I Met Tim Gunn!

Sorry, readers. Sew-Along posts will have to wait until tomorrow. Because I. Met. Tim. GUNN! Prepare yourselves for a post with an abundance of exclamation points.

Oh, where to begin? First, I must tell you that it was a work event. I so happen to be employed by the company that published Tim's latest (fabulous) book Gunn's Golden Rules. I about died when I found out we'd have an in-house book signing! It was limited attendance, so you know I was one of the first to get on line. (Work? What work? Tim Gunn is here!) I established myself as the dorkiest fan when I brought my Tim Gunn American Library Association poster for him to sign.

We were all waiting outside of the conference room where he was to be signing. And then down the hall comes Mr. Gunn himself! He was so charming, saying hello to everyone and thanking us for waiting.  And, as you probably guessed, he was impeccably dressed. And his shoes were very shiny.

Now for the best part. When it was my turn to meet him, I introduced myself and then he complimented my dress! And actually asked "Who are you wearing?"(!!!) Well, readers, I about died of happiness and replied, "I made it!" Tim seemed quite impressed by that, requested that I spin for him, and then asked if I designed it myself (I had!). Readers, I couldn't believe what he said next: he declared that I was "very talented." He continued regarding my dress, with that fist-to-chin pose that he does so well, and then said, "Goodness! I'm examining you like you're some sort of object." I assured him that it was an honor to be objectified by him.

Then I unfurled my poster for him to sign, which seemed to amuse him, though he looks rather serious in the photo below.

We had our picture taken, and that was that! My brush with the great Mr. Gunn.

What a thrill to meet someone so widely beloved—and to discover that he's just as charming (perhaps more so) in person than on TV.

In closing, a few more exclamation points: !!!!!

Great Tips for Fabulous Posture

When I wrote about my concerns about my posture last week, you all responded with a wealth of brilliant knowledge and insight. You'll be pleased to hear that I've already taken action towards improving my carriage (for the sake of both health and vanity, I must admit): I've committed to weekly pilates and yoga classes and am striving to be more mindful of my posture throughout the day. In honor of these positive life changes, thought I'd do a little round-up of the tips I've found to be the most helpful in my current state.

1. Master the "bistro pelvis." This is from the excellent chapter on posture in Tim Gunn's A Guide to Quality, Taste, and Style. Mr. Gunn, likewise, takes his knowledge from a 1934 guide called Your Carriage, Madam! The author instructed her readers to hold their bodies as though one is walking sideways between tables in a crowded bistro. This means tilting your pelvis slightly forward; or "scooping" your navel to your spine, as it is known in pilates. This tip has been invaluable to me. I didn't realize how strong my tendency is to tilt my pelvis forward, resulting in lower back pain and a rather unsightly bulged tummy, it must be said.
2. Shoulders down, not back! (Many thanks to commenter Pammie who brought this tip to my attention.) This is another bit of wisdom from my beloved Tim Gunn. He says that people often think of good posture as throwing one's shoulders back. Well, try this for yourself right now and you'll see it doesn't really work. At least for me, it forces me to arch my back, contributing to the forward-tilted pelvis mentioned above. Instead, focus on keeping your shoulders down, away from your ears. 
3. Imagine a pole going up through your skull. Hmm, that actually sounds rather grisly, doesn't it? Just imagine you have a metal pole going up through your spine and up through the top of your head, like a skeleton in a science lab. Now try to keep the pole straight at all times. This will cause you to lengthen the back of your neck, rather than scrunching it or straining it. Another helpful bit of imagery here is to imagine yourself as a marionette with a string through your head that you must keep taut and pulled straight at all times.
4. Beware the dreaded pigeon toe. Commenter Michael is an Alexander Technique teacher and linked to his post on women, fashion, and the pigeon-toed look. He described seeing women sitting on the subway with their toes pointed decidedly inward, creating poor alignment. And don't you know it? I do this too! I think I do it reflexively on the train as a way to keep my knees knocked together while I'm wearing a skirt. But regardless of reason, it's a bad habit and one I'm striving to break. 

