What Would Joan Do?

A few weeks ago, Liz came over to help me sort through my closet. I laid my clothes on the bed--heaps of plaid skirts, a few 1950s suits, a pile of cashmere sweaters that didn't seem to go with anything--and Liz helped me decide what to keep and what to toss.

Early on, Liz put her finger on the perfect methodology for deciding how to put together outfits. We were drinking herbal tea and the dog was laying across the bed, his head on a periwinkle Braemar cashmere sweater. I modeled one of my dozen plaid skirts, and I couldn't quite bring myself to top it with a nipped-waist sweater. I was afraid that by wearing a sweater that emphasized my curves I'd just look fat. Liz looked at me and said, "What would Joan do?"

Liz was referring to Joan from the television show "Mad Men". Joan is a curvy, gorgeous woman who would as soon lay under a bus as wear something that didn't show her tiny waist and full hips and bust. She wears saturated colors that shouldn't complement her red hair and fair skin, but they do. A person could do a lot worse than dress like she does.

Now my closet is lighter three pairs of shoes ("too '90s"), half a dozen or so plaid skirts ("too dowdy" or "that shape doesn't do a thing for you"), and a 1940s grey skirt I had put in the give-away pile before Liz came was resurrected and matched with a handful of sweaters. And now I wear sweaters a little shorter and form-fitting with my skirts, and I don't even hide them under a cardigan. After all, Joan wouldn't do it.

Do you have someone whose style you particularly admire, who you sometimes model yourself after?