Tim Gunn Just Can't Keep His Big Gay Mouth Shut

...and that's why we love him.

TVSquad has a report from Tim's appearance at the Baltimore Book Festival and apparently, the audience got quite an earful:

"As for the new stuff, Gunn assured the audience that the fourth cycle will be the best season yet. But then he added, "If I'm correct, I think you're going to get angry every time you see the show. You're going to get angry at the judges because... I don't know what they were smoking this season." He shared the story of one upcoming challenge without divulging too much detail: "There was one case in particular where I said to the producers [...] 'It's really too bad that so-and-so's design is so terrible, because the audience will know right away. The minute they see this, they're going to know that he's going home. And I'm just sorry that something else isn't almost as bad, almost as challenged. Everything else looks really good!... He wins the challenge. He wins! It's inconceivable. So I went backstage to tell the designer who was out that he or she had to go home, and I turned to him and I said, 'And you know, I'm stunned and shocked that you won this challenge' and he said, 'Well, no one's more surprised than I am.'"

Yow!

(Photo: Courtesy of Bravotv)

Tim Gunn, Late Bloomer

Washington's Metro Weekly has an interview up with Tim wherein he discusses (among other things) homophobia, when he got his cherry popped, and gay men vs. straight men.

"MW: Was homophobia expressed in your home?

GUNN: My father was so homophobic that later I thought maybe he was a closet case.

MW: When did the pink light bulb switch on for you?

GUNN: Late. I was in denial for a while -- kept pushing it to the back of my consciousness. I was 22 when I had my first experience. It was the early '70s.

MW: In addition to Runway, you now have your own Bravo series, Tim Gunn's Guide to Style. How did you feel about taking center stage?

GUNN: Terrified, to be honest. You feel really exposed. I felt during the taping of Guide to Style that we were achieving our goals, but I wasn't at all confident that the viewer would have the patience for it, because it's kind of a tedious journey. Are they going to be interested in the underwear drawer? Are they going to be interested in how we shop? Will the viewer watch and come back? So I was living with a lot of concerns about that.

MW: Is there a perceptible difference between the styles of gay and straight men, or is that just myth?

GUNN: Just generally speaking, I think there is a larger percentage of gay men who really care about how they present themselves, who take care in how they present themselves to the world, than straight men. I was just on a TV show in Chicago and the question was put to me, ''Do women care more about how they present themselves than men?'' And I said, ''Well, women, generally speaking, have more experience with this -- they've been brought up this way.'' Yet, there are only two genders on this planet and shouldn't both be concerned with presentation to the world? It's certainly true with other species.

But I think there is a style gene in gay men's DNA that's pretty profound -- and it benefits itself in architecture and product design and graphic design and in all of the areas of art and design."

Tim will be in Washington this weekend to accept "the OUTstanding Individual Lifetime Achievement Award from OUT for Work, an LGBT college student career conference taking place at the Washington Plaza Hotel from Sept. 29 to 30. Gunn is being given the award, says OUT for Work Executive Director Riley Folds, for his 'contributions as an out and open professional in the workplace.' "

Tim Gunn's Guide to Style Episode 4

Blah blah blah...annoying child woman... aged her ten years ... humorless approach to fashion... restrictive sense of style...underwear drawer... we've already said it all.

Besides...

...who could concentrate on the show when Veronica looked like that?


Seriously, what the hell?


Why would anyone take fashion advice from this woman?


And does anyone else get the impression that Tim's pretending not to notice?

(Photos: Courtesy of Bravotv.com)

Tim Gunn's Guide to Style - Episode 3: Short, Sweet & Opinionated

They made a frumpy (but cute) 29-year old...


... look like a stylish 39-year-old. Somehow, that seems a little counterproductive.


How the hell do you iron a bra, anyway?


"We don't know what the hell we're doing!"


Laura: Fabulous as always.


We couldn't get a shot of the dress she made for her but wasn't it fabulous? Look for it on QVC soon!


"I know honey. They made me do this stupid vest thing. I want to cry too. Wait till you see what I have to wear to the Emmys."


Hot, prissy, man-on-man action.


