Reveal your true beauty with personal color analysis (PCA) and personal style analysis.

Color Analysis: Mad Men

4/23/2018

Yes, I know I'm late to this party! But I don't have network TV, and I have two kids. I'm just now catching up with the rest of the world TV-wise.

Anyway, here are the color seasons of several of the actors on Mad Men, as best I can tell.

Elisabeth Moss: True Summer

Her best colors aren't particularly dark, but they're very cool. Soft Summer is also a possibility for her, but what really convinced me of True Summer was seeing how pink her lipstick can get. The pinker it is, the prettier she looks. Most seasons can't wear those super-pink lippies.

Jon Hamm: Dark Winter

His best colors are certainly cool, and quite dark. They're not vivid enough to be Bright Winter colors, and they have the "sooty" quality (as Christine Scaman puts it) that characterizes Dark Winter colors.

January Jones: Light Spring

Her best colors are warm, clear, and rather light and delicate. I don't think True Spring is impossible for her, but I think it's unlikely; it's telling to me that her very worst colors are dark (remember when Betty dyed her hair black?) I also find some colors to be too clear and warm for her; pure orange and bright red are not great.

Jessica Pare: Bright Spring

This woman was obviously a Bright from her first moment on screen. I decided on Bright Spring rather than Bright Winter because so many warm, clear colors are glorious on her, and because too-cool colors can make her look a bit goth.

I love how often she's costumed in her best colors. It's a joy to behold.

Linda Cardellini: True Winter

What a gorgeous example of a True Winter. The way black, white and grey make this skin look amazing -- it's just beautiful.

Although I know it will disappoint some people, I have to say that I can't accurately type Christina Hendricks. :-(

You might be thinking, "She's obviously a Bright, or a True Spring!" But don't let yourself get distracted by the colors she's costumed in as Joan -- they're generally very bright colors, but they're also brighter than she is.

Your best colors should let us see you; Joan's colors force us to just see lips, hair, and curves.

Which is probably the point.: the colors make her into a cartoon.

I suspect that, IRL, Christina Hendricks is probably a Soft Autumn, or just maybe a True Autumn; warmth seems to be good for her, but she needs less saturation than she's given on Mad Men.

What do you think? Any ideas about Christina Hendricks' color season? Do you think I've missed the mark on any of the other characters? Let me know!

53 Comments

Katie

4/23/2018 10:13:40 am

I’ve seen Christina in person - her skin is quite delicate looking. I think true summer or light summer. Look for images of her from a show called Another Period on Comedy Central she is English rose delicate or even her stint in Firefly when she’s more blonde they try to make her look more soft autumn and I don’t think it works.

Rosetta

4/24/2018 10:24:18 am

But do you think a Summer would look so natural in dyed warm red hair? I doubt it very much ;)

(I'm amazed at how many here tseem to think she must be a Summer!)

4/24/2018 02:39:56 pm

It doesn't look natural on her, that's the point. The warm red dulls her eyes and makes her skin look uniformly pale rather than alive.

4/24/2018 06:50:20 pm

Hard to tell without draping, but I'm a LSu, and that orangy thing going on under her eyes is exactly what I've gotten when I take my hair too red. Because LSu wears coral so well, I find I can often get away with red (natural hair is dark strawberry/ash blonde, seems to change with the season and the lighting). This is exactly how I look in similar colors and makeup. Put my vote down for light summer. ;)

Rosetta

4/25/2018 02:42:30 am

KC, in my opinion it looks very natural, in fact from what I know, most people have taken her for a natural redhead ;) And W, I'd think a Summer would get a seriously red face, or other similarly drastic effects with too warm (and bright) hair, but she doesn't... I didn't even notice any orangey thing under her eyes, but anyway that's a very small detriment, considering ;)

Katie

4/23/2018 10:27:35 am

Or - LOL - she's in a new show on NBC called Good Girls - you can see her in "normal" - less costumey looks there.

