Tim Gunn: Your Fabulous Gay Uncle

[PepperMonkey]

I don't really think Tim is ill. I do think he's wearing less make-up because his skin is uber sensitive which for some reason I seem to remember him mentioning in one of his interviews.

 

I think Tim DOES still care about the show because he clearly likes the paycheck and clearly likes the fame. But I do believe he's still suffering from the tongue lashings he took post Under The Gunn. I think that was harder on him than he would want us to believe; yes, yes, I know he brought it on himself, I'm NOT on his side in the whole controversy, but I think it changed him some. I've noticed, IMHO, times when he seems super fake and then other times when he seems super grumpy, but I think it's all just part of his battle with his reputation since UTG.

 

Also, he could be tired, even if he still loves the show. I mean they have changed to where they only do one series a year, unlike too many other reality programs, who are in their 8th year on the air, but their 21st "season." But, maybe he doesn't love the talent they've been getting and maybe he doesn't like the path the show seems to be on, vis a vis JustFab, Sally Beauty FFS, even Mary Kay to a degree, versus Macy's, Saks, L'Oreal, etc. I think Tim can be a little bit of a snob.

Edited October 2, 2015 by PepperMonkey

[Honey]

Tim has psoriasis.

 

 

Psoriasis (say "suh-RY-uh-sus") is a long-term (chronic) skin problem that causes skin cells to grow too quickly, resulting in thick, white, silvery, or red patches of skin.

Normally, skin cells grow gradually and flake off about every 4 weeks. New skin cells grow to replace the outer layers of the skin as they shed.

But in psoriasis camera.gif, new skin cells move rapidly to the surface of the skin in days rather than weeks. They build up and form thick patches called plaques (say "plax"). The patches range in size from small to large. They most often appear on the knees, elbows, scalp, hands, feet, or lower back. Psoriasis is most common in adults. But children and teens can get it too.

 

 

More info here.

 

Also, in 2012 he said he's been celibate for 29 years.  So, now in 2015 that would be 32 years.  That surprised me, I would have thought he would be in a long-term loving relationship.  Or, maybe he is and it's strictly for companionship.

Edited October 3, 2015 by Honey

[magpye29]

The bloom is off the rosacea.

[RCharter]

I don't really think Tim is ill. I do think he's wearing less make-up because his skin is uber sensitive which for some reason I seem to remember him mentioning in one of his interviews.

 

I think Tim DOES still care about the show because he clearly likes the paycheck and clearly likes the fame. But I do believe he's still suffering from the tongue lashings he took post Under The Gunn. I think that was harder on him than he would want us to believe; yes, yes, I know he brought it on himself, I'm NOT on his side in the whole controversy, but I think it changed him some. I've noticed, IMHO, times when he seems super fake and then other times when he seems super grumpy, but I think it's all just part of his battle with his reputation since UTG.

 

Also, he could be tired, even if he still loves the show. I mean they have changed to where they only do one series a year, unlike too many other reality programs, who are in their 8th year on the air, but their 21st "season." But, maybe he doesn't love the talent they've been getting and maybe he doesn't like the path the show seems to be on, vis a vis JustFab, Sally Beauty FFS, even Mary Kay to a degree, versus Macy's, Saks, L'Oreal, etc. I think Tim can be a little bit of a snob.

 

I really think Tim would be best served by taking some time off.  Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and right now I've had too much of him.  I keep trying to forgive and forget after UTG but he seems so joyless and mean spirited now and so its all I can think of.  If he just gave himself a few years I think people would remember him fondly whether they were fans or detractors and he could either re-join PR or start another show.  No matter what, a show about fashion would always benefit from original flavor Tim Gunn.  When he was at his peak there was no other mentor like him on any of the fashion show.  He was absolutely the top of that "field."    I don't know how much longer PR can survive under these conditions.  It seems like such a joke so maybe he needs to pull a MK Houdini act get the last lifeboat off the Titanic.

The bloom is off the rosacea.

this is both corny and hilarious!  good job!

[RCharter]

I wonder if this might have been the interview that got Tim into some trouble with the producers/judges/etc.

 

I realize Gretchen over Mondo was a very controversial decision.  And I think Mondo should have won, but I'm just not sure how this would have come off to everyone else.

 

[Honey]

I had never seen that interview and I love it.  He wasn't trying to kiss ass or be PC at all, just the harsh truth.  We need more of that.

[NewDigs]

I posted about Tim's skin in Tim's thread, but someone reminded me he has psoriasis.

