"Bravo has tapped Gretta Monahan, fashion expert, personal stylist and owner of Grettacole Spas, Salons and Boutiques in Boston as Tim Gunn's "fashion accomplice" for season two of "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style," which premieres on the network later this year. Once again, the series uses Gunn's book, Tim Gunn: A Guide to Quality Taste and Style, as a manual. Gunn and Monahan won't be making anyone over – with tough love and guidance, they'll help people make themselves over. The announcement was made today by Frances Berwick, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Bravo Media.
"I've been a fan of Gretta's for awhile now - she's on the edge of fashion with a fresh approach that resonates well with all types of women," said Gunn. "I'm thrilled to have her as my fashion accomplice."
In each episode of "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style," Gunn will use his unmatched counseling skills, to turn the fashion weary into polished and dapper-looking individuals. Monahan will accompany style-challenged women on shopping challenges, while guiding their choices, supporting them and listening to and offering solutions for their concerns. She'll contribute her opinions, share her fashion knowledge, and support Gunn while he focuses on the big picture of each subject's transformation.
Tim Gunn: A Guide to Quality Taste and Style was written by Gunn and Kate Moloney, and published in May 2007 by Abrams Image, an imprint of Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
Gretta Monahan's influence as a trendsetter began in Boston with the debut of Grettacole, an intimate salon and spa that gained popularity due to its exceptional service and hip, fun environment. Inspired by the success of her first business endeavor, Gretta launched additional beauty hubs and a fashion boutique Gretta Luxe, as well as the Grettastyle Studio in New York City. Offering world-class beauty services and expert styling, the studio is by invitation only for VIPs seeking this integrated approach to overall personal style.
Her style empire, Gretta Enterprises, expanded in 2003 when she introduced G Spa, an express spa for the young, hip and time-pressed that offers "mini" treatments with full VIP service. She continues to expand her style empire with the new G Spa, located at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods, which opens later this month.
Today, Gretta appears as a "buddy" on "The Rachael Ray Show," and hosts the "Gretta's Got It" fashion segment on WHDH-TV, Boston's NBC station. She has contributed to the "Today Show," "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" and "The View;" both her beauty and fashion advice has been featured in W Magazine, Harper's Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Elle and Marie Claire. In 2005, Dove tapped Gretta to consult on its campaign for real beauty. She is also a design consultant for Brown shoe brands and serves as personal stylist to a celebrity client roster that includes Rachael Ray and Katie Lee Joel.
Gretta began her fashion career at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology, but left before graduation to follow her entrepreneurial spirit. She graduated from the Owners/ President / Management program at Harvard Business School. Gretta currently splits her time between Boston and New York."
Hmmph. We'll see.
[Photos: Getty Images]
63 comments:
Who?
Seriously I who is this chick...Bravo can't be serious? Veronica Webb wasn't the best "co host" but she was VERONICA freaking WEBB! Kelly Ripa wasn't avalible I mean she would have been a better choice than this chick.
Hmph. We will see.
Nina or Laura would've ben better....
With all the crying and self revelation( boo-hoo I found the right lip stick, now I can be a better mother to my children), this show is the one that belongs on Lifetime.
"She is also a design consultant for Brown shoe brands and serves as personal stylist to a celebrity client roster that includes Rachael Ray and Katie Lee Joel."
Katie Lee Joel?? Ouch. For her flacks to say 'includes' and then 'Katie Lee Joel', says there ain't much there.
However...Brown Shoe Brands...might that include Buster Brown? I could use a new decoder ring.
But I'm wondering how well she'll do advising others when she doesn't get that her boobs are all wrong for that dress. Seriously.
--GothamTomato
GothamTomato said...
However...Brown Shoe Brands...might that include Buster Brown? I could use a new decoder ring.
Yep, that's the one. Maybe they'll do a tie-in.
Who?
Wasn't Laura B. available? Or anyone we've heard of?
sewing siren:
"... this show is the one that belongs on Lifetime."
I'm with you. Really, they should just please take Tim's name off the whole thing and move it on over to Lifetime and let it go, just let it go ... It could be "Lifetime's Guide to Style, featuring a hitherto unknown FIT dropout who has founded an empire based on being able to afford a well-paid publicity person who will call her 'hip'"
TLo,
Let's give Gretchen a chance.
