Top 5 Style Inspirations: Joan Holloway, Mad Men (Christina Hendricks)

(Source)

The following is a five-part series on my biggest style inspirations, real and fictional. I've never been one for spot-on trying to copy another person/character/celebrity's outfit, I tend to aim more for the realm of "close enough" because I believe that style should first and foremost be self expression. Of course, it's never a bad idea to draw inspiration from those you admire. Thus, in this series my aim so to create sample outfits that are influenced by my inspirations, but not exact copies of what they're wearing. 

I'll admit I've only recently finished the first season of Mad Men, but the main thing that drew me in to the series was the style. Va-va-voom is literally the best way to describe Christina Hendricks and her character on the show, Joan Holloway. I love 50's and 60's retro style, and as a shapelier girl myself it's great to see women with curves for days on television.

The way Joan dresses suggests she knows she's got it, and flaunts it accordingly. Belts, wiggle dresses and pencil skirts all help to show off Joan's amazing hourglass figure. She's also not afraid to experiment with color, which is fantastic inspiration for women who feel like they need to hide their shape in black and grey. Of course, you don't have to have a body like Christina to work gorgeous retro inspired ensembles.

Joan dresses in fitted dresses or skit and blouse combinations, usually made of heavier looking material in rich colors like berry, cobalt, emerald and coral. Her jewelry is generally timeless and tastefully chosen so as not to overwhelm her own beauty. Here are some Joan-esque outfits for inspiration.

(Dress, Shoes, Brooch, Necklace, Earrings)

The color, shape and side bow of this dress is very reminiscent of Joan's style. I decided to go with a simple gold chain instead of the dangly piece that Joan is wearing in the picture due to the cowl neck of the dress. I think a simple pair of black pumps with a tiny bit of detail pulls the entire look together.

(Necklace, Blouse, Shoes, Skirt, Earrings)

In this look, Joan wears a pussy bow blouse with a camel colored, textured pencil skirt. The dangly necklace makes a reappearance (I think it's actually a pen) which I think is an interesting choice considering there is already quite a bit of detail in the neck area, but I left it in with inspiration outfit this time. I'm not sure about the exact shoes that Joan wore in this episode, but I took some artistic liberty and thought that a light red suede would look nice.

Who is your style inspiration? Tell me in the comments!