 

I remember in an interview a few years ago, he mentioned the rosacea and psoriasis and how he can hardly wear any make up anymore because of all of that. Also, Tim's over 60 now and as I'm getting closer to that than I wish, I can confirm our skin does weird shite and doesn't play well with creams, lotions and make up, like it once did.

 

Other than skin, he looks fine to me, so I'm assuming and hoping he's okay.

I don't think he has psoriasis. He became an advocate for the psoriasis cause when his sister was diagnosed in 2009.

He has acne-rosacea.

[RCharter]

I had never seen that interview and I love it.  He wasn't trying to kiss ass or be PC at all, just the harsh truth.  We need more of that.

With Season 8, he was dead right.  I only wonder if that didn't maybe cause a rift between Tim and others on the show.

[ratgirlagogo]

 

With Season 8, he was dead right.

As was Heidi.  In fact it was this whole Gretchen vs Mondo thing that made me pro-Heidi for the first time - that she preferred Mondo to Gretchen just like all of us at home.

[azshadowwalker]

I haven't been a fan of Tim since the season 5, when Stella was on. His snobbishness was on full blast with her. I also hated some of the things he said about Hillary Clinton's appearance. I may not like politicians, but who the hell cares what she wears? He wouldn't say the same about a male politician. But Under the Gunn didn't have any affect on my opinions of him. The problem with Nick was that he actually did the work for the contestants. He didn't just advise, he physically did the work. I have never been a fan of Mondo, Nick or Anya, but that show and Tim's interaction with them didn't affect that. Nick's insistence on producing the designs instead of advising the designers irritated me more than anything else on that show. And, no, I didn't think Natasha was "bullied" any more than we've seen designers have been criticized on seasons of Project Runway. I don't like Tim, and I haven't in years, but he's hardly the most evil man on the planet.

[justawatcher]

I picked the show up about 2006, when my son was 10. It was before he had any lightbulb of sexuality in general, much less straight vs. gay. My son would flit in and out while I watched the show and catch snippets and say "Oh, Tim's right about that" and such. And then one day we were out and about and a gay couple walked by and my son turns to me and says "That man sounded just like Tim Gunn" and it was so matter of fact and accepted and my son simply went on about his day.

 

Tim Gunn's presentation influenced how a straight kid viewed gay men and absorbed and accepted. We need more Tim Gunns to set the example.

[backgroundnoise]

Tim has become the opposite of a mentor: a bully and a tattle tale.  Swearing at a designer and humiliating him in front of everyone is not acceptable, IMO.  Neither is gleefully pointing out the obvious flaws in a garment to the judges--"Just LOOK at that!  Here, look at that mess!!" 

 

There are much more mature ways to express disappointment than that.  And stay out of the judging. 

[Julia]

Well, it's nice for Tim that he's finally become a man his father would have been proud of.

[RealityCreator]

Vanity Fair may be blowing smoke up Tim's ass, but to this long-term viewer, I thought he made himself look terrible.  His treatment of Swapnil was so uncalled for.  They have had designers on this show who were verbally abusive to other designers and to their clients, and Tim didn't blow up at those designers like this.  He saves his gutter mouth for Swapnil - because he's "lazy?"  Nice priorities there, Mr. Gunn.

 

I did not watch Under the Gunn, but now I have a taste of what people were talking about wrt that show.  Ugh.

[Julia]

Vanity Fair may be blowing smoke up Tim's ass, but to this long-term viewer, I thought he made himself look terrible.  His treatment of Swapnil was so uncalled for.  They have had designers on this show who were verbally abusive to other designers and to their clients, and Tim didn't blow up at those designers like this.  He saves his gutter mouth for Swapnil - because he's "lazy?"  Nice priorities there, Mr. Gunn.

I noticed that he wasn't the slightest bit perturbed when that psycho Helen and her mean girls went after Alexandria in the reunion. The fatuous smile never left his face.

[Julia]

[moved from episode thread]

Wow. That would be a story, wouldn't it. Tim's acerbic vitriol certainly would make a bit more sense if he made advances on Swapnil and was rebuffed. Now my mind is spinning with possibilities. I want to know what really went down behind the scenes, because I'm not buying this whole lazy smoking angle production has been trying to force down our throats for the past couple of weeks.

 

It just seems really improbable to me. I feel pretty certain that he never made a move on Natasha, and he behaved the same way toward her, and used the same lame, vague excuses afterwards about how overpoweringly annoying she was. I think Tim just gets brainstorms about people and then gets offended when his preferences don't work out on the show.

