'Mad Men' star Christina Hendricks redefines female beauty on TV

By April MacIntyre Oct 14, 2008, 15:47 GMT

02/19/2008 - Christina Hendricks - 10th Annual Costume Designers Guild Awards - Arrivals - Beverly Wilshire Hotel - Beverly Hills, CA. USA © Albert L. Ortega / PR Photos

"Mad Men" star Christina Hendricks is the new poster girl for realistic and voluptuous female flesh that bucks haute couture and typical TV star standards, such as Eva Longoria's statement today she is still proudly a size zero despite rumors of weight gain.

Titian-haired Hendricks is a lush, naturally busty and curvy femme fatale in an industry that prominently features lollipop-headed stickly women like Teri Hatcher, Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton. 

A nice change that has many men and women applauding the uncensored female form.

Hendricks - photo credit: Brian Bowen Smith

The New York Post wrote up a nice tribute to the star of the critically acclaimed series "Mad Men," a period drama that takes place in the male dominated glamorous world of advertising in the now deemed politically incorrect early sixties, where sexism, three-martini lunches and smoking ruled the day.

Hendricks plays the queen bee hot secretary, Joan Holloway.

Joan has already had a steamy affair with her boss, and her blatant sex appeal has inspired websites and editorial praising Hendrick's character's unbridled sexuality.

"Joan is a person I sometimes wish I could be," Christina, 30, tells the Post. "She's a presentation—I don't think she ever lets anyone see who she really is. She's very confident and pulled together." And as for her trademark wiggle? "I've always had a bit of a walk—this girl's got hips—but on the show it's exaggerated. The first day, I put on those [retro] undergarments, and I was walking around the office like, boom, boom, boom! They called 'Cut,' and I turned to [creator] Matt Weiner and said, 'That was Joan.' And he said, 'That was Joan.' It all just dropped into place."

The actress revealed to the Post that her size has not inspired any designers to do the traditional "sending of the gowns" that most hot actresses receive prior to the Emmy or Oscar telecasts.

The Post writes: "Although she loves the way she looked that night, she notes, 'No one will send me dresses. Designers loan size 2 or 4 samples to actresses, but I'm not that size.' "

Despite not feeling the love from the fey fashionista men, legions of straight men seem to be quite alright with the way she looks.

Hendricks tells the Post:  "I've always had boobs and hips, even when I was 115 pounds. And here I am, much heavier than when I was modeling, and all of a sudden people are giving me positive feedback. Sure, I'd be happier with 10 pounds off—wouldn't every woman? But at the same time, when I looked at myself in those red carpet pictures, I thought, 'Oh my God, I looked beautiful.' I didn't tear myself apart."