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.

The "Help me, Nina!" Winners!

Darlings, can you ever forgive us? We were so swamped with our move that we neglected to announce the winners of the "Help me, Nina!" contest. The truth is, we kept putting it off because we've been so run down, what with the packing and the unpacking and the soothing of shell-shocked cats and we knew that we really had to sit down and focus for the judging that we do so well.

We got a TON of replies and we narrowed them down based on need and/or creativity. We have two runners-up, both falling under the "creativity" banner.

SECOND RUNNER UP is fellow GayBoy, Thom of the utterly divine Fabulon :

"I Need Nina's Little Black Book of Style Because...September 7th is my birthday, and it would be a pleasant change to have something fabulous happen that day instead of the traditional lapsing into a near-suicidal depression that can only be mildy numbed by pills and liquor.

Love,
Thom"

Haha! That Thom! Such a kidder! While it certainly sounds like he has a desperate need there, it was his brevity and directness that won the judges over. Now happy birthday, you old queen and lay off the pills! Look what happened to Judy!

FIRST RUNNER UP just had to be Sewing Siren's entry, which blew all others out of the water for the creativity factor. Clickie to make biggie:


Is that not tres adorable? Are you not all flabbergasted at the talent and style? We were. Unfortunately Siren honey, as good as your entry is, there were two gals out there who expressed a deep NEED for Nina's brand of hard-edged bitchery and we simply couldn't decide on just one of them.

THE WINNERS:

"Boys, I live in the middle of flyover country, where our Macy’s looks like a low-rent JCPenney’s. I have a tiny budget for clothes, and am currently on the job market after staying home with a kid for six years. HELP ME, NINA, HELP ME, PLEASE!

Karla S."

"At 30, I'm still dressing the way I did at 18, which is when grunge was fashion. I can get away with wearing jeans and hiking boots, so I do. I am plotting to leave this two-horse Midwestern town for the bright lights and glamour of… somewhere dressing with style will matter.

Mary Kate"

Ladies, you sound positively desperate! Your books will be on the way just as soon as you email us back with your addresses. Congrats and throw out your shitty clothes immediately!

For our other contestants, we have a lovely parting gift for you:

Bravotv.com is proud to offer you exclusively the first chapter of Nina Garcia's new book The Little Black Book of Style here.

(Photos: Courtesy of Bravotv.com)

All Gunn, All the Time.

St. Tim has been making the press rounds to flog his upcoming Guide To Style show (debuting tomorrow on Bravo), so that means we get to read LOTS of Tim-isms. His latest sitdown with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer was choice with big words and blunt opinions. To wit:

On PR Season 4:
"The pool is the best yet," he said then, and has said since. "We could have cast three seasons from this group, that's how strong it is. ... I'm confident about the level of talent, and the point of view as designers and their level of execution."

On his book:
"Gunn explained the absence of "Project Runway" references in "A Guide to Quality, Taste & Style" thusly. "There were two references to the show in my book," he said. "Very matter-of-fact, in sentences like, 'As I would say to my students at Parsons and the 'Project Runway' designers ... .' Then it was in my bio in the book, and it was on the cover flap. It all had to be removed. "

On his show:
"The Weinstein company went ballistic when they heard about the Tim Gunn show, and they claimed that they owned it. Can you believe that?"

"Gunn's "fashion accomplice" on the show is Veronica Webb, a choice that, three days before production was supposed to commence in May, he was unaware of.

"They have a little bit to work out in terms of onscreen chemistry but, to use his words, they'll make it work. And he loves Webb. "I feel like we're siblings. I feel like I've known her my whole life. In some ways, we can finish each other's sentences. In other ways, we're really, really different, and that's good. We don't' share all the same opinions about things."

On Top Design:
"It was terrible. That whole show was terrible. And the executive producer is my producer, Scott Stone. And I love Scott. He's done a wonderful job. I just can't understand – how did that show get to be so terrible? 'See you later, decorator,' coming out of Jonathan Adler's mouth? I love Jonathan! I never met Todd Oldham, but I have such respect for him. And he was so horrible."

"I couldn't stand Kelly Wearstler (one of the judges). I have to say I like Margaret Russell (editor in chief of Elle Décor magazine, and another judge) a lot, but she looked decidedly uncomfortable in that whole thing. And I love Jonathan Adler personally, but he began to grate on me, too!"

Read the entire article here.

(Photo: Sylvain Gaboury/FilmMagic.com)

Musical Monday: The King and I

HA! You didn't think we could do it, did you? Well, it's still Monday (even if you're probably not going to read this until Tuesday at the earliest), which means that come hell, high water, or shitty wireless internet connection because our DSL line STILL isn't hooked up, there WILL BE a Musical Monday, goddammit!

SIAM - or a not-particularly-reasonable facsimile thereof!