I met her a few years ago, she was
very nice. Now, my stylist is at
Grettacole in Wellesley, MA - the
people are all very personable.
Jane from Needham
I think she might be the love-child of Teri Hatcher and Eva Longoria. There's a resemblance, no?
Is there a difference between getting "tapped" and getting asked to do something?
Her dress in the picture doesn't give me confidence. Those beads almost make me think her nipples have migrated!
Ok. This is REALLY bitchy...but what is up with that photo. Looks like she has major "porn starlet bad boob job" going on up top and way too much plastic surgery in the face. When I first glanced at the photo, I honestly thought it was an older pic of LaToya Jackson. I'll have to google for some other pics. Maybe this is just a case of very harsh lighting and bad angles?
You gotta wonder what Tim REALLY thinks of all this.
I live in the Boston area, and I've never found her style that impressive. And if she's stylist to Rachel Ray, color me unimpressed.
One of the first Google hits shows that she's a "Coach" for something on TLC called "A Makeover Story". Wonder why they left this TV experience off her bio?
Hmmm..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz huh? Oh. Uh.. really interesting, er..synergy? I guess? But just goes to show, tv only looks at tv, and thinks their audiences are interchangeable. And dumb. Why take someone who has appeared on other shows already, THAT'S the answer...yeah.
While the point which made Tim interesting was that he was an unknown quantity, not a tv pundit, and never appeared on other shows other than PR, and surprised everyone. In short amounts.
Why take someone who is OBVIOUSLY a known enough quantity to be on Rachel Ray among others, and who will surely want their OWN part of the show, not happy to be a second banana.
There should be a book out about by end of next year - "From Runway to Ruinway: The Project Runway fiasco"
A "buddy" on the Rachel Ray show?
HORK!
So Laura Bennett was busy?
If the overdose of *hip* in Gretta's PR isn't enough to raise a red flag, she also hangs with Rachael Ray!?!
Must. stop. looking. at. her. right. boob.
And "trendsetter" and "Boston" -- now those are two words I've never seen in a fashion sentence before. Kind of like "cutting edge" and "Washingon, D.C."
Anonymous said...I think she might be the love-child of Teri Hatcher and Eva Longoria. There's a resemblance, no?
Yes! The Botox and eye work she's had done and the hard looking boob job definitely bear a resemblance to any number of those Desperate Housewives.
Is anyone in the media planning on aging gracefully and naturally?
Poor Tim.
Hm.
The choice of the next Mrs. Danvers to be poking around underwear drawers has left me stumped as to who the heck Gretta is.
And the mention of her as a "buddy" to Rachael Ray makes me recoil in horror! I HATE Rachael Ray and what she's done to Americans' notions about cooking.
Between this casting and the crap happening with PR, I'm wondering if I have the smarts to be a TV producer too. All I need now is lots of disposable income and a penchant for bullshittery....
In response to the brown shoe/buster brown comment. (Since its international headquaters is in St. Louis)Brown Shoe Brands is a LOT more than Buster Brown - http://www.brownshoe.com/wholesale/portfolio.asp
I've seen Gretta on fashion segments on Today, Rachel Ray, etc.. She seems amiable enough, but I can't imagine her being at the top of theirs or Tim's list.
Surely, Andre, Kara Saun, Austin or Uncle Nick were available for a few weeks of shooting episodes of Tim's show.
- edina -
C'est moi, c'est moi Lola said... Hm. The choice of the next Mrs. Danvers to be poking around underwear drawers...
Hahahaha! That just brightened my whole afternoon.
"Did you ever see anything so delicate? Look, you can see my hand through it!"
(with apologies to Daphne Du Maurier)
"You thought you could be Ms. Webb, live in her house, walk in her steps, take the things that were hers! But she's too strong for you. You can't fight her - no one ever got the better of her. Never, never. She was beaten in the end, but it wasn't Tim Gunn, it wasn't Bravo. It was the ratings!"
Poor Tim must be suffering whiplash about now.
I think Kevin would be good sidekick for Tim in this stupid show... Wasn't he working for Rachel Ray recently?
-- desertwind
Oh Bill, it's nice to know that SOMEONE got the reference, or at least had seen "Rebecca". Seriously, it's the only thing I could think about when I saw an episode of Tim's show.
And I LOVE your additional flourishes in your post!
Now, if I could only be as consistently witty, snarky and bitchy as you are in these comments! It's my not so new year resolution....
