Fictional characters: Leslie Knope

The character

Leslie Knope, the main character in "Parks and Recreation" is absolutely adorable. At the beginning, she is goofy and over-the-top, and her work at Pawnee's City Hall (a small town in Indiana) doesn't seem to go anywhere. The show keeps improving through season two and, by the third season, she and the other characters have developed into people you would like to count as your friends (well, some more than others). Well before that you are already laughing out loud and have started regarding each and everyone at Parks and Rec -but especially civil servant extraordinaire  Leslie - with a lot of affection.
I like her honesty, her staunch sense of friendship, and her dedication to public service. I like that she works hard, that she knows what the important things in life are and, most of all, that she tries to do right. Let me tell you that I am more than a little tired of TV shows and characters that are constantly doing illegal things ("Scandal" comes to mind). Is it old-fashioned to enjoy a character that actually obeys the law and when she doesn't like it, tries to change it through democratic channels? I hope not.  If you enjoyed "The West Wing" you will enjoy the politics at "Parks and Recreation", although this is politics at the micro level. Nothing big is achieved (instead of declaring a National Park, the intrigue here is about lot 48... will it ever become a park?), but the wellbeing of the citizens of Pawnee is always uppermost in Ms. Knope's mind.
Apart from all of the above, the show is SO funny. No matter how low you may have been feeling, it will make you laugh hard!

Ms. Knope Goes to Washington by Caroline Grant.

Fictional characters: Joane Harris' (née Holloway) Style

The style

Joan Harris, played by actor Christina Hendricks, has a bombshell body. That sharp edged "gift" is perfectly kept under control by her very direct, no-nonsense attitude: if you are paying attention, you have to get it.
If "Joaney" were living and working right now, it would be very easy for her to dress in pretty much the same style she has in Mad Men. It proves my point that once you have a style, you can easily adapt it for all times and seasons, you just need to update the construction of your clothes and your accessories a bit.
She is a Body type B and a Light Spring, although she wears Warm Spring and Clear Spring colours as well (see below). Christina Hendrick's hair is coloured red (according to her own words, as an homage to Anne Shirley).

Joanie's Work Day by Caroline Grant. [Photo courtesy of AMC. Background: Antique Wood Frame].

Coast Emmy Crêpe Dress / Bottega Veneta Double-faced Belted Cashmere Coat / Givenchy New Line Handbag / L.K. Bennett Selina Pumps / Hermès L'Ombrelle Magique  Scarf in Orange / Versace Long Leather Gloves / Paco Rabanne Vintage Charm Bracelet / Debenhams Gold Rose Crystal Earrings / / Lapis Lazuli and Diamond Brooch/Pendant (vintage at www.1stdibs.com) / Estée Lauder Crystal Herringbone Powder Compact / Yves Saint Laurent Lipstick in Corail Legende / Yves Saint Laurent Nail Lacquer in Corail Divin.

Joanie's Style by Caroline Grant. [Photo courtesy of AMC. Background: Mirabel Picnic Basket, Little Mermaid Parasol, Olivia Riegel Frame with Easel].

Giambattista Valli Floral Print Dress / Valentino Ruffled Shrug / Kate Spade Essex Scout Handbag / Butter Women's Gilly Kitten heel Pumps / Erickson Beamon In the Mood for Love Bracelet / Erickson Beamon In the Mood for Love Earrings / David Webb Pineapple Brooch at www.betteridge.com / Estée Lauder Lucidity Compacts / Estée Lauder Pure Color Lipstick in Nectarine/ Nars Nail Lacquer in Dovima.

Style elements:

• Red lipstick: light true (medium) red, watermelon red, coral red.
• Dresses in solid colours, more than separates or patterns, with skirts in a pencil silhouette for day, and sometimes a full skirt for night, but not often.
• Accessories. A scarf, either tied around her neck, to her handbag or to her neck. Also, jewellery from great costume jewellery designers (Coro, Monet, and Lisner figure prominently in her jewellery box), in the appropriate fashion of her day, that is, using the whole parure (matching earrings, necklace and bracelet, plus the brooch sometimes). She often dons a pencil pendant necklace, one of her signature pieces and is seldom seen without a brooch.
• Spring palette colours. A Light Spring, she has very delicate and fair skin, and her hair is coloured red. She is often dressed in colours, like hot pink, that are too strong for her, and so is black, which completely overwhelms her. She positively glows in the soft tones of the Light Spring palette.

