Mad Men: She is Joan and...

"the" Joan Holloway

Joan has it going on. Joan give withering glances. Joan has a wicked sarcastic streak. Joan knows what to wear. Obviously.

In fact, she instructed new girl Peggy on day one of her new job to go home and honestly examine her strengths and weaknesses, when it comes to how she looks. Harsh advice when you have just met someone! But that's "our Joan."

It's clear that Joan considers her strengths to be; not just her impressive bust, but actually her bosom-to-hip ratio. Too bad most modern women see this differently. Nowadays, while a large bosom is a positive, the corresponding hips are a big negative. Therefore, we see a lot of top heavy women who could not rock a decent 1950's-60's silhouette like Joan can.

Note also how Joan does not "flaunt" her bosom. She does not wear low cut tops though she does sometimes have interesting neckline or collar treatments (see below) that draw the eye to her, ahem, clavicle. In addition, there is that gold pen that draws the eye to that area again, but of course, in the guise of professionalism and efficiency.

Another thing commendable about Joan is that she knows what looks good on her when it comes to color. Her clothes work with her hair, whether by complementing it or contrasting with it. She also finally proves that there aren't many colors that red heads can't wear; instead, that it is all in the particular shade of the color.

To help achieve a bit of the Joan allure, search vintage pattern sites using the terms wiggledress and JackieO:




From left to right: McCall's 7004, Butterick 9657, and Mail Order 9251

Yard Sale observations and fallout

Observation #1: Do not expect to make money from a yard sale.

I made a total of $5.50 and after buying lunch and a man's shirt from one of the other sellers I had 25 cents left over. But I did however get rid of a healthy amount of stuff from my apartment:

• 2 pairs shoes
• 2 pairs pants
• 2 dresses
• 2 books
• 1 raincoat
• 1 jacket
• 2 handmade vests
• 4 skirts (2 handmade)
• 7 shirts
• lots of unworn jewelry and a red leather jewelry box
  

We did not have a very successful yard sale though we had some pretty cool stuff to offer.

Observation #2: If you participate in a group yard sale, expect to come home with something new.

I came home with: 1 Isaac Mizrahi for Target black blazer, 1 IZOD Jeans man's shirt (never-worn), 6 issues of Victoria magazine (circa 2002-3), and 2 sets of Dr. Seuss card games, and enough ideas for over ten blog posts!

Hurrah and oh la la...

The favorite dress has been found!

It was piled up in my Out Box with all the stuff I'm getting rid of! I found it thanks to the fact that I'm participating in a group yard sale this weekend. I really only looked through that pile because of the sale and it was the third thing I picked up. Hurray! So hopefully I can shift a lot of stuff out of here tomorrow and this won't happen again. Well, at least not anytime soon!



I have loved designer Dries Van Noten for years. I have images in my scrapbooks from the late 80's. I love these pictures of his 2009 Spring ready to wear collection, who knew black and white stripes could be so interesting? Check out the rest of the Paris Fashion Week show here on Style.com.

Going Further Into the Past

A co-worker brought this little thing into work for me. I have to admit I have never seen nor heard of these: little silk hosiery mending kits. They consist of small quantities of various shades of silk thread and Run-Arrestor wands that when moistened could be applied to runs in hosiery like a temporary glue. Once a women returned home she could wash the stockings and then mend them with the thread and included needle. How, I would not know? My try at mending would have been so noticeable that I would have to just throw out the hose and start all over with a new pair, no matter how expensive they were. Which of course really means that I would have been "that odd woman who always wore pants."

Real Silk ad

My mending kit was created and distributed by Real Silk Hosiery Mills, Inc. of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is nearly complete with 6 shades* of silk thread, a needle, and 9 out of the 10 original Run-Arrestor Wands.

When searching online using the terms "hosiery mending kit" I was greatly intrigued by the links for Butter Nut Coffee Hosiery mending kit. What could that possibly be? Hosiery in a coffee shade? meaning silk stockings for "women of color"? Well, of course not. Instead it was an advertising premium given free to women from the makers of Butter Nut Coffee. I guess other salesmen saw that women might possibly buy their product if reminded of it's name whenever they ran their very expensive and dear stockings.

I then found other kits touting political candidates, Wonder Bread, other hosiery brands, and a pretty cool and probably rare one for super-mod, super-cool airline Braniff International. That one was going for $12!

More on the kits was found here and to find your own, try looking here.

*that strangely seem to match my medium-brown skin tone.

Images: Neely's Antiques and AdClassix.com

Possible Domestic Bermuda Triangle

I lost a dress in my apartment.

Not just any dress but my favorite black knit dress with the awesome neckline.

It is a one-bedroom apartment and I live alone.

I noticed it was missing a month ago and really haven't done much about it. I know it has to be here somewhere. It's not like I went on a whirlwind trip around the world and left it at one of my swanky hotel stops. I just have too much stuff! Can you believe it? Losing a dress in a one-bedroom apartment?

Though I DO have eight-foot wide closets that ARE stuffed with so much stuff that I DO double things up on hangers (dresses under jackets) and I DID move a bunch of things to the hall closet as a makeshift Out Box. Also, the dress IS black and my closets ARE dark.

But still...this is getting ridiculous.