Femme Fatal Fashion Look for Autumn Fall 2012 - Inspired by Mad Men and The Hour

The popularity of Mad Men and The Hour mean that girls with fabulous figures are back!

Here we’ll look how today’s TV shows are reflecting the glamour of the 50s and 60s. That’s why one of my hot fashion picks for the Autumn (Fall) is the Femme Fatale look. Think figure hugging dresses that display your curves to maximum advantage.


So what is a Femme Fatale? Well, you’ll typically find her in the genre known as Film Noir. Originally filmed in Black and White and often involving a tough private eye in a trench coat, foul weather, gangsters and a lovely dame (the femme fatale) in a delicious coat. 

Add to that a fabulous figure hugging dress, a cigarette hanging from the her luscious red lips and sometimes a gun strapped to her thigh. Listen for her heels on the sidewalk, above the icy wind from the lake. Think Chicago. She’s seductive, dangerous and has legs to die for.

Rita Hayworth - Femme Fatale

Rita Hayworth, Barbara Stanwyck, Marlene Dietrich or Lana Turner fit the Femme Fatale bill perfectly, capturing their helpless lovers in chains of irresistible desire. But don’t mess with their affections or you might just get a bullet through the heart.

So, getting back to my point, the guilty feeling that you should be a size smaller may finally be put to rest by the Femme Fatale look.  You can now rejoice in your fabulous décolletage (cleavage), your sexy derriere and those slightly generous hips that nature (and in my case, chocolate) have kindly donated!

Mad Men, the drama about advertising in the 1960s, has been widely praised by critics and viewers alike.  Its appeal lies in those sumptuous, nostalgic sets, great acting and fabulous clothes.  

Christina Hendricks - in great shape for Mad Men!

 For years the fashion world has been preaching to we women that to make it to the catwalk you need to look like a stick insect.  These emaciated waifs are supposed to be our role models but look around you people!

The average woman in the US has vital statistics of around 42 35 44 (inches).  A far cry from the ideal 36 24 36 that was sometimes quoted in the 50s and 60s.  The average dress size in the US is a 14.  In other words a plus size.  Note UK readers (where I live) that a US 14 is equivalent to an 18 in the UK.  In the UK the average dress size is 16 (UK size).  Miss average UK is only slightly smaller than her US sister. 

Christina Hendricks, who plays Joan Holloway in Mad Men, has made curvy cool once more.  She has been voted the sexiest woman on the planet by Esquire magazine.  Christina is the sort of girl that turns men’s heads.  Let me emphasise, to those of you who don’t read men, guys like a girl with a bottom and hips.  They love boobs too.  Christina is where most men are at!  

Christina Hendricks - Turning Heads in Mad Men

Don’t misunderstand me.  I’m not urging us all to put on more weight.  But whatever size you happen to be, buy clothes that show off your figure to best advantage!  Think figure hugging, pencil skirts, typically emphasising your waist with a broad belt.

What about The Hour?  It’s a new BBC Thriller about a ground breaking TV News program in the 1950’s at the time when Egypt took over the Suez Canal.  Like Mad Men, the sets are authentic and the fashion fabulous.  The show is built around murder, a spy mystery and a love triangle between Bel Rowley, the young producer of The Hour, played by gorgeous Romala Garai, suave Hector Madden the anchor (played by Dominic West - remember him in The Wire?) and good looking journalist Freddie Lyon (Ben Whishaw).

Cast of The Hour set in 1956

Bel looks magnificent in figure hugging suits and elaborate brooches and is not afraid to allow her lovely legs (adorned in stockings) to beguile her predominantly sexist colleagues at the BBC.  The hour is currently screening in the UK on BBC2 and is coming to America soon.  Unfortunately we Brits favour tiny 6 part seasons but every minute of this 6 hour classic is a gem!

Bel and Freddie socialising in The Hour

For more on the Femme Fatale, Click Here.

Why not use Mad Men and The Hour as a source of fashion inspiration?  Look out for dresses, skirts or suits to give you that retro seductive air.  Let men see your feminine side.  Release your inner Femme Fatale and turn heads this Autumn (Fall to you Americans).   


A Trailer for The Hour