Tim Gunn: Anna Wintour has her bodyguards carry her down stairs

May 27, 2010 - New York, New York, U.S. - Author/ reality personality TIM GUNN promotes his new book at Book Expo America 2010 held at the Jacob Javits Center. © Red Carpet Pictures

Did you know that Tim Gunn has written a book? He has, and he’s giving us some juicy gossip about some high-profile fashion people. The book is called Gunn’s Golden Rules, and I guess it’s supposed to be a fashion bible for people who adore Tim Gunn (raising hand). Anyway, Page Six has an early excerpt of the book, and it’s a good one. Tim tells two great stories, one about Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour being carried down stairs by bodyguards, and the second about Vogue’s Andre Leon Talley being fed like a bird.

Tim Gunn has seen a lot, but his story of watching Anna Wintour get carried down five sets of stairs by her bodyguards after refusing to ride an elevator takes the cake. In his new book, “Gunn’s Golden Rules” (Simon & Schuster’s Gallery Books), co-written with The Post’s Ada Calhoun, the flamboyant “Project Runway” host dishes on his encounter with the Vogue editor at designer Peter Som’s fashion show at the Metropolitan Pavilion in 2006.

After the show, writes Gunn, “I was with a colleague from Parsons, and we had been discussing the will-she-or-won’t-she-take-the-elevator question, so we ran over to the elevator bay to see if Anna would deign to get on. She wasn’t there. Then we looked over the stairway railing. And what did we see but Anna being carried down the stairs. The bodyguards had made a fireman’s lock and were racing her from landing to landing. She was sitting on their crossed arms.”

Adds Gunn: “I ran to the window to see if they would put her down on the sidewalk or carry her to the car like that. They carried her to the car. And I thought: I will never forget this.”

It’s not the only instance of divalike behavior by a Vogue staffer: Gunn also writes of a run-in later that year with Editor-at-Large Andre Leon Talley at the New York Public Library at a panel discussion with photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and People editor Martha Nelson.

Gunn, Nelson and Greenfield-Sanders went to sound-check, but Talley refused. Gunn writes: “When we return to the green room, we see that someone has spread a translucent barber’s bib over Andre and he’s reclining, his arms at his sides. He’s being fed grapes and cubes of cheese one by one, like a bird in a nest.”

A spokesman for Vogue told Page Six, “Tim Gunn has a very vivid imagination. There is no truth to any of this.”

[From Page Six]

Oh, snap. Vogue’s spokesman doesn’t sound too happy. I bet the spokesman really said “[THAT BITCH] Tim Gunn has a very vivid imagination.” Anyway, I believe Tim’s story. I was going to say “especially about Andre Leon Talley” but I believe both the Talley and the Wintour stories equally. Talley seems like a madman, and in 2006, ALT would have been dieting, right? Being fed like a bird was probably part of his “diet”. Oh, and Wintour being carried by bodyguards just makes sense if you’re wearing crazy heels. Why take off your shoes to walk? Real fashion is never convenient, bitches.

Feb. 23, 2010 - New York, New York, United States - ANDRE LEON TALLEY attends The CW Network's launch of ''High Society,'' ''Fly Girls'' and Cycle 14 of ''America's Next Top Model'' at Simyone Lounge in New York City on 02-23-2010. 2010..K64228HMc. © Red Carpet Pictures

NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 08:  Andre Leon Talley (L) and  Anna Wintour attend the Calvin Klein Fall 2007 fashion show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week February 8, 2007 in New York City.  (Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images For IMG)

May 03, 2010 - New York, New York, U.S. - ANNA WINTOUR attends the Metropolitan's Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala Benefit for the opening of the new exhibit 'American Woman: Fashioning A National Identity. © Red Carpet Pictures

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33 Responses to “Tim Gunn: Anna Wintour has her bodyguards carry her down stairs”

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  1. Anna says:

    You can’t make that sh!t up, can you? I believe Tim. I think he’s successful enough and wealthy enough to not have to rely on fabricated stories in order to sell his book. Plus, he’s just fab. 😀

  2. bizzy says:

    i’d like to believe the anna wintour story, but she doesn’t seem like the type to let the hired help touch her. i think they probably just winched her down out of an upstairs window like a grand piano.