Ugh. Why would anybody want to make themselves over? If we could do that, why would we have to humliate ourselves on TV with Tim and buddy-to-Rachel-Ray holding a whip to our fat lazy butts? Can't imagine who would want to watch that. (Sorry, Tim. Love you, I do, but this new plan is not doable).
I can't stand Gretta. Total famewhore. From that pic, I can also see her influence on Rachael Ray's nasty cleavage-baring disasters. Gahhh, you're a stylist, you know where to find those push 'em up cups for your strapless/halter numbers.
Make them both go away.
Gretchen who?
Buster Brown still makes shoes?
Rachel Ray has a stylist?
Hey, I've got to get out more!
"I think she might be the love-child of Teri Hatcher and Eva Longoria. There's a resemblance, no?"
Throw in a little Kim Cattrall on a bad day and I think you've got it. What the hell is going on with Bravo???
Who'd trust a woman wearing hair extension?
And speaking of spin - the “Owners/ President/Management program at Harvard Business School” is NOT part of the MBA program. It’s one of the many non-accredited executive education courses offered by HBS to just about anyone who can pony up the cash to enroll. She may have “graduated” from the program but she does not have a degree from Harvard Business School. I know this because I used to work there.
Who? (sorry to bite off of you, bastylefilegirl, but I thought that deserved repeating)
Yikes.
gorgeous things said,
And if she's stylist to Rachel Ray, color me unimpressed.
Rachel Ray has been styled?
Gilding a perky turd is styling?
Doesn't this bit of casting smack of lover's revenge? As if Bravo, still smarting from the PR breakup, had to roll out their newest acquisition to say, "See we're just as accessible as you, Lifetime. So there!"
C'est moi, c'est moi Lola & Bill,
That "Rebecca" reference alone says you should be Tim's cohorts.
You 2 are funny as HELL!
As Phyllis points out, the Harvard OPM program is a 6-week course. I know 3 graduates of it, and all of them are useless. They all came out of it spouting self-aggrandizing platitudes and throwing around terms like syzygy regards its relation to business. Needless to say, anyone from that program sets my BS-o-meter to high.
At first glance that pic looked like Lindsay Lohan's MOTHER!!
WTH is going on?
Personal stylist to RACHEL RAY??
What does she style, Rachel's Dunkin Donut coffee mug??
-----StkrShock
I guess I am the only one who admires Laura Bennett's talent, and is amused by her insistence at going around the world in heels and dresses and diamonds or pearls for all occasions, but think of her as a fabulous larger than life drag queen diva (this is not a bad thing) -- not necessarily relatable to most women out there, possibly even intimidating, although she is a gay man's wet dream (exhibit A; this blog)... I have, however, never heard of this Gretta Monahan.
Working with Rachel Ray isn't something I would personally brag about, but I'll keep an open mind. I just hope they get rid of the humiliating underwear drawer expose.
emma p. said:
"That "Rebecca" reference alone says you should be Tim's cohorts.
You 2 are funny as HELL!"
Oh Emma P, if I were to be so lucky! But I'm afraid that I don't even have one good side to photograph, and I know from personal experience what fresh hell television production can be.
As for the 2nd Mrs. Danvers, two Tim-isms come to mind: "I'm woeful" and "I'm ambivalent".
Really, is it too much to ask that the people casting for the show get it reasonably right? Seriously, I love watching Tim for many of the reasons other commenters do: he's urbane, polished, accomplished, he's everyone's favorite TV mentor and the fantastic gay uncle I never had!
However, I feel that the powers that be in producing Tim's show are focused too much on that last description of Tim: avuncular!
What I'm interested in seeing is if Tim's new sidekick can bring him out of that avuncular shell of his. On PR, Tim is the straight man (pun intended) to the crazies like Santino and Vincent. Although the viewers can only see glimpses from time to time, (ex. Tim's reaction to "My Dinner with Andrae", Sissybear being the catalyst for mentioning 'bad 3a.m. decisions') I'm sure there is a more fun and I dare say "human" side to Tim. We heard it in his podcasts, and we see it in the great interviews he's given, especially the one with Bud Mishkin. On his own show, having to be the "fashion guru" takes over, and it just makes St. Tim a bit too one-dimentional. His sidekick should be working hard to help show us the side of Tim we only sometimes see, but we all know exists. At least that's what I would do, if I was lucky enough to be a cohort of Tim.
