The fashion book I was looking for. Why did no one tell me Tim gunn is The Fashion Guru? Project Runway. All these norms I was unaware of in our postmodern age.

Book could use more images though and text would be better formatted to be less wide.

The graphic design is *very* early 2000s arts and crafts, doesn’t seem to fit Tim Gunn’s vibe but I guess this was what the designer conceptualized as ‘fashionable’ in the 00s.

Fashion plate, clothes horse or Beau Brummell have never been used to describe me. I'm not fond of shopping and I'm not a snappy dresser. However, I am fascinated by period fashions, and the history angle of this title pulled me in. Plus, I really admire Tim Gunn. He strikes me as a no-nonsense kind of guy, something rather rare in the world of fashion. He's my favorite thing about Project Runway.

The style is breezy, in a word. When I saw that it was co-authored, I thought, "Uh, oh, ghost writer," but Mr. Gunn's voice really does shine through. I particularly like the fun little asides having to do with an obscure fashion trend or a strong opinion, and how he has to stop himself to get things back on track. My favorite digression was his long (for this book) discussion of the history of knitting -- of course.

Everything gets covered here -- underwear, outerwear, belts, shoes, bags, handkerchiefs, dresses, sweaters, stockings, hats, shirts, jeans, suits, etc. A "delightful romp," as they say.

One criticism I had -- I thought the beginning-of-the-chapter photos were a bit monotonous and often had nothing to do with the chapter topic, and the reliance on stock photos was a bit heavy handed.

Interesting, but not completely compelling. It is so clearly written in Tim Gunn's voice that I found I could only read for short periods of time, much like you see him on Project Runway in little snippets, otherwise I was quite annoyed at his writing style.

Good general survey of fashion with advice sprinkled in, though if you want more detail on any particular item I'd suggest you look at their bibliography.

The major themes in this book can be summed up like so: 1) In terms of fashion, the 80s sucked; 2) Americans have gotten a little lazy when it comes to style; 3) no, your t-shirts and jeans are not appropriate for all occasions; and 4) invest in a good tailor. That said, the book is still an interesting read, though, as someone eloquently stated, Gunn is more "prescriptive than descriptive." All that to say, that there's not a whole lot of history here but there is a good deal amount of informed opinion. But the opinion does come from Tim Gunn, so I'm OK with it.

Being a fashion designer myself, I found this book to be a great quick read on the history of the most popular garments in our world today. Highly recommended.

Well-written and well-researched look at different garments and their history. Also, thank you Mr. Gunn for lambasting the fashion industry in the afterword and realizing that the vast majority of women do not look (or are shaped like) a model. Bring back the models from the '50s!

It really reads as if Tim Gunn was going through your closet and decided to give you an impromptu history lesson. Lots of fun and interesting facts.

3.5 so I rounded up because Tim Gunn is delightful. The history was well edited. Just enough background to be thorough, never tipping over to textbook summaries. The real draw was Tim's anecdotes and personal thoughts on the various items of clothing.

One part historical account, one part bff gab session and one part fashion ranting. Overall entertaining and informing. I wish he would've gotten more depth with more pictures.