  3. Fluffy Kitten Tail says:

    I cannot stand Wintour.

  4. waldemar says:

    On my way to amazon.com RIGHT NOW

  5. coconut says:

    what’s anna’s issue with elevators? she has the bodyguards to ensure the riff- raff don’t stuff into the elevator with her, no?

  6. pebbles says:

    I believe this all to be true.
    I had the misfortune of working at Chanel, Inc. back in the ’90’s. You wouldn’t believe the bitchiness.
    Don’t get me started on Karl Lagerfeld.

  7. Cheyenne says:

    I cancelled my subscription to Vogue because of Wintour. She turned the magazine into a fashion tabloid.

  8. ctkat says:

    @bizzy: love that image!

    I will believe pretty much any mad story about Anna Wintour, and ALT seems just as crazy, so throw him in there as well.

  9. Eden says:

    @Bizzy- Ha!
    I totally believe both of these stories. When you look at who he’s talking about there is definitely warped logic to what he says.
    Tim Gunn does not strike me as a liar or one to tell tales if there isn’t truth to back him up and I agree with Anna that he is well beyond having to draw attention to himself with slander or controversy.
    It takes some courage to write a book like this and expose some of the crazy in his industry.
    Love him!!

  10. Feebee says:

    As Anna said, you can’t make this shit up. Maybe they thought no-one would believe anyone who told the story of what they saw but I’m thinking they don’t give a rat’s ass and probably didn’t think being carried down stairs or being fed (like a bird seeing a little delicate for a man the size of ALT) was abnormal behaviour.

    I’ve never got ALT. He’s like an inside joke I’m not privy to or understand. His dress sense is hideous and what he put Jennifer Hudson in one time was ridiculous for an amateur stylist let alone an apparent expert from Vogue.

  11. Steeze says:

    i believe tim. he seems like a genuinely good person with loads of personality.

    ive seen these vogue people in documentaries and shows and i believe they are that crazy and self absorbed to ask this of their staff.

    tim rules!

  12. Azurea says:

    These people are a waste of space. I wonder if they can even wipe their own behinds.

  13. Tess says:

    Perhaps, among the fashionistas, the ancient Chinese practice of footbinding will be revived.

  14. Shay says:

    To think that these aesthetically hideous people rule the fashion world and dictate what women should (in their warped minds) look like. It’s incredible!

  15. notgaga says:

    Damn, the book is not out until September. Don’t be a tease Tim Gunn, this sounds like a great beach read.

    I would believe anything of Andre Leon Talley. He looks like he enjoys bringing the crazy.

  16. Q says:

    What I adore most about Tim Gunn is his total willingness to blab. If you’re doing something bizarre, rude or catty in his presence, he’s going to tell EVERYONE. It’s like he wants to make sure all of us are in on the joke.

    Even if he made it up, it’s still awesome.

  17. Maritza says:

    Tim Gunn is so cool, I believe everything he said is true.

  18. mouth.like.a.sailor says:

    i totally believe the Anna Wintour thing, i mean…first of all…as fabulous and bitchy as Tim Gunn may be, i CAN NOT believe or think that he is a liar. that is just too far beneath him, he has way too much class for that, or at least he gives the appearance of having too much class for that. and as we all know ladies and gentlemen, appearance is everything, especially in his surprisingly small and twisted world of fashion.
    the Anna Wintour being carried thing, as AMAZING as that is, i mean reallly! think of the mental picture!!!!! but as amazing as that is, i really don’t think he was saying it in a bitchy way, he’s just recounting the story of what he saw and how he will NEVER ever EVER forget the sight of it. i mean, we all know how hard it can be to walk in some of these high HIGH stilettos and heels and the crazy “designer” shoes that you know Anna would have on at something like that. could you imagine having to walk down 5flights of stairs in heels like that??? nope, me either. i mean, being carried….that’s a little bit ridiculous (ok, ALOT ridiculous) but i guess this little story presupposes that we all know that Anna Wintour hates having to ride on elevators with us commoners i guess. and who is to say maybe she wasn’t injured, like with a twisted or a sprained ankle from wearing said shoes???? i mean, maybe JUST MAYBE it’s not as bitchy and divalicious as we think. maybe.

