The Problem With Tim Gunn

Telling designers they have a lot of work to do is a drag

No matter what you may think of the contestants and judges on “Project Runway,” there is one near universal opinion shared by all those who watch the show, and that is that Tim Gunn is awesome.

He’s nurturing. He’s supportive. He has good taste. The advice he offers is almost always spot on, despite the fact that there are always a handful of contestants each year who are so breathtakingly dumb that they fail to heed it. He always reminds you to use the Bluefly.com accessory wall JUDICIOUSLY. And, if you get kicked off the show, Tim always has very nice things to say about you before telling you to pack up your stuff and go away forever, you loser.

But if Tim Gunn were my boss, I would want to slug him, and here’s why. This man, this lovely man, cannot go five minutes without telling contestants that they have tons of work to do. “You have got… A LOT. OF WORK. TO DO.”

This is annoying. I have had bosses like this. They come in, and practically delight in telling you that you have oceans of work ahead of you. “You are gonna be REALLY busy today! You may have to stay all night! I wouldn’t make plans to go out with friends if I were you!”

You can hear the designers’ shoulders slumping whenever Gunn says this to them, and he does it all the time. I was going to make an appliqué for this nice dress, Mr. Gunn. But now that you’re telling me how miserable I’m going to be while putting it together, I think I’ll quit and go have some chips and dip.

Quit telling the designers that they’re going to be hunched over sewing machines for the next 18 hours, Tim. I like watching the designers be your slaves. I just don’t want to feel like I’m among them.

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