Tim Gunn has a great anecdote about the evolution of Washington fashion.
Talking to Capitol File magazine in this month’s issue, the “Project Runway” mainstay and author of the new book “Gunn’s Golden Rules,” mentions a trip to Capitol Hill several years ago.
“I had this congresswoman go running from me, saying ‘I didn’t know you were coming, and I’m not a fashion person,’ ” he said.
Things have gotten better since. Now, Gunn gushes about Nancy Pelosi and Michelle Obama, especially Michelle Obama.
“It’s really true; the effect she’s had is phenomenal,” he said. But he doesn’t buy the Michelle O/Jackie O comparisons.
“She’s a real woman with a real woman’s figure — a gorgeous figure,” he told Capitol File. “She’s not Jackie, she’s not some little starved porcelain doll.”
Beside fashion, the fifth-generation Washington native discussed another D.C. trend. He admitted to watching the “Real Housewives of D.C.” and doesn’t think highly of it or reality TV in general.
“People who were once anonymous who then go on a reality show, like one of the ‘Real Housewives’ franchises, and put their whole life out in front of everyone’s face … that is really repugnant,” he said. (Though isn’t “Project Runway” considered reality TV?)
Gunn occasionally does dip back into the District. In September he was a guest bartender at P Street’s MOVA Lounge at an “Out for Work” fundraiser. He’ll return Wednesday for an exclusive Capitol File fete at the Corcoran Gallery of Art and College of Art and Design, Gunn’s alma mater.