Veronica, you have no right being a makeover show hostess and looking like that. The hair, makeup and outfit all look like a "before" picture.

Watch an outtake of Episode 3 here >>

(Photos: Courtesy of BravoTV.com)

Tim Gunn's commercial for Macy's

Project Runway at the 2007 Emmy Awards

Frigging Amazing Race. Give us a break. Well, they didn't win, but we have pics!


Heidi in vintage Dior. She wears red on the red carpet way too often. Granted, she looks good in the color, but then again, she looks good in almost any color. Mix it up, girl.

EDIT: We can swear we heard Heidi herself refer to it as "Vintage Dior" when asked, but it's being referred to as simply "Dior" or "Dior by Galliano" in the press today.

And her hair looks like shit.


Heidi is wearing diamond jewelry from her own collection.


Debra Messing wearing Ralph Lauren. Lorenzo hates this dress and thinks she looks like a wedding cake. Tom likes it for its graphic simplicity.


Laura in a dress of her own design, with Tim. Her hair and makeup look great.







Now, before we get into it, let's explain something. Laura was there doing red carpet reporting as part of her gig for MSN's Style Studio and designed a dress with the Style Studio tagline "Dress like you mean it."

She sent us pics of the dress a couple days ago and asked for our honest opinion, which we gave her and which we are now giving to you. We don't love this dress. Conceptually, we like it. She called it her "Carolina Herrera meets Stephen Sprouse" design and from that perspective, it kindasorta works, but we're just not fans of messages on clothing. We'll have more on the dress later when we get more pics and after we talk to Laura. We texted her right after Amazing Race won and she texted us right back from the Emmys, pissed.

(Photos: WireImage/ProjectRungay.com)

Oh for God's sake, will you people LIGHTEN UP?

Jesus Christ, was that a makeover show or a hostage situation? Could this show be any more devoid of lightness and humor of any kind? One word kept repeating itself in our heads last night over and over as we watched this thing: dreary. We've resigned ourselves to the tear-filled endings on these things, but where's the sense of fun? This show feels like a physics lecture. In the immortal words of the Duchess, "Lighten up, it's just fashion!"

Plus, it looks like we really are going to have to sit through this ridiculously complicated "process" every single week. We realize that they have to do something to differentiate themselves from the other makeover shows out there, but we sat there last night yelling "JUST TAKE HER SHOPPING! THIS NECKLINE! THIS HEMLINE! THIS SLEEVE! BOOM! YOU'RE DONE!" at the TV.

Now let's talk panties for a second. While we think it's good that the show is driving home the point that a good wardrobe starts with good foundation garments, we think that whole "going through your underwear drawer" is unnecessarily humiliating for the client and we didn't blame her one bit for her meltdown. We asked a gal pal if she'd let Tim Gunn rifle through her underwear drawer on national television. Her response: "Hell, no! That's where I keep my vibrator! On the other hand, if it means I get a Catharine Malandrino dress, I might." Producers, we beg you, lose this segment. By all means, take her to a "bra specialist" (a job title right up there with "lactation consultant" for sheer ridiculosity), but don't make these poor women hold their granny panties up to the camera.

On another side note: Did every skinny gay Black man in America become a "runway expert?"

Speaking of skinny and gay, it was fun seeing Rene again but we were disappointed there were no ass shots.

Veronica's hair and makeup are still too severe. She looks like a prison matron - and for a makeover show host, her wardrobe ain't all that great, either. She and Tim still have almost no chemistry with each other. She doesn't seem to know what to say half the time and Tim desperately needs someone to loosen him up because the "prissy Professor" persona is not helping things. Bravo posted some outtakes from the show and it's a little distressing because they clearly show a Tim and Veronica that we're not seeing: relaxed, loose, and funny. Why was this stuff edited out? Take a look:

Click here to continue>>

Once again, we have OPINIONS.

The T Lo verdict: Better than we thought it would be; not nearly as good as it could be.