Joanie's Night Out by Caroline Grant. [Photo courtesy of AMC. Background: Ethan Allen Scroll Picture Easel]

Zuhair Murad Short Evening Dress / Sasso Minnelli Marabou Shrug / Butler and Wilson Handbag / Alexandre Birman Metallic Pumps / Amanda Pearl Nude Gobstopper Pearl Bracelet / Alexis Bittar Teatro Modern Fringe Earrings / Alexis Bittar Nest Brooch / Estée Lauder Crystal Herringbone Powder Compact / Yves Saint Laurent Lipstick in Corail Légende / Yves Saint Laurent Nail Lacquer in Corail Divin.

Martha Rodgers' Style

The style

Martha Rodgers' style can be surely described as flamboyant. Bright, clear colours are piled up together creating over the top ensembles that are still in good taste. Here is a woman who has fun with her wardrobe, expresses an outgoing personality, and is full of energy and vitality.
Her style is the epitome of quirky, but with classic pieces. It works for her.
Susan Sullivan is a medium height Body Type C and a Clear Spring.

What would Martha wear... to brunch by Caroline Grant.

What would Martha wear... to a book signing by Caroline Grant.

What would martha wear... for a night out by Caroline Grant.

Style elements:

• Clear Spring palette but, as her hair is dyed red, she sometimes wears Warm Spring colours too. Lots of blues, purples and blue pinks (mostly fuchsia or raspberry) populate her wardrobe, mixed with other colours, not necessarily complementary ones: fuchsia with periwinkle and black, for instance, or yellow, black, red and blue.
• Makeup: always very strong lipstick colours, like deep red and, fuchsia.
• Mixture of patterns tons of animal prints, preferably zebra and leopard in unexpected colours. She owns a nightgown that merges giraffe, zebra and leopard in brown tones over leopard pyjamas. She may choose a tiger print top in yellow and black and a jacket with red flowers over black that is crossed by thin yellow lines. She also wears black and white prints with blocks of colours that are flattering, like sky blue or yellow
• Accessories: the correct term to apply here is, pure and simple, overload. A big statement necklace, from a costume jewellery classic like Kenneth Jay Lane, or someone new, like Kate Spade, plus big hoop earrings, plus a cocktail ring. When most women would look at themselves in the mirror and eliminate one accessory, Martha just keeps it... or adds another one.

Fictional characters: Martha Rodgers

The character

Martha Rodgers is Richard Castle's (from detective series Castle) mother. This acclaimed best-seller writer, took his mother back after a really bad divorce: her husband absconded with all her money. She has returned home to fulfill, somewhat loosely, the role of mother to an adult and grandmother to a teenage girl. She is supported by her son: it is mentioned she receives and allowance. In a sense, the pyramid of responsibility in that household is reversed: the youngest is the most responsible and the oldest the lightest-headed.
Ms. Sullivan is very good at her job of creating actress Martha Rodgers utterly believable. She is certainly not a doting mother: she is quite prone to point out Castle's mistakes but she is supportive and gives seasoned advice to her son when needed, without being a prude or judgemental.
It is great to see a character that is a woman over 65 that does not fit easily into a cliché. Not only life is not over for her, there is true enjoyment in it: she wants to have fun and she is getting it (she has romantic entanglements, so we must assume she is having sex too, so good for her!). She is hip and modern. I want more characters like these on TV.

Martha Rodgers Style by Caroline Grant.

The lines

(After being called "Mother" by his son, novelist Richard Castle)
Sush! Sush! Not so loud! I'm still hoping to get lucky!
And then...
Hang on sweetie, I just got a hit on my radar... Bingo! No ring! Stand back, kids, mamma's going fishing!

Fictional characters: Brenda Leigh Johnson

The character

I have recently finished watching the first four seasons of The Closer with a feeling of great enjoyment. Not because I agree with the ideas on crime fighting of the series, but because its main character, Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, played by great actor Kyra Sedgwick, is a woman who doesn't let you down, intellectual or stylistically, which is something that doesn't happen often enough on television. Not by far. The character is well constructed, striking a balance between strengths and weaknesses, and she is not there for eye candy.