So those are the tips I'm loving right now, readers. As an aside, I bought the Tim Gunn book as a result of commenters' recommendations and am totally digging it. Mr. Gunn is a personal hero of mine, but I never thought to buy this book because I mistakenly thought it was just another fashion guide that was going to tell me to buy a classic trench and get a bra-fitting and all of that other hackneyed advice. There is a list of the top ten wardrobe necessities, but it's much, much more than that. The chapter on posture is invaluable, and his section on culling one's closet to speak to one's soul inspired me to clean out my own. (Closet, not soul. But that's next.)

Best yet, Tim's trademark wit is on every page. In true erudite Gunn fashion, he summons the philosopher Kierkegaard to dispense style knowledge. You see, fashion is all about finding the authentic self and Kierkegaard "counsels that the unmediated choice is the only choice one will never regret. This means no agonizing over whether or not to keep the jumpsuit. If you have to ask, the answer is: throw it away."

Oh, Tim! You're a national treasure.

"If I were a diva, my name would be Ferocia Coutura."

Are you a Project Runway fan? Would you like a Friday afternoon laugh? Then run, don't walk, to Wikiquote's Project Runway page. It's a collection of quotes from the first four seasons (no season five or six yet, unfortunately) that will have you spraying Diet Coke out of your nose onto your keyboard.

Here are a few choice items, in no particular order.

• Daniel Franco: My name is Daniel Franco and I wish you all bliss.

• Santino: If Van Gogh had had my personality, he wouldn't have had to cut off his ear.

• Heidi: When I saw her coming down the runway, I thought 'How pretty are you!' I just want everything to be pretty pretty pretty!

• Tim: Andrae . . . look at all this flotsam and jetsam!

• Elisa: I'm coming to your planet, but with gifts.

• Robert: (about his recyling materials dress) I'm really thrilled, because it looks like a cocktail dress . . . albeit a cheap, tacky cocktail dress that a hooker might wear, but nonetheless it still looks like real clothes.

• Tim: It's looking very happy hands at home granny circle. It's hippie dippie.

• Michael Kors: (about Alison's model) She looks like a paper brioche.

Okay, I've got to stop this or I'll be here all day. Now, get over to the Project Runway Wikiquote and enjoy!

My One Project Runway Peeve (Okay, Two)

I love Project Runway as much as the next gal who sews. I have a Tim Gunn bobblehead next to my sewing machine. And my most prized office decoration is this Tim Gunn "Read" poster issued by the American Library Association. (He looks down on me and gives me peptalks throughout my work day.) So of course I was psyched for the long-awaited return of the show tonight, even if it had to move from Bravo to the less hip Lifetime network.

I thoroughly enjoyed the show tonight, but I realized that going into my sixth season of watching Project Runway, there is one thing I just can't stand anymore.

Have you noticed that at each runway show, there's a voice over from the designer as their creation is modeled that always goes something like this:

Oh my God, when my dress walked down the runway, I just couldn't believe it.

Or:

I almost cried when my dress walked down the runway; it was soooo amazing.

People. DRESSES DO NOT WALK. PEOPLE WALK. I mean really, would it kill you to say "When I saw the model in my dress, etc." or even better you could use the model's name! Yes, models have names! Gracious.

And the other thing I would like to complain about is that there is such a disdain for home sewing on this show. From my beloved Tim Gunn, no less. In the All-Star Challenge tonight, he dismissed something as "matronly" and "a little home sewing, if you know what I mean." And Sweet P's cheeky flowerpot dress was derided by one of the judges as looking "a little bit homemade."

I get what they're trying to say, course. There's a different connotation between handmade and homemade. But what I don't understand is why these designers think they're doing something so rarefied, so separated from the fashion sewing that people do at home, like it's an entirely different skill set.

But perhaps I'm being a little sensitive.

What do you all think? Are you bothered by any of this?