Yeah, summer 2015 was fun.

Why Are French Guys Dressing Like They’re From Brooklyn?

DD x Vogue · Paris · by Marina Khorosh

In my first days of living in Paris, I quickly discovered a way to soften the notoriously frosty Parisian demeanor. “Je suis New Yorkaise,” I would utter, with what I hoped was an air of nonchalance, and would watch my opponent’s expression morph from superiority to something that could almost be mistaken for . . . admiration? Just as Paris seems to be the only city capable of intimidating the jaded New Yorker, that same fascination has been flowing back across the Atlantic in equal measure. The French are increasingly enthralled with all things New York—particularly its crunchier artisanal cousin, Brooklyn. From the endless cohort of sneakers and Levi’s 501s to the ironic Girls references to the bagel shops and vegan eateries sprouting in lieu of traditional brasseries, Paris, it seems, is getting more and more like New York’s own Left Bank. And as the new Brooklyn Rive Gauche exposition at Le Bon Marché debuts, another question arises: Just as American women have fetishized the mythical romantic Gallic gentleman, do Parisians hold a torch for the Brooklyn equivalent? And is that why every guy here wears plaid shirts and week-old stubble?