I Heart Tim Gunn

I'm taking all kinds of sh*t at home for this, but y'all, I am LOVING "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style" on the Bravo Network. He is a less-frenetic but no-less entertaining version of Queer Eye, Bravo's old show.

Stylist Emeriti, shall we say, from Project Runway, Gunn and sidekick, the still-beautiful Veronica Webb guide hapless women toward style and life upgrades. The first show was about a mom who dressed, for lack of a better term, like a wealthy slut. She went to a PTA meeting in--I sh*t you not--a cleavage-revealing deep V-neck black dress, and couldn't figure out why she wasn't making friends with the other moms. Hmmmm...I wonder. She was completely breast-obsessed, mostly because she was youth-obsessed. And she was at the age where she was fooling no one but herself. The show is so great because Tim Gunn is so kind (he completely gets why she's dressing like she's dressing) but direct (he can't hide his contempt for some of the things hanging in her closet, as if he's standing in a whorehouse circa 1983: "that looks like a shaved hamster," "that is a whole lot of nasty."). The best moments of the show include the post-closet clean-out when he announces that "Veronica will now need to look through your underwear drawer" and you can immediately see the mental arithmetic going on (ladies, don't pretend you wouldn't be doing the same thing!), "Oh my god, is this laundry week? What are they gonna find in there that I haven't looked at in months? Is my ratty bra on the top? TELL ME I threw away the ripped purple thong!" It's schadenfreude of the best kind.

I'm not sure how else to describe it, except to say that it's similar to "What Not to Wear," only with less focus on making the subject feel embarrassed about their clothing choices and with more focus on having her outside presentation reflect the real inside that has always been there. His motto is "Your style, my rules," meaning that you don't see a different person at the end of the show, but you do see a person more aware of what they are projecting via their external presentation ("I cannot control how I am perceived. I can only control how I am presented.") He has his list of 10 Must-Haves for every closet, including obviously a black dress, a white shirt, and one that never occurred to me: the "Sweat Pants Alternative."

I hesitate to kvell too much more over this program since the level of domestic ribbing I'm receiving is already pretty elevated. Just watch it and tell me you don't heart Tim Gunn too.

He and Veronica can come on over and look through my underwear drawer any time they desire.