Happiness from a warm Gunn

There are some things in life you are drawn to for no logical reason, such as deep-fried Snickers bars, YouTube clips of runway models falling during fashion shows, and movies starring talking animals. I now have another name to submit to the list of the universally irresistible: "Project Runway" mentor Tim Gunn.

On the surface, it defies logic that a button-down 50-something with a penchant for saying "gather 'round, designuurs" has become America's favorite reality-TV fussbudget. But I have seen the power of Gunn firsthand. At New York Fashion Week, Gunn is a fixture alongside the catwalk, and I never tire of seeing the excited glow in people's eyes when they spot him. There's a chorus of "Oh my God, there's Tim." After the show, his fans line up to speak with him as if he were a wealthy relative handing out $100 bills.

When I ask Gunn if he has noticed the universal love that flows his way, he's properly demure and polite.

"Chris, you're very kind to say that," he says when I get him on the phone from Los Angeles. "That's a lovely thing to hear, thanks so much."

He's probably hoping I'll drop the subject and instead start asking about Heidi Klum's "Project Runway" wardrobe allowance. But I persist.

"What I notice," he says. "Is that people feel very comfortable coming up to me and talking. It's the greatest compliment in the world. They perceive that I'm user-friendly, approachable, and accessible, and they're absolutely correct."

He tells me the story of a Liz Claiborne denim event (Gunn left his position as fashion chair at Parsons The New School for Design for the job of chief creative officer at Liz Claiborne last year) at which he was approached by a woman he describes as "figure challenged" and "fashion challenged."

"She said, 'I came because I knew you'd be here. I wanted your advice, and I knew you wouldn't be mean to me.' It was so touching," he recalls. "I get weepy thinking about it. I told her, 'Of course I'm not going to be mean, we're going to work together and make it work.' "

I was getting weepy myself as Gunn told the story. Perhaps America's unbridled fondness for Gunn is the "To Sir, With Love" syndrome (or, for you kids out there, the "Dangerous Minds" syndrome). He's America's couture professor, dispensing his sartorial lessons with just a pinch of tough love. And if we learned anything from watching Michelle Pfeiffer pretend to be an ex-Marine and inner-city teacher, it's that we all need role models who are both caring and tough.

"He's sort of the ideal boss or professor we all want. He's nurturing, but he's not so gushy that we don't respect him," says Patrice Oppliger, assistant professor of communication at Boston University and author of the book "Girls Gone Skank." "He's a very non-threatening person. Unlike Simon Cowell [of 'American Idol'], who wears a black T-shirt and looks more menacing, Tim looks like a friendly college professor. He's very gentle in his criticism. Even the tone of his voice is very warm and open."

As expected, my circle of reality-TV junkie and fashion devotee friends are hopelessly devoted to Gunn, but I'm surprised to see how far that love extends beyond those groups. Earlier this month at a hobbit-themed apple-picking wedding (don't ask), I polled a random selection of married gents about Tim Gunn. Not only did they know who he was, but they were fans. One of them told me on the sly that he also watches "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style."

"In an age where a lot of TV stylists are putting women down, Tim really works to help build their self-esteem," says celebrity stylist David Evangelista. "It's so easy to be mean and pick people apart, but he doesn't go there, and people really respect him for that. He reaches a broader audience because we're so used to mean and nasty that nurturing is a refreshing change."

Finally, the answer to my nagging question of how a slightly stiff, gray-haired man in a suit could become a hero to so many came in a succinct and beautiful explanation from former "Runway" contestant Steven Rosengard.

"Why is Tim so universally appealing? I would say it comes down to three things," Rosengard says. "He's clearly intelligent, but without being a bore. He can laugh at himself and at others, without a trace of malice. Above all, he's unpretentious, which in fashion is like finding a piece of the Queen's jewelry without a diamond in it."