Carson Kressley

Carson Lee Kressley (born November 11, 1969 in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania) is the fashion expert on the American television program Queer Eye, where he is one of the show's "Fab Five" members.

Biography

Kressley was born and raised in Claussville, in the Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania. His family raised ponies and he competed in equine events from an early age, and was a member of the U.S. World Cup Saddle Seat equitation team. ^[1]

Growing up, he attended Northwestern Lehigh High School in the Northwestern Lehigh School District. He graduated from Gettysburg College with a degree in management and fine art in 1991, with Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude honors. While at Gettysburg College, Kressley became a brother of Alpha Phi Omega.

He currently resides in New York City, where he is active in numerous gay-rights, animal and health-related charities.

Career

He began as an independent stylist, then worked for Ralph Lauren from 1994 until 2002, working in several areas including menswear and corporate advertising. His leap into television took place in 2003 when he gained great exposure as the "fashion savant" on Queer Eye when the show debuted on the Bravo cable television network. He remains active and visible on television as a fashion critic or commentator. Kressley has frequently appeared on The Today Show and for the E! Network, among others, and has critiqued red carpet fashions at high-profile events such as the Oscars and the Golden Globes. In 2005 he acted as a judge for the Miss Universe pageant, which aired live from Bangkok, Thailand. In 2006 he returned to the Miss Universe pageant, but as commentator, and was also commentator for the 2006 Miss USA pageant. In February 2007, he was announced as the host of new Lifetime makeover show, How to Look Good Naked (a US version of a British show). The pilot is due to start shooting later in February. ^[2]

Acting

Since the success of Queer Eye he has pursued various acting opportunities. In 2005, Kressley made his film debut in the movie The Perfect Man starring Heather Locklear and Hilary Duff, playing Lance, a bartender. In July 2006 he announced he had started production on his second feature, The Year Without a Santa Claus, playing an elf. This TV movie also stars John Goodman as Santa, and aired December 11th, 2006 on NBC.

Fashion Design

He also has moved into fashion design. In November 2006, Kressley debuted "Perfect", his own clothing for men and women, on QVC. ^[3] He cites his experience as a stylist with Ralph Lauren and on Queer Eye as inspiration for the line, and says he "...realized a lot of people are missing great basics in their wardrobe. I consider my Perfect collection for QVC to be 'basics with a twist.'"^[4]

Books

• Author of the 2004 book Off The Cuff: The essential style guide for men and the women who love them (ISBN 0-525-94836-8).
• Author of You're Different and That's Super, a children's story of a unicorn among a herd of colts.
• Co-author, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy: The Fab Five's Guide to Looking Better, Cooking Better, Dressing Better, Behaving Better, and Living Better (Clarkson Potter, 2004), with the four other cast members.

Other vocations

In April 2006, Kressley became ordained over the Internet as a minister of the Universal Life Church, in order to be able to perform a wedding ceremony during an episode of Queer Eye^[5]. During the episode he mistakenly announced he had been ordained by the "Universal Unitarian Church of Modesto, California", and the slip aired, much to the amusement of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Modesto, California.

Awards

• In 2004 Queer Eye won an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Reality Program." It was nominated again for that category in 2005.

References

Wikipedia information about Carson Kressley This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Carson Kressley". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.