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A review by pamelibrarian
Tim Gunn's Fashion Bible: The Fascinating History of Everything in Your Closet by Tim Gunn, Ada Calhoun
Did not finish book.
A more proper title for this book would be: Tim Gunn's Fashion Bible: Tim Gunn's Opinion on Clothes, with History in a Walk-On Role.
I used to really like Tim Gunn. I love Project Runway, and he can be very grounding for the contestants. However, I then think about the things I don't like about Tim Gunn. He once called a model "zaftig" and blamed her for a contestant's ill-fitting clothes. My reaction to this was something like HULK SMASH!!!! He also seems to be a walking catchphrase. However, at other times I feel like he'd be a lot of fun to have a kaffeeklatsch with.
Gunn freely admits to the fact that this is not an exhaustive history of clothing, or even Western clothing. It's a sort of overview, and he encourages readers to educate themselves further by picking up more in-depth, scholarly works. I applaud this. Too often, Famous People Who Write Books present themselves and their product as the end-all-be-all of.
However. I found very little substance here, and too much of Tim Gunn holding forth on why he likes or dislikes a certain style of clothing. He often links a certain style with a moral judgement, and while this may be human nature, it's not right. For example, if you wear cargo capris, you are Sartorially Inept, a slob, and someone who's given up on themselves. Or ... you just might feel comfy in cargo capris. If this were really a history, he would note who first conceived of the cargo capri, and social factors into their popularity, etc. Mostly we get a rant about how they are ugly and unflattering (note: I do agree with him on the aesthetics).
The chapter on suiting, as well as the chapter on vests (mostly there is a chapter on vests because Tim Gunn likes vests) engages in a lot of French-bashing. Evidently, the English "invented" the vest. In order to be patriotic, therefore, Gunn suggests: "Maybe instead we should have gone with the seventeenth-century British strategy and all taken to wearing vests." Oooh, ow, that hurts! Everyone's wearing vests! In that chapter, there also seems to be an implicit link between being American and being British, as if everyone who lives in the U.S. is somehow indebted to the British for design and should aspire to that aesthetic. This is more than slightly inaccurate.
However, the thing that really got me (and as you can tell, I had a lot of angry feelings, mixed up with boredom) was the chapter on undergarments. Really, I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out Gunn was sponsored by Spanx or something. If this were Tim Gunn's world, everyone (and I mean everyone--you too, dudes) would be wearing shapewear. The absolute last thing I want to do is wrangle myself into some stretchy corset-by-another-name in order to wear some goofy dress, or present a slimmer profile. Way to reinforce body image stereotypes! Thou shalt be thin! If thou be not thin and sculpted, thou shalt wear undergarments that squash thy body into the media ideal!
HULK SMASH!
He even presents corseting as a good thing (!!!) and seems to thing we'd all be better if we went back to lacing ourselves up every day. I know that some women today wear corsets because they want to, or because they feel more supported and have less back pain, and hey, more power to them! But I do not subscribe to the view that the corset of times past was somehow liberating because it made your clothes look good.
I got halfway through the book, and just started saying to myself, "I cannot ... I just canNOT with this book!" And thus, it is abandoned, and will be returned to the library. You are free to vilify me for reviewing a book I haven't actually finished (gasp!), but I have a feeling that it's all in the same vein.
P.S. Don't forget your corset.
I used to really like Tim Gunn. I love Project Runway, and he can be very grounding for the contestants. However, I then think about the things I don't like about Tim Gunn. He once called a model "zaftig" and blamed her for a contestant's ill-fitting clothes. My reaction to this was something like HULK SMASH!!!! He also seems to be a walking catchphrase. However, at other times I feel like he'd be a lot of fun to have a kaffeeklatsch with.
Gunn freely admits to the fact that this is not an exhaustive history of clothing, or even Western clothing. It's a sort of overview, and he encourages readers to educate themselves further by picking up more in-depth, scholarly works. I applaud this. Too often, Famous People Who Write Books present themselves and their product as the end-all-be-all of
However. I found very little substance here, and too much of Tim Gunn holding forth on why he likes or dislikes a certain style of clothing. He often links a certain style with a moral judgement, and while this may be human nature, it's not right. For example, if you wear cargo capris, you are Sartorially Inept, a slob, and someone who's given up on themselves. Or ... you just might feel comfy in cargo capris. If this were really a history, he would note who first conceived of the cargo capri, and social factors into their popularity, etc. Mostly we get a rant about how they are ugly and unflattering (note: I do agree with him on the aesthetics).
The chapter on suiting, as well as the chapter on vests (mostly there is a chapter on vests because Tim Gunn likes vests) engages in a lot of French-bashing. Evidently, the English "invented" the vest. In order to be patriotic, therefore, Gunn suggests: "Maybe instead we should have gone with the seventeenth-century British strategy and all taken to wearing vests." Oooh, ow, that hurts! Everyone's wearing vests! In that chapter, there also seems to be an implicit link between being American and being British, as if everyone who lives in the U.S. is somehow indebted to the British for design and should aspire to that aesthetic. This is more than slightly inaccurate.
However, the thing that really got me (and as you can tell, I had a lot of angry feelings, mixed up with boredom) was the chapter on undergarments. Really, I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out Gunn was sponsored by Spanx or something. If this were Tim Gunn's world, everyone (and I mean everyone--you too, dudes) would be wearing shapewear. The absolute last thing I want to do is wrangle myself into some stretchy corset-by-another-name in order to wear some goofy dress, or present a slimmer profile. Way to reinforce body image stereotypes! Thou shalt be thin! If thou be not thin and sculpted, thou shalt wear undergarments that squash thy body into the media ideal!
HULK SMASH!
He even presents corseting as a good thing (!!!) and seems to thing we'd all be better if we went back to lacing ourselves up every day. I know that some women today wear corsets because they want to, or because they feel more supported and have less back pain, and hey, more power to them! But I do not subscribe to the view that the corset of times past was somehow liberating because it made your clothes look good.
I got halfway through the book, and just started saying to myself, "I cannot ... I just canNOT with this book!" And thus, it is abandoned, and will be returned to the library. You are free to vilify me for reviewing a book I haven't actually finished (gasp!), but I have a feeling that it's all in the same vein.
P.S. Don't forget your corset.