[PepperMonkey]

Tim makes me sad. And I think if PR does continue - and I look for them to try to have at least a 15th season, cause that's kind of a landmark, if you will - I would be happy if Tim would just be a producer and not be onscreen anymore. It's time for a new mentor. Who it would be, I have no idea or suggestion.

 

But every season, my tiny remaining Tim love erodes just a little bit more. UTG was only a small part of it for me. He's been tending toward dickish, IMHO, for several seasons on original recipe PR.

 

And is he going to be involved in PR Junior as well? I was going to watch because I like Christian, but I may have to stay away if Tim is mentoring. Makes me sad to even type that.

[RCharter]

Vanity Fair may be blowing smoke up Tim's ass, but to this long-term viewer, I thought he made himself look terrible.  His treatment of Swapnil was so uncalled for.  They have had designers on this show who were verbally abusive to other designers and to their clients, and Tim didn't blow up at those designers like this.  He saves his gutter mouth for Swapnil - because he's "lazy?"  Nice priorities there, Mr. Gunn.

 

I did not watch Under the Gunn, but now I have a taste of what people were talking about wrt that show.  Ugh.

 

I think this is a big part of the problem.  Tim have so many sycophants that basically bathe him in compliments no matter what sort of shitty thing he does.  And I think it could be making him tone deaf to how he is actually coming off to people.  After UTG (which was awful and a ratings fail) he gave a number of interviews attempting to justify his behavior on the show.  Its like he really didn't think he did anything wrong, and I'm sure he had people around him telling him he was great and didn't do anything wrong.  So instead of just apologizing and learning from it, he got defensive and tried to justify his behavior.

[Madding crowd]

I've had my ups and downs with Tim but agree he was acting unprofessional with Swapnil. Of course he acted similar with one of my favorite designers Emilio Sosa. Emilio was never rude to Tim, he just didn't agree with Tim's assessment of his work. It even got to the point where Tim claimed to be afraid to visit Emilio's Harlem home doing pre-fashion week visits. And I read Tim's first book too-he has been celibate for over 30 years, no hanky panky was going on.

 

Sadly, I think Tim has joined the ranks of the snotty people who think being in fashion gives you the right to treat other people like crap because they are obviously beneath you. I wish someone would remind Tim that making clothes isn't curing cancer. I see the exact same attitude and yelling on House of DVR (Diane is chilly and rude, her assistants get angry with the clueless women), everyone on The Fashion Fund including most of the designers, and people like Rachel Zoe. So, it doesn't surprise me Tim has developed this 'fashion persona', but I like him a lot less for it.

Edited October 10, 2015 by Madding crowd

[slothgirl]

It's time for a new mentor. Who it would be, I have no idea or suggestion.

Joanna Coles, please!

[RCharter]

Joanna Coles, please!

She would be good.  I actually think Nick V might be a good mentor.  He has a background in teaching fashion, he seems to have pretty good energy, he was the only mentor on UTG that I didn't actively despise, and as long as he could reel it in and not try to do the work for the designers I think he would be a nice collaborator.

[RCharter]

Nick wasn't a very good mentor on UTG because he couldn't resist trying to make the clothes himself.  That drove Tim up the wall, and he was very irritated that Nick's team member Oscar Lopez won in the end (a decision that Tim kept complaining about).  Nick, who must have the most forgiving heart in the universe (or is the most slavishly attached to Project Runway) keeps supporting Tim in his blogs even though Tim treated him very badly on UTG.

 

Joanna Coles would be an interesting choice but would she do that since she left Marie Claire for Cosmopolitan? 

 

I would like Tim to take a break but I don't see it happening unless he physically can't do it....and that may happen.  He hasn't been looking very healthy this season.  I could almost forgive his outburst if I thought it might be related to him being ill.   

 

I do think that Nick would have to make some changes as a mentor, but towards the end I felt he got much better.  And I felt like Oscar was talented in his own right.  But if he could rein it in, just a little and be that additional critical eye and make suggestions I think he would be very qualified.  He certainly had the knowledge and he seems to have the soul of a teacher.  I liked that he at least had concrete suggestions versus Anya's vague "make it...you know....better"  

 

I like Joanna Coles, but I just don't know about having a magazine editor as the mentor.  I like her a lot, but if she doesn't really know how to design, how much can she help designers when they have hit a design roadblock?  The mentor on All Stars doesn't always seem very helpful in those situations, but I think someone like Nick might be.

[RCharter]

But has Tim Gunn ever designed anything?  I know he taught design but what is his real life experience outside of the classroom?  I've always wondered about that. 

