Tim Gunn Takes Top Honors, Again

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Tim Gunn
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Like most Project Runway viewers, I think the highlight of the show – and sometimes the only classy part of the program – is Tim Gunn. He's unfailingly polite, honest, professional and, unlike the judges, he manages to give the designers honest critiques without making them feel worthless.

So I was pleased that Gunn made an appearance on The Daily Show last night to plug his latest book, Gunn's Golden Rules: Life's Little Lessons for Making It Work. I had not been planning on buying the book before I saw the program, but after watching him discuss Anna Wintour with host Jon Stewart, I have to get this book.

They discussed an incident in which Ms. Wintour – the legendary editor of Vogue magazine – was carried down five flights of stairs because she couldn't get down fast enough in her shoes. I've defended Wintour on this blog in the past, and I think much of what I wrote still holds. She's an extraordinary editor and leader in her field. But Gunn's critique (and his hilarious response to Vogue's minions who tried to pressure him into removing the item from the book; watch the video above) show him to be perceptive and even brave. He's not being catty; he's making a serious criticism of the bloated egos in the fashion industry.

Which makes him something of a rarity. When will we get Tim Gunn's fashion magazine? Need an editor?

No More Models for German Fashion Magazine Brigitte

It might be a ploy to get attention to help arrest a declining readership, or it might be a surrender to the growing concerns over whether emaciated models are giving women unrealistic ideas about how thin they should be. But whatever the reason, it's still big news in the magazine industry that German women's magazine Brigitte has declared that it will no longer feature models.

According to English-language German news site The Local, "Instead, the Hamburg-based title published by Gruner+Jahr plans to choose from readers who register online and staff members based on their meaningful qualities other than their dress size."

This does not mean the magazine's going to feature the type of person sitting next to you on the subway. I assume they'll still pick above-average-looking people, just presumably not ones who look like they've never eaten solid food.

Not sure if this'll catch on. I think the goal is worthy, but if their 700,000 circulation drops, I wonder if they'll stick with it.

What do you think?