Style Icon: Joan Holloway

Continuing with style icon week! A style icon is a personal saint of your style world and serves many purposes--such as a starting line for a killer outfit or a persona to channel when things get tough at work. These women reveal a part of yourself and encourage you to foster other virtues. Their style is to be admired, dissected, and emulated but never copied--each should make you try to be a better version of yourself.

Joan Holloway is a natural choice for a style icon. Mad Men has been inspiring the fashion world since it started airing in 2007. Joan won me over instantly with her easy grace, classy business clothes, and complete self-possession. She's polite yet blunt, elegant and put together. Most of all she's good at her job, makes it her art and excels at everything she does. She uses her femininity like battle armor, she is very calculated in how she dresses and what she reveals to those in the office. She uses her love life to blow off steam but keeps her personal life perfectly separated from her professional career. She maintains her facade at all times and keeps other people's secrets as well as her own. She has more integrity and honesty than anyone in the office. She clothes herself in shift dresses and high-waisted pencil skirts and never shows cleavage, as a curvy girl this realization completely changed my work wardrobe. Joan taught me how to show off my curves without exposing my body--a lesson every woman should learn.

Youch!

Style it: Look for jewel tones, little sleeves, scarf-like details around the high-neck, and a pencil silhouette. I've always had good luck at Banana Republic ($150) and J.Crew ($198) for shift dresses, keep in mind that spindly models do not show off the Joan-like possibilities of such dresses!

1940s-style wedding!

So several months ago Mr. Anachronistic Style and I tied the knot after eight years. We never really had the money for a wedding and have been supporting ourselves for years so we decided to do something quick and simple. My concept was the 1940s, during wartime many couples were married in their back yards or in wedding chapels before the men shipped off to war. Weddings of this time period were simple and bittersweet affairs.

We decided not to invite anyone to our wedding except our parents. Whenever we attempted a guest list it always got out of hand so we kept it simple. We chose a local wedding chapel for its retro appeal and it was our most tasteful option in Columbus. Mr. Anachronistic Style wore his grey Mad Men for Banana Republic suit, wingtip shoes and a pink striped tie. He had to wait on me since I was fashionably late to my own wedding.

My dress was the Ava dress from pinupgirlclothing.com. The wrap style and longer length were so 1940s! My bouquet was white and pink hydrangeas (my favorite flower) and I realize now how slimming a bouquet is, I should carry one every day! My purse was a gift from my husband for my birthday last year and was made by Guess. My sunglasses are kate spade, my shoes are Madden Girl found at DSW. My rhinestone necklace was genuine vintage. My lips were Lime Crime Retrofuturist and my toes and tips were Essie Lollipop.

We make such a picturesque couple! It doesn't hurt that Mr. Anachronistic Style fills out that suit so well.

Detail shot of our shoes and my hair. I wanted victory rolls and I got them! My nude platform pumps actually had little white polka dots, I had to add my own quirkiness to such a classic retro look. After the wedding we spent some time with our photographer Stephanie Atwood and then met our parents at a swanky restaurant for dinner. The whole affair was nice and relaxed, just the way I wanted it!

Valley of the Dolls or Betty Draper?

I decided to post this feature in celebration of the season premier of Mad Men this past Sunday. Betty was conspiciously absent from the first episode as Don settles down with his new wife. What's in store for the former Mrs. Draper this season? I think this editorial shows a Betty a few years later, twice divorced and downing dolls and alcohol while the kids are at school and greeting the mailman in a Miu Miu coat. The character reference is obvious and the use of shadows are a reflection of Betty's eventual decline from the fresh pastel-loving girl from season one. Brilliant. This "Valley of the Dolls" editorial was shot by Rosie Huntington for Harpers Bazaar UK.

Dita Von Teese on Stockings

Dita recently shared her tips for wearing fully fashioned stockings and her advice is too good to not pass on. Like most things pertaining to vintage fashion stockings are a lost art. Here's what Dita has to say for those of us born after pantyhose were invented...

