Even the slip matched
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Saturated wiggle dresses, a pen necklace, a defined waist and foundation garments nobody was ever meant to see.
Janie Bryant constructed almost all of Joan's wardrobe from scratch, including the parts the camera never saw: "I made her bras because I always had her in a longline bra — a bra that comes down to the waist. I liked to make her bra and girdle match to her slip, which matched to her dress. Even if we didn't see it, it was important that she matched." Bryant on what the silhouette was doing: "I always thought of it as her sword battling against those men!"
Fitted through the bust and waist, pencil skirt to the knee. The single defining shape.
★ 4.2 · 603 reviews
The black or emerald - fitted to the knee, half sleeve
High waist, knee length, no vent above the knee. The measurement is what dates it correctly.
★ 4.2 · 531 reviews
Knee-length and high-waisted - steer clear of anything flowy
Short sleeve, close through the body, in a saturated colour.
★ 4.3 · 906 reviews
Fitted with the mock neck - always tucked in
Cinched at the natural waist. Does the job if the dress won't.
★ 4.3 · 744 reviews
Cinched over the dress or cardigan, never loose
Gold, on a chain — her actual signature, and nobody else's.
Emerald or violet, fitted, knee length, three-quarter sleeve.
★ 4.2 · 783 reviews
The dark green colorway - fitted, knee-length, zipper back
Longline where possible. Bryant was right — it changes the whole line.
Large, jewelled, pinned at the shoulder or waist.
★ 4.6 · 717 reviews
Pinned at the collarbone, one only
Mid heel, matched or contrasted deliberately.
★ 4.2 · 785 reviews
Black, closed pointed toe - the office echo
It stands or falls on the waist. A dress that skims does nothing here — you want it nipped, with the skirt starting immediately after. If the dress doesn't do it, a wide belt will. Wear saturated colour. Emerald, coral, saffron, violet. This is not a neutral wardrobe and toning it down is the same as not doing it. The skirt is a pencil to the knee, never above and never below. That single measurement is what makes it read as 1962 rather than as a modern bodycon. And the underlayers genuinely matter, as Bryant proved. A structured bra changes the silhouette of a fitted dress more than any amount of tailoring will.
The wiggle silhouette: fitted pencil dresses and skirts, a structured foundation underneath, wide waist belt and the famous pen necklace.
The sixties fit was built from the inside — a longline bra and proper pencil cut create the hourglass line the dresses assume. Skip it and the dress reads modern.
Jewel tones — emerald, burgundy, sapphire. Joan wears saturated colour like it answers to her, never pastels.