Designers won’t think outside the sample size to dress Christina Hendricks

Yes, I’m on a Christina Hendricks kick.

Can you blame me?

Just a few days after my last post on the “Mad Men” star and some supposed Photoshopping shenanigans, Christina strutted down the Emmy Awards red carpet Sunday.

While it may have been tough to notice anything other than the ravishing redhead’s um, assets (which are very much real, despite whispers that her “Mad Men” alter ego, Joan is just very strategically padded), many took note of Christina’s dress.

And not in a good way.

I’ll admit, I was put off by the lavender Zac Posen number myself. But you can’t blame the girl. According to an interview with the Daily Record, designers aren’t exactly lining up to dress her curves for the red carpet.

“People have been saying some nice, wonderful things about me,” Christina told the Scottish news source. “Yet not one designer in town will loan me a dress. They only lend out a size 0 or 2. So I’m still struggling for someone to give me a darn dress.”

Seriously? Starring on a critically acclaimed television show and being voted Esquire Magazine‘s “Sexiest Woman Alive” don’t warrant a few fashion freebies?

Not if your dress size comes in double-digits, apparently.

“This has always been my size,” Christina said. “I’ve worked on other shows with this same size but ‘Mad Men’ celebrates it and that is nice.”

It is nice, isn’t it? And wouldn’t it be nicer if 21st century designers shared the same enthusiasm for the female form as their 1960s predecessors and aimed to dress bodies, not clothes hangers?

Yes, there are plenty of beautiful size 0s and 2s, and we all know a good amount of them populate Hollywood. But let’s get real. Designers should be clamoring to dress stars of all sizes, especially those that come packaged as photogenically as Christina Hendricks.

And if it’s that hard to craft a beautiful garment big enough to contain Christina’s curves, then maybe it’s time to revisit fashion school.

— Michelle Konstantinovsky is a student at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism and an avid admirer of shiny objects and preteen entertainment. It would be nice if you visited her website: www.michellekmedia.com. Also, she may learn to use Twitter more effectively if you follow her @michelley415.