Tim Gunn Quotes

#1. I have watched 'Project Runway,' but I'm not a devout watcher of it. But I think it's a great show, what I've seen of it, and I think Tim Gunn is a very positive, amazing guy.

Colleen Atwood

#2. Life is a big collaboration. And we can't navigate it alone.

Tim Gunn

#3. Men's wear is all about tailoring.

Tim Gunn

#4. I believe in letting karma do its thing. What comes around goes around.

Tim Gunn

#5. I really cherish having my private time and being alone and being able to decompress. It's my own version of meditating.

Tim Gunn

#6. I have to have my coffee. I probably have three cups a day, but only before noon.

Tim Gunn

#7. I learned from teaching. If you are perceived by the student to be belittling them or purely criticizing them without offering up words of encouragement and support, they shut down and discredit you.

Tim Gunn

#8. What I've learned from him is that boundaries are liberating. They can be readjusted all the time, but it's important to have them ... If you burn out, no one's going to benefit. So it's in everyone's interest for you to do what you can and then make it clear that you can do no more.

Tim Gunn

#9. I hate the word "eclectic" .I'm a classicist, and I like comfort. Lots of books, lots of artwork, pieces of family furniture, and newer upholstery.

Tim Gunn

#10. If you want to write an angry e-mail, write it but don't send it. It's based on my experience that whenever I have acted out in some manner, I have always regretted it.

Tim Gunn

#11. I will always be there in the wings saying, 'You need to be good to people. You need to take your work seriously. You need to have integrity. You need to work with what you've got.

Tim Gunn

#12. And Brooke Elliott is a great actress.

Tim Gunn

#13. There's nothing I like better than going to my apartment, closing the door, cooking my little dinner for one and just tuning out. My apartment really is my haven. It's a nest where I go to heal.

Tim Gunn

#14. My advice to the 10 year old daughter is: fashion happens in a context. It's societal, it's cultural, it's historic, it's economic, and it's political. So all of her studies, everything that is happening in the world, all needs to be channeled through her in order to be a good designer.

Tim Gunn

#15. It's not an area where designers want to focus or pay attention - women who are larger than a size 12.

Tim Gunn

#16. Nothing makes me happier than working with real people in the real world.

Tim Gunn

#17. We shop out of boredom, for release, for excitement, for a sense of achievement, for a sense of control over our unruly existences. And every so often, we shop because we need something to wear.

Tim Gunn

#18. Frankly, I think that fur on a man is difficult to pull off. If it's the warmth you're after, then I'd go with a fur-lined coat - it won't show.

Tim Gunn

#19. It was very challenging to mentor the mentors, and yes, you do see more sides of my personality.

Tim Gunn

#20. The clothes we wear send a message about how the world perceives us.

Tim Gunn

#21. I can't imagine a more aesthetically offensive item of footwear than Crocs. That little strap! I shudder.
... I know Crocs are affordable. Well, so are Converse and lots of other brands that don't look like hooves.

Tim Gunn

#22. I learned quickly that if the student's perception is that you're not listening to them, and not understanding them, they discredit you.

Tim Gunn

#23. Fashion was in a crisis up until the mid-'90s and, when it came out of the crisis, it was a very different place. It was a place that nurtured and cultivated young entrepreneurial designers.

Tim Gunn

#24. Call me a schoolmarm, but few things make me angrier than people not taking good care of library materials.

Tim Gunn

#25. It's man's impact on our world that appeals to me more than just nature running wild.

Tim Gunn

#26. I love cooking. I cook for myself every day. I like the ceremony of it. It takes me into a different zone. I make a lot of pasta. But cooking for a crowd of five or ten or, heaven forbid, twenty? No, thank you. I don't like feeling like a slave to the care and feeding of my guests.

Tim Gunn

#27. My best life advice:Take the high road.No matter how much stress, or strain, or consternation you are facing, take the high road.You will never regret it.

Tim Gunn

#28. If I could predict the trends, they would already be there.

Tim Gunn

#29. I've worn a suit and tie for most of my life. And I believe (for me), it makes me more confident navigating the world.

Tim Gunn

#30. I don't know why I've always been so captivated by architecture.

Tim Gunn

#31. Whether it's fashion or it's home, it's all about style. The clothes we wear send a message about how we are perceived, and our home does the same thing.

Tim Gunn

#32. I have my mantra about silhouette, proportion, and fit. I believe that when they are in harmony and balance, you'll look great in anything.

Tim Gunn

#33. You can be too rich and too thin, but you can never be too well read or too curious about the world.

Tim Gunn

#34. My favorite meal to make for myself is meatloaf.I prepare the the ground beef (I don't use anything else) and flatten it out so it's about 1/2 inch thick, then I spread shredded cheddar all over it, then I roll it up. It's amazing. Like a big cheeseburger.