4/23/2018 12:07:47 pm

I agree with Katie; I'm skeptical of warmth on Christina. It often looks like warmth is sitting on top of her skin. She also can't handle a lot of depth or intensity. I like her best in dusty blues and lavenders. It was very hard to find a natural looking photo of her where she was flattered by the colors around her. There was a lot of too bright, too dark, too rich, too much contrast.

Lola

4/23/2018 12:55:04 pm

Elizabeth Moss and January Jones both look like fair autumns to me. Christina Hendricks is possibly a winter. She looks lost and drab in summer colors, IMO.

Lola

4/23/2018 12:56:56 pm

The other diagnoses I agree with.

Katie

4/23/2018 01:06:24 pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8e2MWmTZN8
in the first video you can see her against too warm yellow curtains
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_ZYKS481hE
in the second video you can see her surrounded by soft white
she has a delicate but bright pink lip - looks normal to me - not cartoony- like mad men.

4/23/2018 04:30:44 pm

I think Christina's famous red hair fools people into thinking she has warm coloring. However, she's said she's been dyeing her hair since age ten, and her natural color was dark blonde--which probably means that her natural color now is light brown. I agree with the comments above that her skin looks very delicate, and IMO pink lipstick and blush are most natural on her, so my guess is that she's some kind of Summer.

Rosetta

4/24/2018 10:19:06 am

But would a Summer look so natural in dyed warm red hair? I really don't think so! ;)

Nancy

4/24/2018 01:51:08 pm

She doesn' look natural at all to me! She is a natural blonde and probably some sort of Summer. I guess that's why red hair doesn't flatter her.

4/24/2018 04:14:41 pm

The hair itself looks great because she almost always wears wigs (even not on the show). They're really great wigs, which can distract us from seeing the effect on her, but the color doesn't flatter her skin. At best, the hair wears her.

If you search for "Christina Hendricks 2004" you'll find more candid style photos of the hair against her skin without photoshop and careful lighting. Both her real dyed hair and the wig don't flatter when she's out and about. Or, if you look at her imdb headshot, it's like the hair is in the foreground and she's three feet behind it.

Rosetta

4/25/2018 02:48:57 am

Like I just commented above, IMO it looks *very* natural on her, and has in fact fooled most people ;) M, I googled but couldn't find any unflattering images of her; the red hair just seems to universally flatter her... But I'll try to search some more, in case I happen to come across any. The imdb headshot probably has a wig, which often give that impression ;)

4/25/2018 10:59:42 am

Rosetta, I don't think the imdb photo looks off because it's a wig. The photo grabbed my attention because for once her shirt matches her, emphasizing the mismatch of the hair. I'm cognizant of her wig wearing, so I don't think it's swaying me. Plus, I haven't seen her wig look bad ever; she's definitely got that good stylist on her payroll.

I think most people's test for real red hair are: are there roots? Is she pale? Is it ginger red (vs blue toned, lipstick red)? She ticks those boxes. Otherwise though, I see what Rachel mentioned, that she reads as lips and hair and curves. It's a disjointed appearance, but one that many people will think is attractive because it emphasizes all the markers of femininity and those markers themselves are looking great, if divorced from her as a whole. We're culturally accustomed to seeing women as a sum of parts, so it's not that jarring, and is totally in service of her character as far as I know. I never watched the show, but I get the impression Joan is supposed to be a sexed up femme fatale, and viewers love Joan, so it would make sense for her to carry that look off-screen to an extent.

I wish I could've linked you to the photos I was talking about, but it wouldn't post my comment with the links. I'm fairly certain you would've seen what I saw though, and that we just disagree.

Rosetta

4/28/2018 06:12:18 am

M, yes, I guess that's it, we just disagree :) - as no matter how I tried, I couldn't see those detrimental effects you mentioned, at least not in the photos I was able to find. But it just goes to show how people can see things differently! I don't recognize in myself at all that thing about being culturally conditioned as seeing jarring as feminine (especially as where I've grown up, femininity is never culturally emphasized, quite the contrary), but I just don't see the red as jarring on her, no matter how I try.

Erin

4/23/2018 05:31:34 pm

I totally agree about Jessica Paré being Bright Spring! She's my Bright Spring inspiration for dark haired/fair skinned Bright Springs who look good in Mediterranean colors. I adore her in that coral!

