Tim Gunn Quotations

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

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.

I'm honest about expressing my opinions. At the same time, I'm diplomatic in how I do critique things if I have a negative response.

Take the high road. No matter how much strife, and consternation, frustration and anger you might be confronted with - don't go to that level.

Life is not a solo act. It's a huge collaboration, and we all need to assemble around us the people who care about us and support us in times of strife.

I found early on in teaching, if you're too blunt an instrument, the students discredit you and think you're just being mean. They're not interested in what you have to say.

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

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

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.

I wouldn't know what to do on a date. I don't have the time. To make a relationship work, I'd have to give something up, and I'm not so sure I'm willing to do that.

I always say I have a Socratic approach to most things that I do. I pummel people with questions, because I need to know what they're thinking, what they're trying to achieve, what they believe the final outcome is going to be.

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.

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

Part of what was in the ether all around me growing up, until I was between 19 and 20, was a terrible, debilitating stutter. It was part of what made me very reclusive as a kid.

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

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

But if I had to choose a single destination where I'd be held captive for the rest of my time in New York, I'd choose the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

I'm one of the biggest introverts you could ever meet.

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

I haven't had a date in 26 years.

I learned early on in teaching how easy it is to hurt a young person and that's never my intention.

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

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

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.

I just don't like conspicuous consumption. I find it distasteful.

I love HGTV. I love the Food Network.

On my first day teaching my own classroom, I threw up before I entered the building.

People put on certain clothes for certain reasons, I assume, when their closet is filled with clothes.

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.

If you told me when I was a teen that I would end up being a teacher, I would have said you're out of your mind, because quite frankly I hated school.

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

I have a couple of thousand books in my personal library. Choosing a favorite is next to impossible. But I do love the written word.

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

The fit of jeans can be worlds apart from brand to brand. If you can find the right fit, skinny jeans can be very flattering.

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.

I hate crocs. May they please go away.

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.

I have one brand I go to, and it's Suit Supply, and it's fantastic. I was spending $3,500-$4000 on a suit, and the suit I'm wearing today was $500. And they last you forever. The shoulders are set in by hand, it's phenomenal.

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

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.

I believe women do the best womenswear.

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.

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!

Models come in all sizes and shapes.

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!

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.

People believe that if you're concerned about the clothes you're wearing and the larger aspects of your appearance, that it's anti-intellectual. I say "Hogwash!" The clothes we wear send a message about how the world perceives us.

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?

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.

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

I'm constantly reminding myself that the world owes us nothing. We have to make our way and we have to work hard, persevere and make our own way in the world because the world isn't waiting for us, so let's let the world know we are here.

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

If you are going to be catty, you have to be careful with whom you do it, and in what manner! It's the kind of behavior that is best kept behind closed doors.

People come up to me and share very personal and intimate things with me, and I am so touched by all the trust they have in me.

My role as the chair of the fashion department at Parsons put me face to face with all the big designers, retailers, and editors. Since I was moving in these new circles regularly, I realized I needed to do something about my own personal style. It was really Diane von Furstenberg who gave me the nudge.

If I think about most of America, and maybe I'm terribly wrong...but I think most of America would say that they're not in favor of gay marriage. But there is certainly a large cohort, not a majority but a large number of people, who are articulate and vocal and they'd rally behind this. They're making their opinion known.

What's interesting about textiles is that they are determined about three seasons in advance, that's why when you walk into a store you think "Gee, everything looks about the same."

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.

I'm constantly correcting young people and fashion students in this nation when they say "Well, I do couture." By definition, you don't. You have to be licensed by the government of France to do couture. So don't use that term. You can say that you do one-of-a-kind, you can say it's custom, but you can't say it's couture - because it's inaccurate.

I was a teacher and an administrator at Parson's School of Design, and as an administrator, I was associate dean. And in that role, I went around fixing things that were broken. And the Parson's fashion program was broken.So fashion chose me. It needed to be developed and evolve. I don't know if it comes naturally to anyone.

I believe that it's very important to get to know people with whom you can have a substantive dialogue about design and its development. In addition, read everything about fashion that you can get your hands on. A palpable point of view is what makes a designer, so you need to be confident about yours.

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

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.

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.

And I'm the first one to tell people to break the rules. But you can only break the rules once you know what the rules are. The other thing is, fashion is the last design discipline to actually have academic texts and historical analysis.

From my own experience, there are so many people who believe that the individual can change. The individual doesn't have to be LGBT.

I don't believe in the scraping of stuff. Take the existing condition, offer up a diagnosis for what's wrong, and a prescription for making it work.

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

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.

Staples are only good if they truly suit our lifestyle.

All the magazines contradict each other because it is so diverse. Know what you like, know what looks good on you and keep doing it, no reason to chase trends.

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.

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.

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!"

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

When it comes to my vocabulary, I felt a responsibility when I was teaching to raise the bar of conversation in my classroom. And with my own students, I refused to let them use the phrase "I like" or "I don't like" when we were engaged in a critique.

I love Modern Family but it's among a handful of favorite shows.

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

I am a stickler for good manners, and I believe that treating other people well is a lost art. In the workplace, at the dinner table, and walking down the street--we are confronted with choices on how to treat people nearly every waking moment. Over time these choices define who we are and whether we have a lot of friends and allies or none.

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

You have no control over other people's taste, so focus on staying true to your own.

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

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

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

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.

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.

And Brooke Elliott is a great actress.

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.

I've never told anyone this, in an effort to run from my past and disguise it, I got rid of all of the scrapbooks my mother kept going back to when I was a baby. Truly. So that's why whenever talk show hosts or a producer asks for these pictures, there are barely any. My sister had a few, but that's it, and this was before digital. I've never told anyone that, but that's the truth.

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

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.

A couple of things for the not-so-diminutive man: avoid any prints that are large scale, because you will look like the print is wearing you, as opposed to you wearing the print.

I just think the Kardashians have an absence of taste and I don’t think that that should be perpetuated. I’m sorry I’m sounding like an old farty, snob, but it bothers me.

I say long and lean as opposed to tall, because you could be 5 four and look long and lean.

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.