Tim Gunn

#35. I don't believe in texting while dining, sending one-word e-mails in lieu of formal thank-you cards, wearing shorts to the theater, or settling for any of the modern trends that favor comfort over politeness, ease over style. Manners are simply about asking yourself, What's the right thing to do?

Tim Gunn

#36. Most people wear clothing that is too big or too small for them. And "oversized" is the downfall for most of us. We have to be careful that we don't look like we're slipcovered!

Tim Gunn

#37. But when (as will inevitably happen) mature women are again seen as sexy, it's likely that the maxi and midi will make their triumphant return as sexy garments. Fashion

Tim Gunn

#38. But my manners also came from when I was in college and began participating in critiques. You have to speak with someone respectfully about their work and be honest and open, without hurting them.

Tim Gunn

#39. I love HGTV. I love the Food Network.

Tim Gunn

#40. I believe in the semiotics of clothes. They send a message about how the world perceives us. For me it goes beyond clothes, it's grooming. It's accessories. It's the whole head to toe look.

Tim Gunn

#41. Models come in all sizes and shapes.

Tim Gunn

#42. The pervasive idea is that if you're a man in the fashion industry, you're gay until proven otherwise. And of course there are lots of men who aren't. But people make certain assumptions.

Tim Gunn

#43. Remember, channel your inner winner.

Tim Gunn

#44. Why must she dress that way? I think she's confused about her gender.

Tim Gunn

#45. The bulky caveman boot certainly has a modern heir: Uggs. I feel they are aptly named and don't belong in this millennium, but I realize I'm in the minority on that.

Tim Gunn

#46. Everyone has a best feature, so find clothes and accessories to accentuate those, whether it's your shoulders or your long legs!

Tim Gunn

#47. Life is a big collaboration - and when you're tackling something that is painful and troubling and is causing you such desperate grief that you think life's not worth living - you need to reach out. To people who will reach back.

Tim Gunn

#48. I hate crocs. May they please go away.

Tim Gunn

#49. Don't give up! You're too talented. You're too good!

Tim Gunn

#50. If someone doesn't ask, you don't have a moral obligation to say every thought that pops in your head.

Tim Gunn

#51. Frankly, from my perspective, the bomber jacket is such a classic item you can wear it even when it's not on trend.

Tim Gunn

#52. I've never mentioned this, but when I was at Parsons teaching, the other design disciplines, they don't like fashion design. They see it as very nineteenth-century.

Tim Gunn

#53. But I will add, there's one thing I will not do, ever: I will never talk to you about things you cannot change. It plants a negativity in the head of a designer or the student, and it's a distraction.

Tim Gunn

#54. I'm really not a trend promoter because I feel that people push trends on people they shouldn't.

Tim Gunn

#55. The element of fashion I'd like to see more often? Clothes that fit people well. For me it's not so much about the clothes.

Tim Gunn

#56. Life is a collaboration, it's not a solo act.

Tim Gunn

#57. Perhaps you like to torture yourself by trying on some jeans from a few years ago to see if you can button them. Clothes do not exist to humiliate their owners. Please do not force garments into performing psychological tasks for which they were not designed.

Tim Gunn

#58. If you're wearing a jacket, as I always am, the sweater vest always needs to be buttoned, with the exception of the bottom button. But if you're going sans jacket, you can leave it open.

Tim Gunn

#59. Whoever's designing for plus-size doesn't get it. The entire garment needs to be reconceived. You can't just take a size 8 and make it larger.

Tim Gunn

#60. I'm very budget-minded myself, and it serves me well.

Tim Gunn

#61. I would say this to my students all the time, it's about 30% you as the teacher and 70% about them. They tend to think that their role is to be the baby bird in a nest and you're going to feed them? They're going to feed themselves, or they're going to starve.

Tim Gunn

#62. I do things like hem a pair of pants, I do my own tailoring but I wouldn't attempt a jacket.

Tim Gunn

#63. Would I be more comfortable in a business meeting wearing my pajamas?
No! It would feel, honestly, very weird. I would think, Where's my IV? When do I take my next meds?

Tim Gunn

#64. It's so important to reach out to people you trust, and who can give you honest feedback, and keep those people close to you. You don't want to surround yourself with enablers.

Tim Gunn

#65. If you want to, you can share my teaching refrain: I can't want you to succeed more than you do.

Tim Gunn

#66. I pretty much stay true to myself and try to find the good in people and not be snarky.

Tim Gunn

#67. Staples are only good if they truly suit our lifestyle.