Before we start, we have a very special personal message going out to Veronica Webb. Girl, what the hell is UP with your hair and makeup? You best be handing out the slaps this morning to whomever is responsible. The hair was way too severe and the makeup was Kabuki-level. You are GORGEOUS. It takes some real work to make you look as bad as you did last night. Take a tip from Naomi and beat someone with your cell phone over this.

Now.

Aren't we all just a little relieved that it's not a What Not To Wear ripoff? Oh sure, the basic template is there, but props need to be handed out for configuring the show in such a way as to not immediately make one think of Stacey and Clinton. First off, neither Tim nor Veronica are as bitchy as those two, but more importantly, there seems to have been much more of a concerted effort to make this a more educational experience for the client and the viewer.

Of course, the educational aspect may have been just a bit overdone. Those full-body shots of Tim standing in front of way-too-busy graphics prissily lecturing to us about style do NOT play to his strengths. Tim is wonderful and warm in one-on-one situations and the show needs more of them and less of Professor Gunn. As we said, it's good that the show has an educational tone to it, but a weekly lecture is not going to keep the audience coming back.

Veronica on the other hand...kind of a disappointment. She came across surprisingly stiff and cold on camera. Surprising (to us anyway) because she has quite a bit of on-camera experience and she's always come across as funny, smart and articulate. It felt like she was "over-directed" last night. She and Tim need to find their footing and learn to play off each other better.

As for the format, it could also use a little tweaking. There's an awful lot going on in this process and if we have to watch the same thing week after week (The Optitex, the underwear fitting, the choosing of an icon, the weeding out of the closet, the shopping, the makeover, etc.) it's going to get old real quick. Also, Jared, the "Lifestylist?" Lose him. Now. We were cringing in our seats last night throughout his painful segment. You made a girl with low self esteem parade around in front of a camera wearing a trash bag? Come kneel in front of me so I don't have to get up to slap you.

One thing that we suppose we HAVE to put up with is the producer-enhanced "emotional" stuff. The engagement ring? Bleh. That was just nausea-inducing. Even moreso because she's all weepy and "Oh, honey!" as he's making his little speech to her about how special she is and we're sitting there thinking "Tim Gunn just took that ring out of the closet 5 minutes ago and handed it to you. What are you doing standing there and soaking up all the adoration for something you were told to do?"

Catherine Malandrino? Fabulous. Put her on every week, we say. Lorenzo was practically in tears at the sight of her. Actually, the designer segment is one of the best ideas out of the whole show. We look forward to seeing who else shows up during the season.

All in all, despite our reservations, it's a promising start and we're looking forward to seeing how the show evolves over time.

Read more>>

Tim Gunn's Guide To Style Set Tour

Bravo has been doling out the Guide to Style goodies like candy! In these 3 videos, St. Tim gives us all a little tour of his set. Enjoy - and don't forget to watch the premiere at 10!

Read more>>

Tim Gunn's Guide To Style Premiere Party

Darlings, we had an opportunity to attend the launch party for Tim's new show at the SoHo Grand last night, but since we're still unpacking (and hanging mirrors and painting trim and debating furniture arrangements and wondering why we have so many baskets and so on) we regretfully had to decline. But fret not, for we had a certain someone on the inside do our dirty work for us and they sent us these pics for your enjoyment.


The man of the hour.


Our spy tells us that Tim spent over an hour talking to the press.


Tim getting his groove on to Natasha Bedingfield.


The Bravo Posse, representing.


Marsha Tonkins, Tim's assistant. She's worked with Tim Gunn for 12 years, following him to Liz Claiborne from Parson's.


Tim with professional starfucker, Michael Musto.


Tim Gunn's biggest fan, CEO of Liz Claiborne, Bill McComb.
Tim: "Bill is a genius and a visionary."


Laura Bennett and Emmett McCarthy give Tim a group hug.


Kara Janx with husband Red and "Bump."


Jeffrey looks good. Our spy tells us that he did NOT throw a drink in Laura's face or get in a hair-pulling match with her, but we'll let you in on any further details as they become available.


You gotta give Project Runway props for one thing: they did manage to find and spotlight some truly unique characters.

(Photos: ProjectRungay)

UPDATE:



The Dish has more Tim Gunn party photos.