 

Anya was pretty useless as a mentor; and she mainly just followed Mondo's lead (and the preference Tim had for that pair got pretty ugly). I liked Nick...particularly because on UTG he got the designers no one else wanted and he seemed to be able to get them to produce.  Nick reminds me of a Golden Retriever puppy...so eager to be helpful that he knocks things over.  I agree that Nick has the soul of a teacher...he seems to genuinely want to encourage people and he seems to have an endless well of good will.  If he could control his tendency to take over, he would be fine as a mentor because, as you say, he is knowledgeable.  And he would be a mentor who has actually designed, which might be an advantage if he didn't impose his vision onto other people (he means well, I know he does).

 

Nick is, by the way, a Project Runway alumni that should be included in the group of successes, mostly due to his own efforts.

Tim has never actually designed anything from what I know.  He started his career at Parsons and was a teacher before he became dean.  You're right, Nick would have the advantage of having designed and taught.  Your description of Nick as a puppy is spot on and perfect.  That is exactly how he is.  As long as he can learn to not pee on the floor I think he could be really good.  :)

 

Nick seems like one of those guys I would want to go shopping with me, he just seems like fun.

[Freckledbruh]

After seeing how Tim treated Swapnil, I have to wonder how many Parsons students were given short shrift just because Tim had a personal dislike for them.

[pasdetrois]

I've wondered if Tim simply needs/enjoys the income, because he is for sure singing for his supper. I think he's become a complete production pawn. His TV "character" has been re-scripted.

 

I've posted in the past that I noticed his hands were trembling very badly a couple seasons back, almost like a palsy. It was only in one scene where he was handling some fabric, but it made me wonder about his health.

[paramitch]

I'm gonna be a voice of dissent on Tim Gunn's handling of the Swapnil issue. I understood why Tim was angry and frustrated here.

 

I really liked Swapnil, but from the halfway point onward, the other designers talk constantly about Swapnil spending much of his time not on designing, but on his constant smoke breaks, which appeared to be so constant and frequent that they actually caused some production issues (as he would have to go step outside each time, etc.).

 

At around that same point, Swapnil began to also exhibit increasing time management issues, and despite several on-camera discussions with him that included other contestants, Tim, and Swapnil's own Talking Heads, it was evident that he wasn't putting anywhere near his full effort and attention into even one-day challenges. He was just talented enough to get by with a lot less time and effort. And worst of all, he seemed to be getting increasingly entitled about the fact that he didn't need to put in the amount of work the others did in order to do well. He himself constantly talked about "just wanting to be safe." In the one challenge when Swapnil actually worked the whole day with minimal smoke breaks, he was visibly upset and complaining because he finally gave 100% but didn't win, as if the win had been somehow promised to him.

 

Chris March was known for working blazingly fast, and for then taking breaks and naps as needed. But his work was almost always impeccable and finished. Whereas Swapnil has been shown repeatedly to have a talent for pulling something off at the last minute, and it finally began to wear on him. 

 

While I thought Swapnil did take Tim's outburst with a lot of grace, I understood Tim's anger and befuddlement. Swapnil had a full day and three hours, and all he had done was a laughably simple wrap-top that he couldn't even try on the model (who I have to say, though, I thought was a total pill). 

 

I think Tim cares deeply that designers on the show do their best and put forth their best efforts. I think he cares tremendously about the show and the opportunities it offers. But I just think Swapnil had burned out a few episodes back, had stopped caring, and it was visible to everyone around him that he had checked out and was doing the minimum. And I can see why, to Tim, that would be an insult -- to the show, and to the person Swapnil was supposed to design for here.

 

I also think that Tim was really hoping to shake Swapnil up here (and I was hoping it would turn things around for him too). Instead, we watchd him create two more variations on that exact same ugly top later on in the second day, and I was really puzzled by his choices.

 

I liked Swapnil in spite of all this, and I do think he'll probably go far. But I don't blame Tim for being angry or for feeling like the slot was wasted on someone who couldn't even pretend to put forth minimal effort or time investment even on one-day challenges.

Edited October 10, 2015 by paramitch

[Freckledbruh]

I'm gonna be a voice of dissent on Tim Gunn's handling of the Swapnil issue. I understood why Tim was angry and frustrated here.

 

I really liked Swapnil, but from the halfway point onward, the other designers talk constantly about Swapnil spending much of his time not on designing, but on his constant smoke breaks, which appeared to be so constant and frequent that they actually caused some production issues (as he would have to go step outside each time, etc.).