Elizabeth Moss doesn't look good in muted colors. It's hard to find pics of her looking good in anything she wears- I've noticed that white, in particular, washes her out. The best I've seen her look is actually in a bright warm red dress, which makes me suspect bright Spring. Her skin looked clear and her eyes sparkled bright blue. She can get away with bright warm red without it wearing her. I don't think a summer could pull that off.

I looked at her in some cool, summery greens and she looked okay in the lighter/clearer ones, but they made her face look a little one dimensional/doughy. The muted ones were super bleh and obviously not flattering. She tends to have an issue with lipsticks looking too mauve or brown.

Here's her in the red. I notice her features and everything looks balanced:
http://www.redcarpet-fashionawards.com/2014/01/19/elisabeth-moss-michael-kors-2014-sag-awards/

Here's her in Cerulean blue. I don't like the red hair and the lipstick looks a tad off, but I like the overall effect of this color on her.

https://tomandlorenzo.com/2015/08/elisabeth-moss-in-monique-lhuillier-at-queen-of-earth-new-york-screening/

Hespera

4/23/2018 08:13:03 pm

I'm not sure that either of those colors qualify her as a Bright Spring and I don't think she can take quite that much contrast. I am a Light Summer and look pretty darn good in the colors you posted, especially the red, and I don't look great in greens. I also look great in pink lipsticks such as in the original post. I do agree that she needs a tad more warmth than True Summer though...she looks "creamier" and too cool of colors make her look wrong.

4/24/2018 01:11:53 am

I dunno--if you do that relax-the-eyes trick that Rachel mentioned in the Jennifer Lawrence post, the red dress is brighter than Elisabeth Moss is. The effect of that bright red on her is similar to that of brighter colors on Emily Blunt (also shown on this blog, also identified by Rachel as a True Summer): a little but not a lot too much. I can't make heads or tails of the blue dress pic between the too-warm hair and makeup and the fact that the dress is far away from Moss's face. All I can say is that it's not obviously wrong. Summers often have a high margin of error when it comes to blue. I do agree that max mutedness is not good on her, so Soft Summer's right out--other than that, I think True or Light Summer are the best bets for her.

Erin

4/25/2018 07:21:00 pm

That's true- Light Summers can go a bit brighter and seem to handle reds quite well, compared to True Summer. I can see that being a possibility... She handles black okay, but not white. I'm kind of surprised at how consistently bad she looks in white.

4/26/2018 01:58:15 pm

Yes Erin, isn't that interesting? I think it's fairly common for Summers to not be able to handle true white, partially because it's a Winter color and partially because white is just a tricky color family to work with in general. It just looks too harsh on Summers. True and Soft Summers usually do better with greyed soft whites, and Light Summers tend to favor vanilla tints with just a teeny drop of yellow. My youngest sister is either a True or Soft Summer, and she wore white *once*, was traumatized for life, and has avoided the color ever since!

Ashley

4/23/2018 06:43:29 pm

Guesses for style IDs, anyone? :P

4/24/2018 12:47:52 am

My guess for Christina Hendricks is Romantic-Ethereal-Ingenue. She's definitely sexy and womanly, you can see quite a bit of innocence in her face (it's what made her such an effective con artist in Firefly--no one ever suspected that face until it was too late!), and the lower-right photo above shows that she looks good with delicate s-curves around the face.

I love the headband and small earrings on January Jones--I'm guessing she has a lot of Ingenue, and maybe some Classic. Beyond that, I'm not sure.

Jessica Pare has a big nose, jawline, and mouth (nice big toothy smile), and severely pulled-back hair is not good on her, so I bet she has Natural in her mix. The ornate earrings and detailing on the dress in the left pic look good too, though, so maybe she has Romantic or Ethereal too?

I like Linda Cardellini a lot in the evening gown and bouffant hair, so I'm guessing she has Romantic. The other picture is difficult to get a read off of--I'm not big on the severity of the hairstyle or the length of the earrings, so no Dramatic, but something about the simplicity and control seems to suit her, so maybe she also has Classic. I'd be willing to consider Gamine based on her smile.

