“This was near the beginning of Mad Men. I was there to celebrate [Mad Men costume designer] Janie Bryant. My stylist borrowed a bunch of dresses, and I picked that one off of the rack and borrowed it for the night. It had a beautiful ’60s feel to me, and I liked that it was almost nude but had jewels that framed the face. It was quite simple, pretty and feminine.”
“This was my first Emmys. I tried on one black stretchy dress that was Tadashi Shoji, and I thought I looked like Morticia. My stylist Lawren Sample was like, ‘Wait a minute, imagine it like this; imagine it with the sleeves gone, and in this color, and this and this.’ I said, ‘Okay, that’s a whole different dress,’ but they listened to me. It was one of my favorite dresses—it’s that perfect color for a redhead.”
“I just love this—again, it has sleeves and I just love sleeves, but it was still short and sexy. It kind of reminded me of something that I would wear when I was 16. It had that lace, gothic, rock-and-roll feel, but was still very ladylike. If I had the choice to have such a luxurious dress when I was 16, this is probably what I would have chosen.”
“This dress was pure Ginger Rogers. It had such a full skirt, and it floated. The tiny feathers and the silk caught the air. It was perfectly constructed. I love Zac Posen. The construction in that thing—just the corsetry and every little pleat and detail was exquisite.”
“This one is funny, because about an hour before the Golden Globes, I still didn’t know if I was going, because I didn’t have a dress. So that dress came flying in the morning of the event and I loved it. It’s by Romona Keveza. There was an idea that if someone were going to criticize me, they would criticize that big flower, but the big flower was why I loved it. I love doing something a little overly dramatic, and if you don’t take a risk, then it’s no fun. Being criticized hurts your feelings, but if someone were to say, ‘Oh my gosh, what was she thinking, that great big flower?’ well, how silly are you! That’s the best part of the dress.”
“Oh, this is L’Wren Scott—she’s just one of my favorites! I absolutely love everything she does. I thought this was unique and I haven’t seen anybody wear anything like this. It looked like a gorgeous smoking jacket but had a very boudoir feel. And I love long sleeves; I just think long sleeves are elegant. The shoes were comfortable—we were worried they might be too busy—but they had this bedroom slipper feel and I just thought they looked really cool.”
“I was going to an event where they were honoring my boss [Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner] in Paris at city hall, and I wanted to wear something that I thought was respectful of the environment. I wanted to be a little more covered up, but still chic, and I just thought it was tasteful, but it is also this amazing color.”
“Carolina Herrera is one of my favorite designers, and what is so amazing about the Met Ball is that people are actually taking big fashion risks and wearing really beautiful clothes. I think that at the award shows people are so scared because the magazines are so judgmental and critical—it’s like you have to wear a solid color, and your hair has to be up, and it has to be strapless, and you can’t wear this, and you can’t wear prints—because somebody will say something mean about you. And it’s too bad because then the world doesn’t get to see what all of these amazing fashion designers are creating. They are doing beautiful things that most people never get to see.”