 

At around that same point, Swapnil began to also exhibit increasing time management issues, and despite several on-camera discussions with him that included other contestants, Tim, and Swapnil's own Talking Heads, it was evident that he wasn't putting anywhere near his full effort and attention into even one-day challenges. He was just talented enough to get by with a lot less time and effort. And worst of all, he seemed to be getting increasingly entitled about the fact that he didn't need to put in the amount of work the others did in order to do well. He himself constantly talked about "just wanting to be safe." In the one challenge when Swapnil actually worked the whole day with minimal smoke breaks, he was visibly upset and complaining because he finally gave 100% but didn't win, as if the win had been somehow promised to him.

 

So basically if you are talented and can sew quickly, you get yelled at (unless you're Chris March or Kenni) but if you can't sew all that well and send models down the runway with exposed butt cheeks and nipples it is A-OK? The fact of the matter is that Swapnil had completed garments for the runway that were either in the top or in the middle. In this last challenge, he had THREE outfits because his "model" was a pain in the ass and wouldn't tell him what she wanted outside the sleeves and covered legs directive which he followed in the first two outfits that she rejected.

I call bullcrap on hindering production because of smoking because there have been countless designers on this show who smoke and production just followed them outside and filmed them smoking with nary a peep.

[backgroundnoise]

it was evident that he wasn't putting anywhere near his full effort and attention into even one-day challenges. He was just talented enough to get by with a lot less time and effort. And worst of all, he seemed to be getting increasingly entitled about the fact that he didn't need to put in the amount of work the others did in order to do well. He himself constantly talked about "just wanting to be safe."

Even if I agreed with this in total, it's mostly relevant in a competition where decisions should be made based on the final result.  If his laziness affected the output, he'd be out anyway.  If Swapnil can produce garments with less effort that still beat out others, so what?  Tim way overstepped, IMO. 

[candall]

I have figured out the problem.

 

When Tim Gunn's only responsibility was mentoring, he was generous and gracious and supportive--everyone adored him and wanted to have cocktails.  So they routed all that love into his own show and made Tim's role. . .everything.  He mentored the mentors--wtf is that?  He was not a judge, except he sort of was a judge.  He made all the calls, from "time's up" to changing the rules mid-stream about elimination policy, right on down to determining the winner.  (Neil Patrick Harris carjacking the finale back to reality will never not be fabulous.)

 

Now we're back to PR and--way to learn a lesson--Tim's no longer "just" a mentor, he's all over the place.  Again!  He's a producer, he's the mentor, he's seated at the runway, he's introducing the models and pointing out construction flaws, sharing little workroom incidents the judges should not be privy to at all. . . and now he's an advocate for the crew-clients because he's personally fond of them--possibly at the expense of the designers.

 

TOO MANY HATS.

 

Tim came out of UTG, not adored, but battered and defensive.  Did he rebuild his reputation by resuming his warm avuncular mentor persona?  No.  He's spread all over the place and so stressed out his hands are occasionally shaky, he has some kind of skin eruption, he's cranky and mean-spirited and he's throwing profanity-laced invective at the designers.  People are speculating about the possibility of over-medication and whether he might have been hitting on one of his mentees, ffs.

 

Someone needs to reconfigure Tim Gunn Inc. before it's too late.

[slothgirl]

I do think that Nick would have to make some changes as a mentor, but towards the end I felt he got much better.  And I felt like Oscar was talented in his own right.  But if he could rein it in, just a little and be that additional critical eye and make suggestions I think he would be very qualified.  He certainly had the knowledge and he seems to have the soul of a teacher.  I liked that he at least had concrete suggestions versus Anya's vague "make it...you know....better"  

 

I like Joanna Coles, but I just don't know about having a magazine editor as the mentor.  I like her a lot, but if she doesn't really know how to design, how much can she help designers when they have hit a design roadblock?  The mentor on All Stars doesn't always seem very helpful in those situations, but I think someone like Nick might be.

UTG was a totally different set-up. The mentors were also competitors and that meant they had a material interest in getting their designers to the win. They required that their designers beat other designers, not only in order to collect the mentor's prize, but for the benefits to their reputation and resume.

 

As the mentor on PR (one would hope) Nick wouldn't need to make a specific designer into the winner, and there would be nothing in it for him based on who won or lost. He would have equal responsibility to ALL the designers. (Tim, take note!) That alone should make him a little less hands-on because he wouldn't be going for a win himself. Also, the number of designers combined with the time frame would prevent him from spending too much time with each designer re-working their outfits for them. He'd have to critique and move on pretty quickly, especially at the beginning when the chaff still hadn't been separated from the wheat. Those would be the designers he'd feel the strongest need to be hands-on with anyway.

