Tim Gunn in Conversation with Dr. Valerie Steele Fashion Culture

From the 19th-century corset to the modern waist trainer, the fashion industry has long held that most bodies require correction. In this episode, Dr. Valerie Steele and Tim Gunn trace the historical arc of body ideals in Western fashion, from the voluptuous Venus of the Victorian era to the increasingly narrow and homogeneous standards that dominate runways today. Drawing on decades of curatorial scholarship and industry experience, Dr. Steele and Gunn examine the persistent reluctance among designers to create beyond a narrow range of sizes, the structural barriers facing fashion students seeking education in plus-size design, and the enduring interplay between clothing, sexuality, and self-presentation. Gunn reflects on his own encounters with industry exclusion while Dr. Steele situates these conversations within a longer history of medical, cultural, and commercial pressures on the female body. This episode was recorded live on Friday, February 23, 2018, as part of The Museum at FIT's 19th Annual Fashion Symposium, Fashion and Phsyique. Watch the full video with captions on YouTube. The Museum at FIT (MFIT) is the only museum dedicated exclusively to the art of fashion in New York City.

You can listen to Tim Gunn in Conversation with Dr. Valerie Steele Fashion Culture online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Tim Gunn in Conversation with Dr. Valerie Steele Fashion Culture is an episode from The Museum at FIT Fashion Culture Podcast by museumatfit.

This episode is 29:57 long.

This episode was published on May 1, 2026.

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