For anyone who might have noticed that it’s been awhile since we last posted, (bless your heart) we apologize--as is the case with most year-round Tampa residents, July is the one month when we can be found anywhere BUT Tampa, and many of the roads we traveled were not as internet-friendly as we would have liked.  But, while our access to the latest fashion news was extremely limited, we did get a chance to catch up on some movies and TV, including our new favorite cable TV series, AMC’s Mad Men.




Now in it’s second season, its superb writing, acting, and production values are enough to hook anyone, but we couldn’t help but notice that as Season Two has gotten rolling it’s also become an especially popular fix for us style junkies.

(It seems that most people were like us:  we’d watched a few of the first season’s episodes last summer and loved them, but, it wasn’t until we rented Season 1 on DVD and watched it all the way through, in anticipation of the highly-promoted Season 2 premiere on July 27th-- that our obsession hit full stride.)

And there’s no question that the series is a fashion fan’s dream--a showcase of vintage clothes and interiors that are, as their wearers might say, simply to die for.




Although we think Betty Draper has the hands-down most scrumptious mid-century suburban housewife wardrobe,

the style community’s very favorite character seems to be the office seductress, Christina Hendricks’s Joan Holloway.



More than a few people think her look is one worth emulating, but we’re not so sure it’s that easy.  

Because, while there’s no denying that her clothes have their own special poured-into-them fabulousness, it’s clearly who she is and how she wears them that has everyone so enthralled.   After all, it doesn’t take a fashion scholar to see that it’s her cucumber-cool bearing and sinuous, undulating walk that makes those simple blouses, skirts, and daydresses so special. (Well, okay, that and the fact that everything she wears has been tightened and tweaked to body-hugging perfection, but that’s just one more reason we’ve always said that a good tailor is a girl’s best friend.) 



In fact, the way her clothes and her body move as one in certain scenes got us wondering if she’s not some kind of Toon:

But then, that’s probably why she’s so inspiring.  Unlike Betty Draper, who had the dumb luck to be born with natural blond Grace-Kelly looks and a bank account to match, it’s obvious that Joan has worked hard to cultivate her feminine assets and learn to use them to her advantage.  She’s a clinic in the art of self-control, whether it’s through her meticulous grooming (hairdo and lipstick always intact, stockings smooth, and no doubt a Playtex girdle and Maidenform bra that could stand up by themselves) or the way she manipulates her many (mostly married) suitors. 

In fact, most Joan Holloway wannabes have already realized that copying her look is only half the battle in becoming Sterling Cooper’s cool, confident femme fatale, which is why the What Would Joan Holloway Do? blog couldn’t have come at a better time. 


[Sample entry:  Try to stay away from pattern prints. Stick with solid colors. Your mother wears pattern prints, not you.]

So if you haven’t caught Mad Men madness yet, you’d better get on it soon.  New episodes air every Sunday night, but AMC rebroadcasts them all week long, and if you missed Season One, apparently a lot of cable providers are offering the episodes free on demand.  (Not Verizon though.  Boo!)

Even if you have to pony up and rent the DVD or download episodes from iTunes, trust us, it’s worth it, because no matter what the medium, this is a message you won’t want to miss.