I think Jon Hamm looks much better in the short hair and suit than he does in the loose shirt, messy hair, and beard, so my guess is he's a Dramatic or Classic mix. Given the length of his face, the prominent eyebrows, and his slightly intimidating vibe, I'm leaning toward Dramatic.

Elisabeth Moss is hard, probably because she doesn't seem to be wearing her most flattering styles in this post. Her smile definitely says Gamine to me, though. I think I can see a bit of bluntness in her features too, so maybe she has some Natural. I'd be willing to consider Classic for her, though I can't put my finger on exactly why.

This is all just from looking at the photos in this post--you'll probably get a better read on these guys from a Google search.

Elsa

4/24/2018 05:52:43 am

I agree that January Jones is a Classic Ingenue. She's actually very classic and looks better the more simply she dresses. Maybe there's also some Natural there too?

Elisabeth Moss is tricky indeed. Natural Gamine Ingenue would be my best guess.

Christina Hendricks is surely almost wholly Romantic.

Jessica Paré is Ingenue Romantic Classic maybe?

Disclaimer: it's possible I have no idea what I'm talking about :D

Nancy

4/25/2018 02:46:45 am

I think January Jones must be a Dramatic-Classic-Ethereal.

Christina Hendricks is a Romantic-Ethereal-Ingenue.

Elisabeth Moss is probably a Natural-Classic Gamine.

Jon Hamm is Classic-Dramatic.

Jessica Pare is difficult. I think she could be a Classic-Dramatic-Ingenue or a Classic-Dramatic-Romantic.

I'm not sure if Linda Cardellini has Ingenue or Romantic. I believe she has Gamine and Classic anyway and Ingenue or Romantic.

Rosetta

4/25/2018 02:59:03 am

I'd peg Christina Hendricks as a Romantic-Ingenue, can't see Ethereal in her.

Katja

4/24/2018 09:36:28 am

Elisabeth Moss could be a True Summer or a Light Summer.
I'm not sure if John Hamm is a Dark Winter. I think he looks rather cool. He could be a True Winter.
January Jones could be a Light Spring.
Jessica Pare could be a Bright Spring, but I'm not sure. I've seen her in light brown or golden brown hair which I think is her natural colour and she looked quite different when her hair wasn't dark brown or black.
I'm not sure Linda Cardellini is even a Winter. I have to think about that some more.
Christina Hendricks is probably a Summer. (Not Soft Summer). Probably a Light Summer. That read hair doesn't suit her. She would be much prettier as a blonde.

Katja

4/24/2018 12:53:29 pm

I think Elisabeth Moss could be a N/C/G.
January Jones might be a N/C/E. I don't think she has Ingenue. She is just young.
D/C is my guess for Jon Hamm.
I haven't seen Jessica Pare so much, but I think she has Ingenue, maybe some Natural and possibly some Dramatic.
I would say Christina Hendricks is a E/R/I.
I think Linda Cardellini could be a C/G/I.

Rosetta

4/24/2018 10:22:05 am

I've never even watched Mad Men (so much for "catching up with the rest of the world TV-wise" ;)), actually I'm not even sure it's ever been shown on TV over here where I live (Northern Europe), but I know some of the actors from elsewhere, and in any case I love reading about colour typing people! :)

Lena

4/24/2018 01:35:45 pm

Rosetta, which country are you from? I'm from Sweden. I thought I was the only one who wasn't American here.

Katja

4/25/2018 02:17:50 am

KC, have you found your style-ID yet?

Rosetta

4/25/2018 02:51:49 am

Finland, Lena, so we're neighbours ;) I'd thought there are people here from all over (in the TiB fb group there are), but maybe I was wrong then. ;)

Nancy

4/25/2018 02:53:04 am

Now we have tried to type these celebrities. Wouldn't it be great if Rachel would give us her guesses for these celebrities style-IDs?

