Well, according to the WSJ, it’s pronounced phonetically (and not with some exotic em-phasis on the last syllable): Most of the first French names to appear in the U.S. were a cinch, like Dior and Chanel. But a lot of the names in play today need to be spoken with a real lilt , like Jean Paul Gaultier (zhan paul GO-tee-AY), Alber Elbaz for Lanvin (al-BEAR el-BAHZ for lon-VAN), and Nicolas Ghesquière (NEE-ko-la guess-KYAIR). Mamma mia! The Italian names can play tricks on you, too — such as Bulgari(BOOL-ga-ree), Ungaro (OON-ga-ro), Versace (ver-SAH-chay) and Zegna(ZANE-ya). And from Spain comes the tricky Loewe (LO-ee-VAY). (To hear every last nuance of pronunciation, check out the audio tutorial at WSJ.com/Fashion.) …. Don’t worry that sound will affect you. Why not try to get it right? The more syllables, the more delicious it sounds: I just love to say the name of Swiss watch maker Vacheron Constantin (va-sha-RON con-ston-TAN). But don’t force a fashion-y flourish on American designers whose names sound just like they look: It’s Ralph Lauren (rhymes with “foreign”) and Donna Karan (sounds like “Karen”). On a separate note, the only other thing I know about fashion is that I think that outside of looking great, comfort should be key. Tim Gunn disagrees with me inthis week’s Time talking about Crocs: I know it’s comfortable; I understand that. But if you want to dress to feel as though you never got out of bed, don’t get out of bed. Well Tim, tell that to every start up entrepreneur in Silicon Valley (although I guess some of us really don’t get out of our place of work and play, so point taken).