Best 160 quotes of Tim Gunn on MyQuotes

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

Remember, channel your inner winner.

So perhaps the real secret to style is filling yourself to the absolute brim with engagement. Loving not wisely, but too well and all that.

Staples are only good if they truly suit our lifestyle.

Success needs to be measured according to the ambitions and the resources of each designer. And many aren't interested in being a megabrand.

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.

The clothes we wear send a message about how the world perceives us.

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.

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.

The fashion industry at large has been the worst public relations vehicle for larger women and petite women, they are both maligned and neglected. And I honestly do believe it's getting better.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Things are recalibrated according to new perspectives and perceptions. It's fascinating to me.

Trying and acheiving are two different things.

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

We need to treat each other with consideration. In my world, the squeaky wheel does not get the grease.

We shop out of boredom, for release, for excitement, for a sense of achievement, for a sense of control over our unruly existences. And every so often, we shop because we need something to wear.

What's important to a fashion designer? It's much more than learning how to make clothes. In fact, that merely makes you a dressmaker. It doesn't make you into a fashion designer.

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.

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!

When I'm working in the real world with real women and we're shopping, we find that fashion seems to end when you get any larger than a size 12. How ridiculous is that?

When it comes to dressing, comfort is overrated. A little discomfort probably means your clothes fit and they're not pajamas.

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.

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.

Whether it's fashion or it's home, it's all about style. The clothes we wear send a message about how we are perceived, and our home does the same thing.

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.

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

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

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

A T-shirt is a T-shirt. Spending hundreds of dollars on it doesn't elevate it. He was under-dressed, even if his casual outfit did cost more than my suit and tie. I once had another fashion victim tell me, 'This T-shirt cost twelve thousand dollars!' What difference does that make? If that's the message you want to send about yourself and your fashion sense, you should wear the price tag, or that should be the message on your T-shirt: 'Hi. This T-shirt costs more than a semester of college.' Or: 'Hi. I have money to burn. Please help me get rid of all this wealth.' And my shirt, in turn, would say, 'Great. Please write a $12,000 check to charity.

Entertaining shouldn’t be about showing off. It’s all about making people feel comfortable and setting a stage for everyone to have a good time, make new friends, and have stimulating conversations. You want to leave a party thinking: If I hadn’t gone to that, I never would have met this wonderful person, or had that delicious meal, or felt that sense of camaraderie with the people I met at the dessert table. You don’t want anyone looking at the clock, thinking, When can I leave?

Honestly—and maybe some of you can relate to this—I just can’t stand the pressure of being responsible for hosting a memorable (and not in a bad way) evening. Martha Stewart, bless her heart, intimidates me. That level of entertaining is so over my head: What do you mean, you didn’t dig up your own potatoes for this dish? You didn’t make the doilies? The plates didn’t just come out of a kiln? I love Martha, but it gets ridiculous.

I also have no problem if you want to find a cave and have someone roll a boulder in front of it.

I am especially concerned that American fashion not be forgotten. Once, I met the head of a hot design school in the Netherlands, and she expressed nothing but contempt for American design – an attitude I find very offensive when espoused by Europeans and downright tragic when held by Americans. When I look through ‘Project Runway’ applications, I am always struck by how few American designers are cited in their influences section. Invariably, the only designers they name are Alexander McQueen, Christian Dior, and Coco Chanel – often misspelled ‘Channel.’ You only rarely see American designers listed. If you do, it’s usually Donna Karan. (I don’t understand why people don’t write Michael Kors – even just in their own political self-interest.

I can't imagine a more aesthetically offensive item of footwear than Crocs. That little strap! I shudder. ...I know Crocs are affordable. Well, so are Converse and lots of other brands that don't look like hooves.

I don’t believe in texting while dining, sending one-word e-mails in lieu of formal thank-you cards, wearing shorts to the theater, or settling for any of the modern trends that favor comfort over politeness, ease over style. Manners are simply about asking yourself, What’s the right thing to do?

I don’t particularly like entertaining. I know I should, but I just don’t.

I love cooking. I cook for myself every day. I like the ceremony of it. It takes me into a different zone. I make a lot of pasta. But cooking for a crowd of five or ten or, heaven forbid, twenty? No, thank you. I don’t like feeling like a slave to the care and feeding of my guests.

I love the word 'fashion.' That's why I'm using it in the title of this book. Fashion is about change and about creating clothes within a historical context. To me, dismissing fashion as silly or unimportant seems like a denial of history and frequently a show of sexism—as if something that's traditionally a concern of women isn't valid as a field of academic inquiry. When the Parsons fashion department was founded in 1906, it was called 'costume design,' because fashion was then a verb: to fashion. But the word 'fashion' has evolved to mean something much more profound, and those who resist it seem to me to be on the wrong side of history.

In 1916, Infants' and Children's Wear Review insisted upon pink for boys and blue for girls. In 1939, Parents magazine claimed that pink was a good color for boys because it was a pale version of red, which was the color of Mars, the war god. Blue was good for girls because it was the color of Venus, and of the Virgin Mary. So, pink for girls is a relatively recent trend, and utterly random.

In my typical way, I declined to respond, saying that I didn't want anyone to run to a store just because I endorsed a trend. Besides, a trend is good only if it works for you, your wardrobe, and your lifestyle.