Lena

4/25/2018 08:08:55 am

Rosetta, do you speak Swedish or Finnish? Om du kan svenska kan vi skriva svenska. Minä osaan vähän suomea.

Rachel

4/25/2018 04:03:54 pm

Hi!

I was just saying, I don't feel comfortable IDing season without a *lot* of looking. :-) But here are my initial thoughts on some of these actors:

- I think Elizabeth Moss has some Classic and some Gamine. I'm not sure what else yet.

- I feel pretty confident that January Jones has some Classic and some Natural, and possible some Ingenue. D looks and E looks aren't great for her, and she's surprisingly lovely when her usually-perfect hair is a little tousled.

- I think Jessica Pare has some Gamine ( which is fun to see on such a tall girl! She really does pull off those skinny cropped pants), possibly some Classic, possibly some Dramatic.

- I think Linda Cardellini has some Romantic, possibly some Natural, possibly some Gamine. I'm not sure on her-- haven't spent enough hours looking at her.

- I think Christina Hendricks has Romantic, perhaps some Ingenue, and I'm not sure what else. I doubt Gamine and Natural.

Rosetta

4/28/2018 06:06:52 am

Lena, I can for sure (Finnish being my mother tongue, though Swedish a bit rusty TBH), but I think it would be polite towards others to stick to English on an international site like this, don't you agree? :)

BrandiD

4/25/2018 09:21:28 pm

I think Christina Hendricks might be soft summer -- the pictures of her I've found as a blonde with natural lips are much more flattering than the red. She's also worn a few lavender/soft purple dresses that look fabulous against her skin tone. Linda Cardellini isn't a Winter to me -- her natural hair and skin are much more muted and red as a color seems to wear her. I love her in black, but not in white or silver which makes me think Dark Autumn? She looks gorgeous in jewel tones. The person I can't type is Elisabeth Moss, because she is so rarely in flattering colors. I blame whoever made her a blonde, because she is not at all a good blonde. She also looks so bad in white and muted tones that I question her as a Summer at all. Could she be one of those rare, pale Brights?

Katja

4/26/2018 03:38:30 am

I think Elisabeth Moss is a Summer. A Light Summer or a True Summer. And about her style-ID, I thougt she had Natural, but after watching some pictures of her I'm ready to rule out Natural. I think she might have Ethereal instead. So E/C/G for her.. What do you think about that?

Katja

4/26/2018 03:50:10 am

BrandiD, you may be right about Linda Cardellini not being a Winter. Not a True Winter anyway. She is not all cool to me.

Katja

4/26/2018 04:45:29 am

Gamine, Jessica Pare? Interesting. Rachel, I have to disagree with you. I don't see anything boyish in her. Actually I see something very feminine. Don't you think she could have Ingenue instead of Gamine? I think you may be right about Dramatic and Classic, but not Gamine. I think that if her style-ID would be Classic-Dramatic-Gamine she would look more masculine than she does. Isn't Classic-Dramatic-Ingenue a better choice for her? I've seen pictures of her without heavy makeup and with her natural hair colour and she looked quite feminine. And would a Gamine blend really look so good in that orange dress, that necklace , those earrings and that hair style on the picture above? I think that outfit brings out her Ingenue essence. Or possibly Romantic or Ethereal essences.
I love your blog!

4/26/2018 02:08:53 pm

Hi Katja--I did the style calculator again, and it turns out you were right, I am an Ethereal-Natural-Gamine! I've gotten varying results for the exact proportions, but I don't seem to have more than 40 percent or less than 25 percent of any of my essences, so I've decided to treat them as more or less equal. Thanks for all your help!

Katja

4/27/2018 01:44:08 am

Glad to help!