 

I think Nick would be great, but given Tim's influence in the PR universe, and his dislike of Nick, I can't imagine it will be anything we will ever see.

 

Joanna Coles mentored on All Stars and she was fabulous. I don't know anything about her experience or career, but her advice was usually spot-on and helped the designers far more than Tim's has lately. She was also the one who nagged endlessly about women needing to be able to wear a bra.

Edited October 10, 2015 by slothgirl

[Julia]

^^This. NPH was priceless. Also, I'm not sure which I enjoyed more:

Heidi's face when she realized that the regular judging panel was so autointoxicated on the methane rising from their groupthink bullshit that they thought Asha won

or

Tim's and Jen Rade's and Zanna's faces when Heidi made them say out loud that it was a contest about making clothes, and that meant Asha did not win.

[Freckledbruh]

 

Joanna Coles mentored on All Stars and she was fabulous. I don't know anything about her experience or career, but her advice was usually spot-on and helped the designers far more than Tim's has lately. She was also the one who nagged endlessly about women needing to be able to wear a bra.

Joanna was DA BOMB!!!!  Extremely articulate, actually taught the competitors things (practical use of the garment, how it would photograph or look on the runway) and gave real ideas without crossing the line of dictating.  I was really disappointed when she left the show.

[Freckledbruh]

To me, since Tim is a producer on the show and by his own admission went to the judges behind the scenes several times asking that Swapnil be kicked off, then his statement cannot be technically true regardless.

[Misslindsey]

Does Tim have a producer credit for Project Runway? If so, I would think that him going to the judges asking for a designer to be auf'd might fall under "producer manipulation".

[Calamity Jane]

I've wondered if Tim simply needs/enjoys the income, because he is for sure singing for his supper. I think he's become a complete production pawn. His TV "character" has been re-scripted.

 

I've posted in the past that I noticed his hands were trembling very badly a couple seasons back, almost like a palsy. It was only in one scene where he was handling some fabric, but it made me wonder about his health.

Well, Parkinson's has emotional/mental aspects besides the physical tremor and stiffness, and they are much more difficult to identify.  My husband had it, and I called it a mean disease, it wreaks so much havoc.   It can be hidden from public knowledge for quite a while, except that sometimes the tremor in the hands gets worse.  I wonder....

Joanna was DA BOMB!!!!  Extremely articulate, actually taught the competitors things (practical use of the garment, how it would photograph or look on the runway) and gave real ideas without crossing the line of dictating.  I was really disappointed when she left the show.

Also, I seem to remember that she would ask the designers how they expected a woman who needed a bra to wear a garment constructed without thought to that issue.

[PepperMonkey]

Sort of off topic, but I'll reply here since it was brought up here:

 

I don't consider NIck a success BECAUSE of Project Runway, but in spite of it. He was already a well-regarded instructor at FIDM and talked about how his students said he should do the show. So for me, Nick was successful in his field before he even arrived on season two.

 

And interesting that someone said with Tim having a producer credit, then begging for a designer to be auf'ed could be considered producer manipulation, but HEIDI is an EXECUTIVE PRODUCER and she's the de facto head judge. Come to think of it, that is kinda sketchy...

[RCharter]

Even if I agreed with this in total, it's mostly relevant in a competition where decisions should be made based on the final result.  If his laziness affected the output, he'd be out anyway.  If Swapnil can produce garments with less effort that still beat out others, so what?  Tim way overstepped, IMO. 

 

^^^1 million thumbs up for this sentiment

 

 

Tim came out of UTG, not adored, but battered and defensive.  Did he rebuild his reputation by resuming his warm avuncular mentor persona?  No.  He's spread all over the place and so stressed out his hands are occasionally shaky, he has some kind of skin eruption, he's cranky and mean-spirited and he's throwing profanity-laced invective at the designers.  People are speculating about the possibility of over-medication and whether he might have been hitting on one of his mentees, ffs.

 

Someone needs to reconfigure Tim Gunn Inc. before it's too late.

I think a lot of the problem is that Tim may have a bunch of butt kissers around him who are convincing him that whatever he does is good and right.  I don't think these repeated tongue baths are doing Tim any good.

 

Any reasonable person would have looked at UTG and told Tim "apologize!""Be contrite""Separate yourself from this situation""don't side with Anya and Mondo at the reunion."  Instead he gave interview after interview defending his actions, which made him look 100x worse.  To me that was the worst thing he could have done, even worse than blaming a bad edit.  We all make mistakes, even as adults, no one is perfect.  If he had just admitted that he got caught up in playing favorites, or even if he said he wished he did it different I know I would have been ready to forgive, because I love original Tim Gunn.

