Morning:
13°c
A new season of Mad Men the brilliant American TV drama set in a Sixties New York advertising agency hits our screens in two weeks.
And the undeniable queen of the show is American actress Christina Hendricks, aka office administrator Red.
In a world of skinny minnies, Hendricks proves sex doesn't have to come in a size zero package.
With her vintage frocks, silky red bun and frankly stupendous breasts, she exudes class and old Hollywood glamour.
Red is such a brilliant character because she plays off everyone in the office both men and women and yet retains our sympathy. She's whip smart, brutal, but can sniff out misogyny at 100 paces.
And she's working every curve she's got. In real life, Hendricks shares her va-va-voom. I used to say that I had opposite anorexia, she laughs.
Every time I'd take my clothes off, I'd look in the mirror and think: I feel like a woman and I like myself this way.'
She's not the only one. Because the fuller figure is back. Actress Eva Mendes, a woman with real curves, was crowned Most Desirable Woman of 2009 on Wednesday in a poll by online men's magazine Askmen.com. Kelly Brook is the ultimate Fifties pin-up with her prom queen dresses, while Beyoncι rocked Obama's inaugural ball in a figure-hugging coffee satin gown.
Of course it helps that the clothes in Mad Men are so flattering to curvy birds tailored shifts, corsets and stockings. Those were the days when women were supposed to have breasts milky white globes spilling over their dresses like twin scoops of ice cream.
I can't be the only size 14 woman despairing over the current fashion trends for 2009. Jumpsuits, leggings and crop tops worn with shorts are a crime against humanity. Or at least for those of us over 35.
So thank heavens for designer of the moment, Narcisco Rodriguez, who proves that you can create great frocks for women who don't have coathanger body types. He sent Kate Winslet out in an electric-blue silk and satin Rodriguez dress with a cleavage-enhancing bodice and sexy peekaboo straps to claim her award at the Screen Actors Guild yesterday.
It was a master stroke. Curves convey strength and subtle eroticism. People rave about your hourglass waist. And guess what? no one mentions your bum.
Reader views (8)
Society is getting more obese -if the current "look" is idealised by models and actors then increasing the size of the the ideal figure may make the obesity problem worse. If anything a more skeletal ideal might reduce the obesity.
- Mr Pastry, Brisbane Australia
"Curves convey strength and subtle eroticism." They also convey the promise of motherhood. Not for nothing did their unfeminine eclipse coincide with feminism's sterile rise. Not for nothing does their rediscovery coincide with a rising apprehension over our impending demographic winter.
- Gj Tryon, Canada
I think we have a bigger problem with overweight people, than underweight people, in the West. And I too am naturally thin - size 8-10, 5ft7, and healthy too. It's no more 'womanly' for a female to be FAT than it is for them to be thin. Let's have some tolerance for a change.
- Another Naturally Skinny Minnie, London
At last... Real women x
- Paul, Bromley
Jane, what about naturally slim women??.... don't be so presumptous to assume that all slim girls must have starved themselves. I've stuffed myself on everything I fancy for years, and never yet crept above a size 8. And also, please don't assume all men like bigger girls. All my boyfriends have loved my shape and size.
Comments like "unnaturally skinny" are actually very insulting to those of us who really can't help our size, large or small.
- Naturally Skinny Minnie, London
hubba hubba !
- Squiz, islington
I knew I'd be fashionable again ONE day! I love to wear 'marilyn monroe' dresses - Women who like men know what men like. Unnaturally skinny women just want to compete with other women, then wonder why they are unhappy and all the guys in the office fancy the size 12 girl with the dirty laugh and hour glass figure that perhaps isn't as toned as it could or should be...hey, that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it!
- Jane, London
Thats more like it, sick of Nicole Kidman types who resemble the Greys from the X files.
- Geoff, UK