Rachel

5/2/2018 03:36:51 pm

If I had only seen pictures of her on the web, I'd probably never identify her as having Gamine. But having watched so many hours of Mad Men now, I feel *pretty* sure she has a lot of it. She's often costumed in Gamine clothes, and they look so good on her. Maybe she's just selling them super well because she's a good actress. But she *does* have this elfin quality that I see over and over in Gamines. And though she tends to keep her mouth shut in publicity photos, her sincere smile reveals really big teeth that create a strong impression of youthfulness. (Though that's often an Ingenue youthfulness, I don't think it is in her case -- possibly because her very high-contrast coloring adds edge to her overall impression...) :-)

Weirdly, I can't find a ton of *smiling* pics of her in Gamine-esque clothes from the show, even though her character grins a lot. Here are some looks with elements of Gamine:

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/17/08/39/17083996a33b185208cddb72f073e294.jpg

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/0d/bd/19/0dbd1993061af653e94a5a2aa2e4c7e8.jpg

Rachel

5/2/2018 03:37:54 pm

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/0b/c9/8b/0bc98bd9e6601cd2f2d314e1bd4236a6.jpg

Rachel

5/2/2018 03:40:08 pm

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/a9/85/f8/a985f809743cdb5e3edf015a463a4a1c.jpg

She reminds me a bit of Ann Hathaway, who has a lot of Gamine IMO, and of Milla Jovovich. I think Pare would be awesome in really short Hathaway-style hair. Can't find any pics of her like that, though! :-(

Katja

5/3/2018 02:49:03 am

I'm not convinced. But it's not impossible that she has Gamine. I haven't seen her much in Mad Men. But she doesn't have a high-contrast colouring. Black is not her natural hair colour. She is not very dark. And there are also Ingenues that have a high-contrast colouring. Do you think she can have both Gamine and Ingenue?
She doesn't remind me at all of Anne Hathaway. I've seen Anne typed as a Romantic/Natural/Classic ,by the way. Second essence Gamine. I don't know if that is true.

Katja

5/3/2018 05:01:16 am

Have you seen Jessica without makeup and in her natural hai colour? She looks very different.

Nina

4/26/2018 12:09:37 pm

Could Christina Hendricks be a Bright Winter? That she's a cold season I don't have any doubt.

Silver and more silver:

http://imdoc.it/content/1/4/2/61420/6-christina-hendriks-seno_diaporama_550.jpg

https://metrouk2.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/wpid-article-1316423885709-0df858d700000578-228079_466x531.jpg

This look reminds me of Sophie Ellis Bextor:

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/59/93/92/5993929ec119d02aad09d8735a8db950.jpg

She looks amazing in black, even without or with minimal makeup.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/01/15/24B6148E00000578-0-image-m-30_1421317777752.jpg

SuD

4/30/2018 10:07:37 pm

I think Christina Hendricks is definitely cool, but the black seems to overpower her coloring. Maybe she’s a light or cool summer.

Elizabeth P

5/2/2018 11:35:59 pm

My personal coloring is the same as Christina’s. After a lot of experimenting, I call myself a Soft Spring. I think she is flattered by the medium depth of Warm Spring but doesn’t feel right in the tropical notes of that pallet. Soft Autumn is ok but a bit heavy when she still needs a little delicacy. That slightly softened medium green is perfect for her if you can see past the jarring jewelry. My suspicion why people guess True Summer is because it’s the right depth and brightness even if off on the warm-cool scale.

Nancy

5/3/2018 03:13:17 am

Elizabeth P, I think you may be right. She could be a Light Spring or a Soft Spring.

Shawna

5/15/2018 05:02:27 pm

I'm weighing in on Christina Hendricks too just because it's fun and I'm obsessed with colour. I am beginning to think she is a Light Summer. Some warmth is definitely good but she also wears pink well. I am a true autumn and I don't do pink well at all. She might be a light spring but I think that the red wig fools us into assuming more warmth. Her skin looks very delicate and fair in a way that suggest a light season to me. Soft autumn seems a bit too washed out but if she is a light spring soft autumn might look almost right. I don't think she has the greyed effect a soft season has. Just light and delicate and probably neutral-warm. The red hair doesn't look amazing when she isn't in full makeup and possibly other photography effects. It washes her out. She looks better as a warm blonde or strawberry blonde. I hadn't noticed the effect of seeing lips, hair, curves until Rachel mentioned it and then it was a light bulb moment!

Color Analysis: Mad Men

Leave a Reply.

About Me...

Categories

Archives