And here is Anna and her son...whose name escapes us. They are pale, British, and in need of a good enema from the looks of them. Anna is a widow and figures that the best way to deal with her grief is to run off to faraway lands, dragging her poor limp-wristed son behind her, in a desperate attempt to find some meaning to it all. Also, to accept a job teaching the King's children.

Meanwhile, Rita Moreno is being brought in on a tray for King Yul Brynner. She is Tiptum or Tuptim or Tic-Tac or something like that. We could look it up, but it'll be more fun if we just wing it with the names. Anyway, she's been given to Yul as a gift from the King of Burma, but her heart belongs to Loompa (or something like that).

The Prime Minister doesn't like Anna and so he thrusts his nipples at her to disconcert her.

Anna introduces herself to the King and he laughs at her ridiculous clothing. She's not feeling the love and wonders if she shouldn't high-tail it back to that ship and see if they're looking for prissy English schoolmarms in Malaysia.

But once she realizes that Yul has about a hundred children and that she could treat them all like slaves, the job starts looking a lot more appealing all of a sudden.

Later, she finds the King's harem stealing her luggage.

She stamps her feet and threatens them with whippings, but the wives only laugh at this silly, pale thing in their midst.

Anna decides to shock them all by showing her ladyparts. When the wives remain unimpressed, she farts at them.

Tip-toe pleads with Anna to help her reunite with Lump-Thing. Anna smiles and tells her that she can't understand a word she's saying with her thick accent.

She arranges the wives like dolls and forces them all to compliment her while she sings.

Back in the throne room, the King has just completed his 8-Minute Abs tape and desperately wants someone to notice.

He comes across his son and heir, Changalottacorn or something like that. He's a "special" boy who sometimes likes to pretend that he is a supemodel or cabaret singer or showgirl.

Later, Anna does something condescending and imperialistic again.

The King is furious with her and flexes his abs at her. She snorts at him and claims she's seen better.

The Prime Minister shrieks at her for not loving the King's abs enough and threatens to scratch her eyes out if she does it again. Then he gives her one snap and sashays out of there.

That night, a couple of trick-or-treaters show up at her door. She sends them away because their costumes are ridiculous and besides, they don't have Halloween in Siam.

Lunktha and Tum-Tum meet secretly and sing instead of fucking their brains out.

The next day, the King refers to Anna as his servant and bitch HITS. THE. ROOF.

That night, she makes a sudden realization: this isn't her hair.

Then, the King forces her into a sex ritual, which she pretends to protest, but no one believes her.

For fun, she dresses the King's wives up like Nevada whores just before the British Ambassador is set to arrive.

The King is upset at his whorish wives and disguises it by taunting Anna for having such small breasts.

Later, the Ambassador shows up and waves his penis at the ladies.

Okay, serious for a moment. We can't say we exactly love this film. The story is a bit treacly and there aren't any particularly memorable songs outside of "Getting to Know You," but two things worth watching if for are Yul Brynner's wonderful performance and the Siamese ballet of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," which is both beautiful and cute at the same time. We would be the last people able to tell you if the piece is even remotely culturally accurate (it feels more "Siamesey" than true Siamese, if you know what we mean), but it is entertaining and visually stunning. For once, we actually like the ballet sequence in the middle.

After the show, TimTom and Oompaloompa sneak out by pretending to be Mary and Joseph.

Anna is upset that the King doesn't like her breasts, but she's too hot for him to let it get to her.

TipTop is found and dragged before the King. Anna pleads for her life. That guy on the right is ready to blow any second.

The King wants to beat TumTum, but he can't ...get it up (figuratively speaking) with Anna standing there and judging the size of his whip. Anna is disgusted and decides to leave.

While packing her things, she discovers her son, who has been trapped under something the entire time, since we haven't seen him since the beginning of the film. She struggles to remember his name.

Wife Number One pleads with Anna to come and see the King before she leaves because he's dying. Okay, what the fuck. Where the hell did THAT come from.

Prince Chuckalongcorn stares at Anna's breasts, trying desperately to will himself into a heterosexual attraction. No dice.


Anna goes to see the King. He dies. The end.

Seriously, WHAT THE HELL? What just happened there?

Tim Gunn's Guide To Style Episode 1 Preview

Bravo's got the previews up for this weeks VERY FIRST episode of Tim Gunn's Guide to Style!


In this one, Tim and the fabulous Veronica Webb are introduced to their first client, a poor girl from a war-torn country where they don't have department stores and only sell poorly fitted jeans and ugly shirts:


Tim shows her his spiffy new, 21st century, state-of-the-art, visualizing software, Optitex (what we in the 20th century used to quaintly call "a mirror") and informs us that she's "disinclined" to wear dresses and needs to "mitigate" her calves (what we in the 20th century used to call "a bitch who dresses badly"):