Tim Gunn People Quotations

Life is not a solo act. It's a huge collaboration, and we all need to assemble around us the people who care about us and support us in times of strife.

I always say I have a Socratic approach to most things that I do. I pummel people with questions, because I need to know what they're thinking, what they're trying to achieve, what they believe the final outcome is going to be.

I have my flaws and my issues, past and present and who knows what will happen in the future. I want people to know Im vulnerable too and each one of us is.

People put on certain clothes for certain reasons, I assume, when their closet is filled with clothes.

I pretty much stay true to myself and try to find the good in people and not be snarky.

Most people wear clothing that is too big or too small for them. And "oversized" is the downfall for most of us. We have to be careful that we don't look like we're slipcovered!

People believe that if you're concerned about the clothes you're wearing and the larger aspects of your appearance, that it's anti-intellectual. I say "Hogwash!" The clothes we wear send a message about how the world perceives us.

I understand the all black or all white look (to be perfectly blunt, it's easy and you don't have to think about it very much) but would any of us really want to be one of those people?

I'm really not a trend promoter because I feel that people push trends on people they shouldn't.

People come up to me and share very personal and intimate things with me, and I am so touched by all the trust they have in me.

I'm constantly correcting young people and fashion students in this nation when they say "Well, I do couture." By definition, you don't. You have to be licensed by the government of France to do couture. So don't use that term. You can say that you do one-of-a-kind, you can say it's custom, but you can't say it's couture - because it's inaccurate.

And I'm the first one to tell people to break the rules. But you can only break the rules once you know what the rules are. The other thing is, fashion is the last design discipline to actually have academic texts and historical analysis.

From my own experience, there are so many people who believe that the individual can change. The individual doesn't have to be LGBT.

The element of fashion I'd like to see more often? Clothes that fit people well. For me it's not so much about the clothes.

Whenever people tell me they don't know how to get inspired, I say "What's the matter with you?! I could stay in my apartment and be inspired!"

I am a stickler for good manners, and I believe that treating other people well is a lost art. In the workplace, at the dinner table, and walking down the street--we are confronted with choices on how to treat people nearly every waking moment. Over time these choices define who we are and whether we have a lot of friends and allies or none.

You have no control over other people's taste, so focus on staying true to your own.

Nothing makes me happier than working with real people in the real world.

I don't know if people have gotten ruder or if my tolerance level has declined.

Most designers want to show apparel that makes the wearer look as long and lean as possible. And most people who buy clothes want to look as long and lean as possible.

Call me a schoolmarm, but few things make me angrier than people not taking good care of library materials.

I will always be there in the wings saying, 'You need to be good to people. You need to take your work seriously. You need to have integrity. You need to work with what you've got.

Life is a big collaboration - and when you're tackling something that is painful and troubling and is causing you such desperate grief that you think life's not worth living - you need to reach out. To people who will reach back.

I believe that treating other people well is a lost art.

I'm frequently introduced as a fashion designer, and I quickly say I'm not, and instantly people are incredibly disappointed and think that I'm some sort of charlatan who's been perpetuating this falsehood.

I've been in situations where I've said to young people: "You're so personable, you're so articulate, you're clearly so bright, you're so good-looking - feel better about yourself!" But if at the core if you don't, all those words mean nothing. Absolutely nothing.

It's so important to reach out to people you trust, and who can give you honest feedback, and keep those people close to you. You don't want to surround yourself with enablers.

Just the way it never rains when you have an umbrella, you'll never run into people if you look fantastic. But go outside in pajamas, and you'll run into every ex you have.

I'm so lucky. I've met a lot of famous people.