I have a degree in Fashion Merchandising and work at a high end retail store.
I spent most of my college years binge watching America’s Next Top Model and Project Runway- needless to say I was well aware of Simon Doonan prior to this book. I think if I hadn’t already been aware of Doonan’s history as the creative director for Barney’s I probably wouldn’t have picked his book up to begin with, but I think I would most definitely been disappointed by it. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone not firmly in the fashion or gay friendly circles.
I don’t really know what to call “Gay Men Don’t Get Fat” I thought it would be a memoir but its more a collection of essays. Its a shame because a 100% memoir would have been more interesting (he briefly touches on his upbringing, which included mentally unstable family members as well as growing up in a time when homosexuality was punishable by law in England). Unfortunately, he kept going off into generalized tangents about Tanya the stereotypical messy woman, the importance of fag hags, bears and his “Gay Cannon”.
Gay men may not get fat but they can get on your nerves when they are as narcissistic as Doonan.