"Always buy more than one pair of the same style, so if one gets a run, just take another from a new package. Stockings are superior to pantyhose not just because they are more beautiful and feel more free, but because chances are, you may run one leg, but not the other, so the pair is not all lost when you have backups pairs. Next, do as the French do, and put the garter belt on FIRST! Panties (if any) go over the top so you can easily remove them for whatever reason and still have that lovely stocking and garter belt frame. Authentic fully-fashioned seamed stockings never have any lycra, therefore they have that lovely rasp of nylon, the welt with a keyhole in back, and of course, they have an authentic stitched seam and a cuban or french heel. Your garter belt must have stability to keep the seams straight; look for ones with six straps rather than four, one that is wide and sits firmly in place at the waist. Girdles and corsets accomplish this too. The stockings should frame the pelvis, not be too long, nor too short, but the top part of the stocking should rise to about mid-thigh. My signature stockings are made on the true vintage 1940s era mills, with every detail in place. Beware of faux seams and lycra! Welcome to the Cult of the Fully-fashioned Nylon Stocking! Accept nothing less!"

You can purchase Dita's authentic stockings at Secretsinlace.com here!

Weekly Expense Report: Mad Men Edition

There has not been a Weekly Expense Report for awhile now in preparation for the Mad Men Collection launched at Banana Republic this Thursday. I went hog wild trying on every piece of the collection. Lucky for my wallet my boobs are unforgiving toward such structured styles--while many of the dresses looked great from the front my boobs looked tortured from the sides. I'm very happy with my purchases but I'm still dying for the black cat-eye sunglasses that apparently nobody carries in store.


I've been drooling over this leopard print trench ($198) for weeks and called on Thursday to put the coat on hold. The pattern is slightly shimmery, the material perfectly light-weight as a trench should be, and the lining divine. The cut really stands out--the waist is nipped in and the bottoms flares over the hips way more than the photo shows, a very 1950's silhouette! It is so chic and timeless I will be wearing this for decades!


The lace tipped Joan dress ($150) worked the best for my figure. The material is beautiful and I love the lace details at the hem and shoulders. The cowl neckline accommodates an ample chest and I was even able to zip it up all by myself! I will be getting my Holloway on at work in this number.


Mr. Anachronistic Style will be getting his Don Draper on in the tailored slim two-button suit blazer ($375). He was in the market for a suit blazer that could be casual or dressy and this even looked amazing over his jeans and T-shirt in the store. He now has two suits for wherever life may take him.


Of course the matching tailored slim suit pants ($150) had to come home with us too. They fit him like a glove.


I've been meaning to buy this book ever since I read the review that T.Lo gave it. I'll be thumbing through it in the coming weeks but you can get your copy here ($27).


I have vowed to buy at least one top on every shopping trip until I build up my collection. This bottle green lace tee ($40) made it easy to keep my promise. Looks amazing with a pencil skirt or with cropped 1950's cigarette pants. Don't forget the pearls!


I'm so in love with the full skirts everyone is carrying this fall, they make the waist look so tiny! I opted for this teal grosgrain waist pleated skirt ($80) because black is just so ordinary.


Every fashionista no matter what era needs jeans. I wore my jeggings out last year and had to throw them away at the beginning of summer. The 1969 mid-weight high-rise legging jean ($70) is perfectly cuffable for now and perfectly tuckable for later. Love that high waist so much, low-rise jeans never did anybody's muffin top any favors!

Mad Men + Banana Republic!

I am excited about the Banana Republic + Mad Men collaboration coming to stores August 11th! I see that leopard coat, cardigan, and skinny gray pants in my future. The dresses will be judged purely by how well they fit but you can bet I'll be trying all of them on. Mr. Anachronistic Style will also be getting his Don Draper on.

Mad Men and High Fashion

While books have been written on the relationship between fashion, music, and television any connoisseur of all three can see the connection (Lady Gaga in Alexander McQueen, Anna Sui designing for Target based on the show "Gilmore Girls" etc.) In this vein the TV show "Mad Men" has charmed critics and designers alike and suddenly full-on 1950's fashion has been strutting down the runways and posing in editorials. Fitted bodices, full skirts, gloves, framed purses, and the classic slingback is back in high style. Louis Vuitton's new Fall/Winter ad campaign features dresses and bags presented in Mad Men style. While I would never carry a LV bag I am suddenly tempted to dye my hair that coppery-Christina-Hendricks-red that is popping up everywhere...






I declare July Mad Men month for this blog! Expect more style to come!