Scott Stone (one of Tim's producers), are you listening?
Sorry for the long post TLo, but I feel someone's not really making the effort to get this show right, and it makes me a little mad.
I'll throw another one into the mix:
I thought it was Paula Abdul with some recent face-work.
I guess I'll have to wait for the new season to see if she's any good, because I ain't watching no Rachel Ray. Every time the remote even slips there by mistake, I break out in hives.
One the reasons I love Anthony Bourdain is the endless stream of unabashed hate he publicly pours on RR. Good on him!
Geezus, I am already bored.
Can't they dig up someone who actually knows about fashion?
Love,
Milla
Add me to the chorus of "uggh's."
I'm from the Boston area too, and I've watched this woman from time to time in her style segments on the local station. She's pleasant enough, but bland as oatmeal. Her "advice" always seems to be the same; boring, pedestrian suggestions about "mixing and matching" colors and accessories. You get the same advice if you read the Tiger Beat beauty column.
Without reading this, I thought this was the New Jersey housewife Tim redid last season.
Harvard? I think the program listed is a certificate program. Nothing to sniff at, but I hate it when people put things like this on their CV without saying that it was a certificate program. It isn't either an MA, MBA or even a BA from Harvard.
The picture here is pretty dreadful; the one on BPR is better.
Maybe she's a little "meh," but after some of the things Veronica whipped out (the "Aunt Jemima" hair cloth being the first to pop to mind), "meh" could be a good thing.
I just hope she doesn't encourage the nasty comments from Tim the way Veronica seemed to.
Oohh, I am getting a bad feeling about this. I still think the revolving co-host would have been better.
that dress alone says it all. doesn't exactly look like someone that *anyone* should be taking fashion advice from????
Anyone, and I mean anyone, who considers themselves to be a "buddy" of that insipid craptaculer Rachael Ray should be banned from TV, nevermind getting a gig with Tim Gunn.
Honestly, anyone would be better than Veronica Whatshername.
I just cannot believe they overlooked the obvious choice : Laura Bennett....who EPITOMIZES quality, taste AND style!
"This is REALLY bitchy...but what is up with that photo."
Mike, LOL- don't you know TLo by now?? Do you honestly think that photo was an accident??
"Silently judging"??? You 2?
Now, that is one of the funniest things I've read all week!
emma p. said...
Rachel Ray has been styled?
Gilding a perky turd is styling?
HAHAHAHA!
Thanks emma! You just put a little burst of sunshine into a rainy Friday morning.
I will now be unable to hear or look at Ms. Ray without thinking "Perky Turd."
For some reason styling Rachael Ray doesn't seem like much of an accomplishment to moi.
¡Ai, Dios mío!
That doesn't look good!
Poor Tim : (
Hey, everybody kept saying that Veronica Webb was a model, she knew nothing about dressing a "regular" woman, now they got a more pedestrian version of VB and you bitches are complaining? : -)
I was about to be impressed by the "Harvard business credentials" of this nobody until I read these comments. You guys rock!
Maybe she's a nice person, but she looks like an older hybrid of that brunette Pussycat Doll and Vanessa Marcil. Its that generic Hollywood "bot" look celebrities from 50 to 17 are sporting these days. Boring!
I love Tim. Love him. But I won't be watching this mess. I can't see anything good coming from this. I figure you will let us know how bad it truly is without me spending my time :)
I dearly love Tim but found his show tedious so it doesn't matter to me who his co-host is....
Okay, maybe somebody already said this because I haven't read all 58 comments that have been made so far, but did it seem to anyone else that those weird red beads on her dress resembled oddly misplaced nipples from afar?
Glad to hear that Gretta Whoever will be supporting the fashion-challenged. Wish the bodice of that dress supported her a little better.
it's a sad day in tim gunn land...
maybe someday he will write his life story and we can know what he really thinks.
Laura B pleeeease: if you are reading this, call Tim Gunn now! Save him from shame!
As for the 2nd Mrs. Danvers, two Tim-isms come to mind: "I'm woeful" and "I'm ambivalent".
Add "perplexed." (Pretty soon we'll need a James Lipton vocabulary test)
I also thought it was Miss Forever Your Girl, too. That's not a good thing.
Cross-eyed nipples!
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