» Tim Gunn: A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style (Tim Gunn's Guide to Style)

Tim Gunn: A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style (Tim Gunn's Guide to Style) Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: Love Tim Gunn but dislike this book.
Comment: As a book on style, I find it lacking. After all, how will a man (even if he is gay) help women dress? I find Nina Garcia's book or even Rachel Zoe's more informative and inspiring. I think the best advice comes from women who are successful themselves in the fashion industry and come from a fashion background. They will have the same issues as me, putting importance on the comfort and how one feels in clothes rather than just how it looks which is what I feel Tim Gunn book does. And we all know that how one feels in a dress is different from how you look in it.

Actually, let me save you money. The only pieces of advice in this book worth mentioning is: tailor your clothes, follow muses (celebrity, friends, or otherwise) until you become your own, buy few and in quality, keep your closet organized, and look presentable i.e. don't wear pajamas outside your house.

Even the prose itself is frustrating to read. I, myself, am not a good writer, but I read enough to know that the writing is long-winded and leads to nowhere. There is nothing to redeem the book, not even pictures or good advice.

Anyway, I bought this book almost two years ago when it came out but after one reading, I never picked it up again. It's a one time read: waste of money. There's not even pretty pictures in it, which I think is essential in a book about fashion. Fashion is all visual and I think this is the visually ugliest and most awkward book I have ever seen. Anybody is better off borrowing from the library or a friend. Instead of this Nina Garcia's most recent book "The One Hundred" is worth it with the beautiful illustrations and noteworthy advice; I've checked it out three times from the library and it's on my list of books to buy next.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Comment: I like Tim Gunn, but this book was extremely disappointing. First, the design is horrendous: The chapter openers, headings, and subheadings are in a shocking pink typeface that is very hard to read. The pages are small and the print seems to crawl all over the page. There are no photographs.

I was expecting some kind of disciplined discussion of style, but instead, the book came off as several hours of Tim Gunn dictating into a microphone, complete with digressions, which might be amusing in a conversation, but sound silly in book form. (Oh, shut up, Tim.)

There were embarrassing typos: The famous French expression "Chacun à son goût" was spelled wrong. A lot of supposedly sophisticated allusions are not in fact if you've read anything.

Unfortunately, Mr. Gunn did not make this work.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A real let-down
Comment: I am a big fan of "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style" and I always thought his makeovers were lovely. I expected more of the same from this book, but was sadly disappointed. The lack of pictures is probably the book's biggest weakness; he should have included some diagrams when he (very briefly) described pants/shirts for different leg/torso length combinations. He also lists several "style mentors", which I found to be useless without pictures. I honestly got to the end of this book and thought, "What was that even supposed to be about?" -- it was more about Tim's philosophy on fashion than about how to dress yourself tastefully. Also, I'm in my early twenties, and a lot of the names he drops in this book go over my head. I suppose if you're into old movies you might know a few more.

I did think the section on perfume (top notes, middle notes, base notes, drydown, the four types of scents, etc) was more worthwhile than the rest of the book.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Gunn Book falls short
Comment: I expected more for Tim Gunn. He makes several poings, but for the most part, the book is nothing new.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly Helpful
Comment: I looked at this book a couple of times at the bookstore but passed it by because it didn't have a lot of glitzy photographs. Then I ordred it anyway. To my surprise, it is chock full of great advice. Tim Gunn writes with humor and humility. He NEVER speaks down to the reader. In fact, he's very encouraging as he tells the reader to celebrate our flaws and to not be so hard on ourselves. He doesn't insist that everyone run out and buy the lastest fad, in fact, he discourages it. He urges simplifying one's wardrobe and continuously emphasizes scale and silhouette. Just because an article is a great piece doesn't mean it is right for everyone of every shape and size. Mr. Gunn discusses quality vs quantity...but he's always on the lookout for a bargain. He touts buying those few really great pieces and filling in with basics from you local discount store....IF you can find good quality for a good price. All in all, I was very happy with this book and the advice given by its author.

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