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Tim Gunn teaches Style 101 at Macy's
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On a chilly Monday morning, Tim Gunn, the illustrious Project Runway oracle of style and Chief Creative Officer of Liz Claiborne, Inc., stands on a stage in the warm confines of Macy’s Union Square. He just finished a demonstration on how to accessorize your holiday outfit with some swanky baubles from Monet Jewelry.
It is now time for the Q&A session. Audience members are loading their guns with queries about style. They attack.
Questions are fired at him from left and right – “Should I wear flats?” …“Will Michael and Nina have a bigger presence in next season’s Project Runway?” … “What kind of jewelry best suits my face?” “Why do you have such a great vocabulary?”
Mr. Gunn takes all the questions with a confident mix of leisure and Yoda-like wisdom. His voice is an authority, but in a way that makes you feel at ease. His words ending in “-ous” echo throughout the first floor of Macy’s as everyone soaks in his knowledge.
“My daughter wants to be a fashion designer,” says one of the women sitting in the front row. “I pulled her out of school today just so that she can see you!”
Tim Gunn has a quizzical look for a split second and justifies this parental-induced action of truancy, “Well this is an education!”
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He knows everything. And I mean EVERYTHING.
No one can argue with that. In fact, no one can argue with Tim at all. The only person who has argued with him is now loathed by America. She was on the most recent season of Project Runway. I won’t say her name, but it rhymes with “henley.”
While the exclusive VIP audience of Gunn fans had the opportunity to him, I got to sit with him one-on-one and ask him a few questions of my own.
Mr. Gunn does an autograph signing with Macy's guests
Seeing Mr. Gunn in person is exactly how you would imagine it. A gentleman. Dressed in a pin stripe suit and looking at me through his specs, he welcomes me into the room as if it his own home. “Feel free to take off your coat and make yourself comfortable,” he says as I sit in a TV studio-like room flooded with lights and the sparkle from an array of Money Jewelry (which is a part of the Claiborne family mind you) flawlessly displayed between Mr. Gunn and myself.
“So this is how it would be like if I had my own talk show,” I think to myself.
For the sake of embarrassment, I don’t say that out loud. Instead, I just continue with my interview and admire the Monet Jewelry.
“The launch of Monet corresponds with the launch of our (Liz Claiborne’s) fashion timeline,” says Gunn. “The pieces are always on the American forefront of fashion.”
I look at the pieces of costume jewelry and take into consideration that they aren’t gaudy nor are they costumey. They are the perfect median of tasteful and glamorous craftsmanship – which bring Tim Gunn to his next bullet point.
“Given our current economic crisis,” begins Gunn, “I say that men and women should make holiday dressing fun! Buy yourself a piece of costume jewelry. And for men, buy yourself a velvet blazer – it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom. It’s the holidays – make it joyous.”
He is all about the optimism as he encourages people to get in the holiday spirit and not be a Debbie Dow-ner (get it? Dow? Downer? – he didn’t say that. I did. You can laugh now.)
And he does encourage to be frugal. In fact, Mr. Gunn says he has always been frugal.
“I have a maxim on buying something on sale. If I wouldn’t pay full price for it, I don’t buy it,” he says with a professorial ponder. Then he continues, “That, of course, has been amended. I would buy on sale if it is at the top of my list and is at least 40 percent off.”
Wow. He used the word “maxim” in a sentence and he turned the art of buying on sale into a clever science.
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As a former teacher at the Parsons New School in New York and the voice of reason on Project Runway, Gunn has always had this selfless way of giving critiques that doesn’t make anyone cry. It’s constructive criticism at its best.
When he critiques, particularly on Project Runway, Gunn says he has nanoseconds to edit himself before he says something.
“I think of what they can’t change and see if they can do something (to change it),” he says. “I give my thoughts and let it synthesize in their brain.”
People have always taken his advice seriously – except for one person. I already mentioned her. I don’t think I need to do it again.
With our celebrity-laden culture, I was very curious to see who Tim Gunn admires in terms of modern day style icons. His answers may not have been far off base, but his reasoning was insightful.
“In terms of style, I don’t look at celebrities on the red carpet, because that isn’t ‘real.’ I look at them I everyday wear,” he says. “I’ve never met Angelina Jolie – but she is one of those women who just get it right – she is never overdressed. Another person is, of course, Sarah Jessica Parker. She understands fashion and she is a risk taker. She understands that it is better to take risks than to play it safe.”
As we continue to chat, Mr. Gunn says he hasn’t seen the sketches for Michelle Obama’s dress because of his hectic schedule. He also mentions that he hasn’t visited San Francisco in a while. – four years to be exact. Twenty before that.
“The food, the walking, the shopping – there’s something so seductive about this city,” says Mr. Gunn. He turns to his colleague, Gail Garamone, the VP of Public Relations for Liz Claiborne and says, “We have to find more reason to come back here!”
She nods with excitement, “Definitely!”
I get up from my talk show chair and like the perfect host, Mr. Gunn helps me put on my jacket and we depart with courteous words and firm handshakes.
I walk out feeling smarter and happy at the fact that someone like Tim Gunn knows how to “make it work” in our world…what? Did you think I’d write this piece without saying his famous catchphrase?
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