Tim Gunn: Bring Me Meryl and Angelina!

The Project Runway mentor and cohost of ABC's pre-Oscar show explains why Angelina Jolie always gets it right, but Meryl Streep...not so much

By Marc Malkin Feb 17, 2009 3:05 PMTags
Angelina Jolie, Tim Gunn, Meryl StreepJason Merritt, Eugene Gologursky, Francois Durand/Getty Images

Tim Gunn would like a word with Meryl Streep.

"I am her biggest fan and I can't get enough of her," the Project Runway mentoring guru tells me. "But wearing my fashion hat, I want to say to Meryl Streep, 'You need to accept responsibility for what you are wearing. I don't know that you do.' She is so smart, so stunning, and she has a great figure."

Gunn says he'd love to go shopping with Ms. Streep to help her—yup—make it work.

"Sometimes she gets it right, but more often she doesn't," Gunn says. "The message she's sending is, I'm too smart for this and it doesn't matter to me what I'm wearing. I want to say to her that it should matter to you."

Gunn may finally get that chance to chat with Streep on Sunday, when he cohosts ABC’s live pre-Oscar special with Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts and Jess Cagle (Entertainment Weekly's managing editor).

Gunn is also hoping to meet Angelina Jolie on the big day. No, he doesn't think she needs any help in the fashion department.

 Jolie, Gunn gushes, always gets it right.

"She's one who knows her body, understands how important silhouetted proportion is and getting your look right is," he explains. "She always has a great fit. But you know what impresses me more about Angelina Jolie than the red carpet dresses? It's how she navigates the real world. She does it without looking inappropriate. She's age appropriate and she's context appropriate. She has a sophistication yet a sexiness and she has a consistent polish."

Meanwhile, Gunn is getting ready for Friday’s Project Runway finale during Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week. Sadly, it doesn’t sound like we’ll be seeing this season on television anytime soon because Heidi Klum & Co. are stuck in the courts, where Bravo has been fighting the hit show’s move to Lifetime.

"I don’t miss it because we're doing it, but I do miss it being on the air," Gunn says. “What's peculiar is no one in the [finale] audience will know who any of these designers are because, I really have to tell you, it's a great season."

Gunn is also waiting to hear if Bravo is giving him the greenlight for a third season of his P.R. spinoff, Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style. If it's a go, he's hoping to add some men into the makeover mix. "We wanted to do guys this past season, but Bravo pushed us back,” Gunn says. “If we have a season three, and I hope we do, we will have them!"

Speaking of men and their clothes, Gunn is still not sure what he’ll be wearing to the Oscars. But it does sound like he's leaning toward his J. Crew tuxedo. He says, "I'm taking a note from Michelle Obama."