TVSquad

Tim Gunn of Project Runway fame attended the Baltimore Book Festival on Sunday to promote his new book and Bravo show, Tim Gunn's Guide to Style. I was lucky enough to get pretty good seat before the rest of the crazed crowd consumed the tiny tent. Again, this was a book festival, but it would have been silly to think that the discussion wouldn't stray into television territory. Gunn briefly spoke about his new show and the history of its creation (Bravo wanted to do a show with him but had no ideas, Gunn came out with the book, Bravo found out and turned the book into a show about bettering women, not "make-overs"). Then, naturally, the topic of Project Runway came up and took over the rest of the Q&A. Gunn shared some sweet information on past seasons and the upcoming fourth cycle, premiering November 14th.

Project Runway is gearing up for a four city casting tour beginning March 30th in Los Angeles and continuing to Chicago, Miami and New York City. If you want to make the season four cut, you'll need to bring three garments of your own design, a picture portfolio and your completed application - soon to be available via BravoTV.com. And, don't worry, Tim Gunn will be back despite his many extracurricular activities.

In the interest of helping further your design career, I've put together a brief primer for success on Project Runway - from the auditions to the final catwalk.

Project Runway's mentor extraordinaire Tim Gunn has signed on to become the Chief Creative Officer of Liz Claiborne. He will oversee the designers of such labels as Juicy Couture, Kate Spade, Lucky Brand Jeans and DKNY Jeans. He'll maintain some kind of relationship with Parsons, where he has served as the design department's chair since 2000, and will be hosting Tim Gunn's Guide to Style on Bravo. While a contract has yet to be signed, he is expected to be part of Project Runway's fourth season.

Did you know that Liz Claiborne, the purveyor of mom fashion, oversaw design at Juicy Couture? It's too bad Tim couldn't have been at the helm earlier. He might have stopped the fitted velour sweatsuit trend before it trickled down Wal-Mart way. Seriously. Had he gotten to the Juicy team in time the words "sassy" and "hottie" might not be emblazoned over the rear ends of America's teens today. Better late than never, I suppose. Tim Gunn, you're American sportswear's only hope.

According to People, Tim Gunn may not return for the fourth season of Project Runway. Please, allow me to repeat myself: Tim Gunn -- the only voice of reason among a sea of poorly-dressed crazies -- may not return for the fourth season of Project Runway. See, the show has always filmed at the end of the academic semester, so Tim, an instructor at Parsons, would not have any schedule conflicts. This may not be the case any more.