The style

D.C. Johnson shows a disquieting affection for girly flowers, but you have to admire it because she dares to dress her own way in a male dominated work environment. That way is very ladylike (albeit old-fashioned and incredibly boring), which is VERY unsophisticated for Los Angeles and for her position. She is a figure of authority and not precisely over abundant in political savviness and finesse, requirements both of a Deputy Chief of police: her style of policing is more sledge hammer than surgical tool.
Keyra Sedgwick is a Soft Autumn and a Petite Body type C.

Style elements:

• Makeup: pinks and corals that, although in her palette, make her mouth really big.
• Key garments: flowery (literal flowers perfectly suitable for girls or old conservative ladies) anything :You name it, it's in her wardrobe: dresses, skirts, twinsets... . Ugly, ill-fitting polyester jackets. And a baby pink trench.
• Accessories: almost none, except a watch.
• Palette colours: although Johnson does not stray far from her Soft Autumn palette (no black, for instance), she does tend towards the sweeter, more "saccharine" shades in it: especially baby pink and blue and other pastel shades, and also chooses very unexciting, predictable colour combinations: navy and pastel pink, baby pink, warm rose pink and white, dull browns.
• Hairstyles: either loose hair or any updo that lets you know fast that her hair was on the way and she just pinned it with something to be comfortable. I seem to remember her having a pencil inserted in her updo at one time.

Brenda Leigh Johnson Style: The Pink Trench by Caroline Grant.

Fictional characters: Joan Harris (née Holloway)

The character

Joan Holloway is one of the strongest female characters in Mad Men. At the beginning of the series she is a girl with a plan: she is getting married to a good catch. However, her professionalism and degree of poise makes a person to count on so, as the series progresses, we see the partners relying more and more on her knowing what, how and when to do things. When she is finally leaving to get married, both she and them lament it.
Her predicament is very much that of many women in her time. The main objective was to get married, leave the life of the working "girl" and become a wife and mother: that was the deal. She find, however, very much as many women of her time did, that the deal is not upheld by the other party in it. Being married doesn't put you out of harm's way of sexual assault, or betrayal of trust, like when your husband makes a decision about your future without you, or when you not only have to keep on supporting yourself, but also your husband, all the time feeling that your job is of secondary importance to his.
There are three very poignant moments for me in the series around Joan Holloway. In the first, she is passed over for a promotion by a man with no experience, when she is actually qualified for the job (she has a university degree) and already doing it to great success: she has the image, the manners and the savoir faire for the job. In the second, she is raped by her knight in shining armour, the handsome doctor who is in reality a coward and a wimp. In the third, she is being disrespected by one of the creatives in the firm, but the guy ends up being fired by his direct boss, another of the strong female characters in the series. She reacts angrily and bitterly: she would have liked to yield herself power in the usual indirect ways (aka feminine wiles), so she resents the woman who can afford not to do so. From her point of view, she has been rendered virtually powerless. We may beg to disagree.

Coast Emmy Crêpe Dress / Bottega Veneta Double-faced Belted Cashmere Coat / Givenchy New Line Handbag / L.K. Bennett Selina Pumps / Hermès L'Ombrelle Magique Scarf in Orange / Versace Long Leather Gloves / Paco Rabanne Vintage Charm Bracelet / Debenhams Gold Rose Crystal Earrings / Lapis Lazuli and Diamond Brooch/Pendant (vintage at www.1stdibs.com) / Estée Lauder Crystal Herringbone Powder Compact / Nars Semi Matte Lipstick in Heat Wave / Tom Ford Nail Lacquer in Scarlet Chinois.

The lines

The pragmatist
"Go home, take a paper bag, cut some eyeholes out of it. Put it over your head, get undressed and look at yourself in the mirror. Really evaluate where your strengths and weaknesses are. And be honest."
The realist
"That’s life. One minute, you’re on top of the world. The next, some secretary is running over your foot with a lawn motor."
The irate
"What on God’s green earth are you doing here?"