  19. danielle says:

    what the hell is wrong with these people?!?!

  20. Hautie says:

    As many times as I have seen Wintour in pictures I have never seen her wearing any startling heels. She seems to be dress well for her age and never in the bizarro fads like ridiculous heels.

    She was carried down those stairs cause she wanted to be.

    And to place grown men in the position of having to do cause she demanded it.

    She is a nutcase.

    And from the looks of it Tim Gunn is going to p*ss her off by telling everyone how crazy she is from his first hand knowledge. hahaha!

  21. Lady Nightshade says:

    I saw Tim Gunn at JFK airport last year. He was just walking along by himself carrying his own luggage. So cool

  22. denise says:

    Why the heck would her “people” degrade themselves, to that degree. I mean what makes this wretched women think she is so much better than anyone else. If it were me, I would have thrown that hag down the steps. And are they sure Leon was being fed grapes, and not buckets of fried chicken. I mean look at him. The only people I would hand feed, are my children. Delusional plastic people, with a delusional sense of entitlement.

  23. juiceinla says:

    Does this worry me? HEDHS no!!!!

    Gunn’s credibility over anything from Vogue, Wintour or Leon is unflappable, and Furthermore hertofore, Gunn would not have risked the wrath if it weren’t true.

    Love the Gunner. book: purchased! Celebitchy: thanks for the heads up!

  24. Erin says:

    Love Tim! Will buy this for sure!

  25. Westcoaster says:

    @Pebbles

    So what’s the scoop on Karl Lagerfeld?

  26. Canucklehead says:

    Wintour has carried Vogue to the edge of irrelevance.

    How does she keep her job?

  27. Jo 'Mama' Besser says:

    Dear Anna,
    Montezuma II: Look it up.

    Dear Andre,
    Seek help.
    ***
    @Pebbles:

    Don’t torture us like this! You can’t dangle that carrot in front of us without supplying the whole bunny. If for whatever reason you have painful or embarassing stories or anything of that nature, of course I would never ask you to go to that space just for our entertainment. But, if there’s anything you feel comfortable divulging, please, please with dulce de leche on top?!

  28. pebbles says:

    Okay, okay, Karl Lagerfeld is an ass!
    Have to say it!

    Fat as he was at the time, he “could not bear” to look at what he perceived to be “frumpy” women in the office. He once sent a temp receptionist out of the office in tears. He arrived with his big old lady sunglasses, looked her up and down, did not say a word to her, but went in to the CEO and said to “dismiss THAT immediately.” He referred to her as “an assault on his senses.”
    The woman was dressed professionally, but was not svelte.
    We were also instructed to not address Mr. Lagerfeld…to only speak if we were addressed first.
    And the bastard had to have an ice cold Pepsi waiting for him in a Baccarat crystal glass when he arrived in the office. And he never touched it. Had to be there just the same.
    Phew. Felt good to get some out here, but since cb is a “light-hearted” website, I will now move on……

  29. nycmom10024 says:

    This could absolutely be fabrication, but having said that Gunn knows that you can make anything crazy thing up about these two and most peeps would believe it because both are Diva’s.

  30. Katyusha says:

    Nothing says “style” like being covered in skunk pelts (3rd pic down).

    Are those skunks? I can’t think of another animal that has those color patterns!

    He looks like a g*ddamned caveman.

  31. Liana says:

    I totally believe it, especially since I had actually heard that story before from another source. Besides, why would Tim Gunn lie? He has no reason to.

  32. Whitey Fisk says:

    Pebbles, I love it! Thank you for sharing!

  33. Jen says:

    I love Tim Gunn, he wouldn’t lie, there are so many eccentrics in the fashion industry, why would he need to?