 

Even if he felt he was right, he should have had good people around him to tell him that he didn't come off looking good on the show and to steer him away from being defensive and further putting people off.  But I suspect he is now surrounded by a bunch of people who tell him that everything he does is flawless and that he doesn't make any mistakes.

[zxy556575]

I think Tim cares deeply that designers on the show do their best and put forth their best efforts. I think he cares tremendously about the show and the opportunities it offers....

 

... offers to himself, anyway.

 

Do you guys remember when Tim used to do a blog post after each show? It might have even been when the show was on Bravo. He was quite forthright-to-bitchy in it with regard to individual designers. He stopped doing it -- compelled by the producers, was my guess -- because he was giving too much away. But I was never under any illusions about him being a kind person after reading it.

 

I like the addition of the judges being able to critique the clothes close up, but Tim has so eagerly inserted himself there to tell tales and backbite, often without being asked. I can only imagine how much of his own biases he blabs to Nina or Heidi while they're hanging around the craft services table or whatnot.

[RCharter]

... offers to himself, anyway.

 

Do you guys remember when Tim used to do a blog post after each show? It might have even been when the show was on Bravo. He was quite forthright-to-bitchy in it with regard to individual designers. He stopped doing it -- compelled by the producers, was my guess -- because he was giving too much away. But I was never under any illusions about him being a kind person after reading it.

 

I like the addition of the judges being able to critique the clothes close up, but Tim has so eagerly inserted himself there to tell tales and backbite, often without being asked. I can only imagine how much of his own biases he blabs to Nina or Heidi while they're hanging around the craft services table or whatnot.

Oh, I never knew that....maybe I should have read it so I wasn't so shocked when UTG came out :(

 

The only reason I don't like the close up critiques is because it feels so unfair.  They added that the switch to one day challenges.  It seems unfair that they never really looked that closely at the clothing up close when the designers had 2-3 days, but suddenly they are concerned with the finish and the details now that the designers have half the time to complete a look.  If they had 2-3 days I think it would be a great addition.

 

.....except for, as you said, Tim getting in there and telling tales out of school.  And so, while Tim isn't a judge, he can still have significant impact on who gets sent home, right?  I mean if you're looking at the bottom three designs, and Tim starts talking smack about one over the other than Tim can be influencing who gets sent home.  Maybe its just best to have him not sit in on panel anymore.  Now that I think about it, why is he at judging to begin with?  When he uses his save its normally after the episode, so he doesn't have to be at the runway to use his Tim Gunn save.  I'm sure someone else can walk the models to the judges.  Shouldn't the judges alone be the ones taking a closer look at the designs, the only thing Tim could add is information that really doesn't matter.

[Kareem]

Yes, I wish they could duct tape his mouth when he walks the models out. The judges don't ask him anything, he just gushes forth.

I don't mind that they look at the clothes up close. I think of Santino sending the other designer out in the jumpsuit that was held together with spit and gum and making up a story about her coming undone in her excitement... Ugh.

[Julia]

Tom and Lorenzo have said before that they enjoy Tim, but that Tim behind the scenes is a very different person that on-camera Tim - much more acerbic and negative. I kind of feel as if he should have kept faking it, because it makes me very uncomfortable to think of the person we're seeing now being the gatekeeper for young peoples' dreams.

 

[edited because autocorrect is not my friend]

Edited October 11, 2015 by Julia

[lucindabelle]

I think Tim having been bullied is what has led to him enjoying eing a bully and in with the cool kids too much. I've seen this happen before. It's sad and I think probably irreversible at this point.

A new, neutral mentor would be awesome.

The old Tim who wondered what the judges were smoking is gone gone gone. The old tim didn't care whether the producers were happy. And tattle talking is NOT what a mentor does. He's a spy, not a coach.

[still hoping]

Hi....JMO a huge problem with PR (and Tim) is the lack of parameters and rules

 

On most reality shows there are certain stated/unstated "rules" that remain season to season - but PR changes on a whim it seems

Under the Gunn had that problem to the extreme...changing the rules from show to show (ie, throwing the decision to Anya and Mondo etc)

 

Tim's role has been expanded and changes at whim it seems. His role as producer ? seems to cross a line of a reality shows rules.

