Gunn - Tim Gunn Guide

Tim Gunn

A GUIDE TO
QUALITY, TASTE & STYLE

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Gunn, Tim.
Tim Gunn : a guide to quality, taste, and style / by Tim Gunn with
Kate Moloney.
p. cm.
ISBN: 978-0-8109-9284-9 (hardcover with jacket)
1. Clothing and dress. 2. Fashion. I. Moloney, Kate. II. Title.

TT507.G86 2007
646.34dc22
2007003860

Copyright 2007 Tim Gunn and Kate Moloney

Illustrations by Lain Roundy
Designer: Becky Terhune
Editors: Tamar Brazis and Susan Van Metre

Published in 2007 by Abrams Image, an imprint of
Harry N. Abrams, Inc. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may
be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by
any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without written permission from the publisher.

Abrams Image books are available at special discounts when purchased in
quantity for premiums and promotions as well as fundraising or educational use.
Special editions can also be created to specification.
For details, contact specialmarkets@hnabooks.com or the address below.

www.hnabooks.com

We dedicate this book to all those who aspire to quality,
taste, and style, and to those who have achieved it!
T.G. and K.M.

Chapter One
WHO YOU ARE

Chapter Two
THE FIT CONUNDRUM

Chapter Three
DIAGNOSING THE COMMON CLOSET

Chapter Four
THE FASHION MENTOR: BEYOND AUDREY

Chapter Five
SHOULDERS BACK:
STYLE FROM THE INSIDE OUT

Chapter Six
PREPARING TO SHOP

Chapter Seven
LETS GO: SHOPPING AT LAST!

Chapter Eight
ACCESSORIES: SAY NO TO THE IT BAG

Chapter Nine
NOT YOUR EVERYDAY OCCASION

Chapter Ten
APPENDICES

Tim Gunn

A GUIDE TO
QUALITY, TASTE & STYLE

The Lesson: Understanding and acknowledging who you are is the most important key to the content of your wardrobe. If you consider your wardrobe to be a sphinx, then the sphinxs riddle is surely, who are you? Only you possess the answer. Who you are can take us down the longest metaphysical road, so try not to get swept up in too much brooding self-examination and analysis. This doesnt have to be daunting. In fact, we believe this book can make it fun.

Know, first, who you are;
and then adorn yourself accordingly.

Epictetus

Dressed in white slacks and an off-the-shoulder sweater, Diane von Furstenberg uses an asparagus spear to tidy the couscous left on her lunch plate. Were sitting amidst Moroccan serving platters of marinated chicken and green salad at the gorgeous and exotic dining table in her enormous loft in the far West Village. She looks up at me and declares, Tim, you must never lose your voice as an educator. That was her response when I first told her about this book, and it has resonated in me during each and every day of writing. Diane is a dear friend and colleague, and a huge supporter of design education. She is a wise counsel, an oracle, and I adore her for her always frank conversations and occasional outbursts of tough love.

This book is not intended to be an oracle, but it is intended to offer wise counsel and, I hope, inspiration. The centerpiece of the book is you, the reader. I ask that you rid yourself of boundaries and barriers in order to truthfully examine who you are and what your lifestyle is like with the same directness and tough love that Diane von Furstenberg extended to me. This book doesnt want to change you. You are who you are for a reason. I want the content of this book to enhance you, accentuating your positive aspects and mitigating your negative ones.

Unlike the designers I work with on television and my students at Parsons, you and I are not face to face. So dont harbor any concerns that Im going to stare you down with shock or incredulity. Ill let you do that! The goal of this book is to provide you with the tools for an honest self-analysis. I want you to have an epiphany; that is, a moment when reading or reflecting that causes you to emit, Eureka! I get it! After your self-awareness is honed, then any actions in response to your epiphany are owned by you.

Quality, Taste, and Style, is my operative tenet for most of what I do. Its another way of saying, The Best. I aim to achieve that in everything from my work at Parsons to my critiques of the designers on television to fixing a meal or cleaning my apartment. Why take on an endeavor if youre not committed to doing your best? I hope to inspire you to better understand your own standards for quality, taste, and style, as defined by you.

None of this is easy. It requires commitment and discipline. While writing, I was constantly examining myself and took both pain and pleasure when putting to practice my own advice. Just this morning, I found myself presented with a clothing dilemma. In preparation for a ten-day trip, I had several suits and many shirts at the dry cleaner that wouldnt be ready for another day. A heavy wool suit loomed at me, but it was inappropriate for this unseasonably warm late-October day. My black suits struck me as being too dressy for those with whom I would engage, so separatespants, sportcoatsseemed to be the answer. It struck me that a closet isnt a clothing store. Its a collection of items that reside there for the purpose of being chosenor not. So why is it that I so frequently ponder and search, but come up empty, declaring, Ill need to shop for X so that this dilemma can be reconciled? Thats the wrong approach. The correct approach is to make it work! I merely need to take my own medicine!