Tim Gunn

#68. The work is at such a high level and is so well executed, it really is a matter of taste ... [Source: Project Runway - but consider, applied to the theme of book reviews, it seems apropos!]

Tim Gunn

#69. Until the twentieth century, the T-shirt's role was strictly to form a barrier between a man's body and the more valuable clothing he actually wanted the world to see.

Tim Gunn

#70. I'm doing all that I can to prod the industry and get them to pay more attention [ to larger women and petite women]. Because I find it to be reprehensible and repugnant that two populations that are so pervasive in this nation should be so badly neglected.

Tim Gunn

#71. When it comes to Project Runway, for me the most memorable look ever presented goes back to season one, episode one, when Austin Scarlett created a ravishing cocktail dress out of cornhusks. It was really amazing.

Tim Gunn

#72. I had this wonderful career and thought I would retire as a teacher.

Tim Gunn

#73. Leggings are everywhere, indeed. Personally, I'm not crazy about them, but they can look great with the right look, a tunic, for instance, or a long cardigan. Just don't try to dress them up!

Tim Gunn

#74. We need to treat each other with consideration. In my world, the squeaky wheel does not get the grease.

Tim Gunn

#75. I don't particularly like entertaining. I know I should, but I just don't.

Tim Gunn

#76. I would never dream of telling people how to dress. but I do say to them, however you are dressing, accept responsibility for it. And also, unless asked, I don't judge. And if asked to judge - I would approach it socratically, I would approach it with questions.

Tim Gunn

#77. We all had to search for more words to describe things.

Tim Gunn

#78. Being in the moment is everything. So being in the moment for me is just letting the narrative play out, listening to the designers and giving them helpful feedback about what they're doing.

Tim Gunn

#79. The fashion industry at large has been the worst public relations vehicle for larger women and petite women, they are both maligned and neglected. And I honestly do believe it's getting better.

Tim Gunn

#80. I also have no problem if you want to find a cave and have someone roll a boulder in front of it.

Tim Gunn

#81. Borrowing from cultures without understanding the fundamentals can yield some pretty weird and wholly illogical perversions.

Tim Gunn

#82. But if fashion were easy, wouldn't everybody look great?

Tim Gunn

#83. We no longer need fur for warmth and protection. There are plenty of textiles that provide that today. It's pure whim and vanity to choose to wear fur. It shows a level of ignorance or lack of concern that reflects poorly on the wearer.

Tim Gunn

#84. Does a man need to know what a peplum is? Probably not.

Tim Gunn

#85. The color, the shape, and the texture
none of it is accidental. Every item we wear has a glorious (or sometimes not so glorious) history, and that history extends back years
centuries, even
before Oscar de la Renta's 2002 collection.

Tim Gunn

#86. In my typical way, I declined to respond, saying that I didn't want anyone to run to a store just because I endorsed a trend. Besides, a trend is good only if it works for you, your wardrobe, and your lifestyle.

Tim Gunn

#87. To cheer myself up, I try to remember the difference between short-term and long-term success. Living a good life and making a real mark on society is a marathon, not a sprint.

Tim Gunn

#88. With fashion, you really need to understand the aspects of construction. Not just design on an iPad.

Tim Gunn

#89. Trying and acheiving are two different things.

Tim Gunn

#90. In a manner of speaking. I certainly never want to lose my voice as an educator.

Tim Gunn

#91. I understand the all black or all white look (to be perfectly blunt, it's easy and you don't have to think about it very much) but would any of us really want to be one of those people?

Tim Gunn

#92. Whenever people tell me they don't know how to get inspired, I say "What's the matter with you?! I could stay in my apartment and be inspired!"

Tim Gunn

#93. I'm not sure what the moral is here ... I really just wanted to tell that story.

Tim Gunn

#94. We can wear whatever we want and get away with it. Just be confident about being who you are and dressing for that person.

Tim Gunn

#95. Fashion it's not just about learning how to draw pretty pictures, and how to sew, it's everything that makes up your life.

Tim Gunn

#96. I love shopping on a budget. I believe that more fashion mistakes are made by people with deep pockets than by those who shop on a budget.

Tim Gunn

#97. Men: don't wear the untucked shirttail. It cuts you in half, which is a very bad proportion. Think of yourself as a series of thirds. So when the shirt is tucked in, you're 1/3 on top, 2/3 on the bottom.

Tim Gunn

#98. If you had pockets, you were associated with a labor force. It meant you had things to carry yourself. Otherwise, your lady's maid or your manservant would have done it for you.

Tim Gunn

#99. If you have to ask if a clothing item is a dress or a top, it is always a top.

Tim Gunn

#100. I have my flaws and my issues, past and present and who knows what will happen in the future. I want people to know I'm vulnerable too and each one of us is.

Tim Gunn