I also noted that Swapnil's "real woman" client was an assistant producer - where the other women were camera/sound people etc

 

We all pretty much realize producers manipulate (Unreal LOL)...but having a producer out there on the screen is just not right....there is a reason we don't usually see producers/assistant producers/"handlers" unless someone is injured or a physical fight break out. Tim as a producer is not the "neutral" voice of a true mentor.

 

I personally wish he was just a mentor still...but that line has been crossed and at this point I would not object to a new real "mentor" on the next season, with the hope that they would not put on a producer hat. 

[Mabinogia]

I wonder if Tim was privy to Swapnil's talking head where he basically admitted he is trying to work the system, riding the middle of the pack for a while and then was gong to bring out the big guns and wow tem all. I can imagine that pissing Tim off to no end. And Tim seems the type who would be all "oh really? well, we'll see about that." and using his power to make sure Swapnil didn't succeed in his scheme to create his own story arc. Production doesn't like it when the hired help, aka the contestants, try to write their own storylines.

[Minicatfall]

I just want to make a quick comment about the season 12 reunion special led by Tim. Generally speaking, I think the reunion shows are little more than vehicles for stirring up old wounds and serve no other purpose than to humiliate contestants. I was shocked, seriously, when I saw Tim was its MC. Tim was the last person I thought would engage in this crap.

Okay, so maybe he was under contract and he had no choice, but it was definitely an eye-opener and a huge disappointment.

Edited October 11, 2015 by Minicatfall

[Diane Mars]

I'll go to the opposite of quite everyone here, but I understand Tim's reaction...

 

For me, it was like when my father was disappointed when I was going the easy way... Soooo disappointed, because he believed in my talent and was furious to see what I was -not- doing of it...

 

In other words, I think that he really liked Swapnil and believe in his talent. I'm also sure they had head to head conversations a few times before Tim lost it in the workroom, and that he was effed up to see that it was a kind of worthless, and also frustrated because he didn't succeeded in his attempts to "shake" and "wake up" Swapnil

[Diane Mars]

We're supposed to be in "fashion world", not in "my little pony" world...

 

I understand what you say, but I'm a little bit... exhausted by the overuse of that "bullying" shit/excuse/explanation/lecture/etc.... Because that was NOT bullying... And they're not in sugar (litteral translation from French, which means they're not delicate snowflakes who can't handle anything).

 

Nothing personal, whimsey98, but that's my POV

Edited October 11, 2015 by Diane Mars

[RCharter]

We're supposed to be in "fashion world", not in "my little pony" world...

 

I understand what you say, but I'm a little bit... exhausted by the overuse of that "bullying" shit/excuse/explanation/lecture/etc.... Because that was NOT bullying... And they're not in sugar (litteral translation from French, which means they're not delicate snowflakes who can't handle anything).

 

Nothing personal, whimsey98, but that's my POV

I feel like when you use a position of power to needlessly berate someone who isn't going to fight back -- that's bullying.  The term may be generally overused, but I think its appropriate here.

 

As for being in the "real world" thats fine too, but in the real world, you shouldn't expect your mentor to curse and go off on you. In the real world Tim's job is to be a mentor, if Tim couldn't see it in himself to offer some constructive advice as a mentor, he should have just let Swapnil's work speak for itself on the runway.  And there is absolutely no reason why Tim had to do that in front of a client.  

 

You don't have to be in my little pony world to expect or deserve basic respect.

[Kitty Redstone]

Tim should be embarrassed at his behavior.  Tantrums of any sort - and Tim's behavior toward Swapnil was indeed a tantrum - should not be applauded, especially when an adult is the perpetrator.

 

I would welcome his retirement from the mentor-judges snitch position.  As for his replacement, I actually think Zac Posen could be a wonderful mentor and I'd rather see him in that role (sans his unwitticisms) than as a judge.

[still hoping]

For me it is not so much "bullying" but manipulating

 

My problem is that Tim has some production input...talks to judges, other producers....and I feel he is at a point of manipulating the show

Maybe his idea....maybe their ideas....maybe not fully realizing it...but IMHO he is no longer the helpful to all "neutral" mentor

 

I watched Under the Gunn and that was my perception of it...not so much a bully but favoritism and manipulation

 

He has that power now ...and this season we had a few instances where his "input" to the designers hurt them rather than helped..

 

I am at the point where I think they should beware of his "advice". I feel he may show favoritism, dislike a designer, or may try to promote a designer the "powers that be" would like to be able to legitimately "crown" the winner. Not to mention get buzz and ratings for the show in what is proving to be a lackluster season.

His behavior is why we usually do NOT see the "producers" and handlers interjected into the shows

 

I think Tim has "jumped the shark" (with his own elegant flair)