Style Inspiration From The Screen

There are many spectacular female characters on TV who have influenced the way we dress. Here is a roundup of my all-time 20 favorite female fashionistas…Many of these shows are still on TV so be sure to check out these vixens, matriarchs, girl-next-doors, drug-dealers, spies, boardroom and bedroom butt kickers…

Hope you like the few flashbacks near the end.

See if you can guess who made it in to my top 20 without looking at the pics...Have I missed anybody?

Claire Underwood from House of Cards... Her style epitomizes simple chic. Her clothes are always unfussy and perfectly tailored. Her gorgeous simple hair style hints at androgyny which is not surprising since if you watch the show you are always wondering who actually wears the pants in the Underwood house...

Alicia Florrick on The Good Wife…If you are a stay-at-home high society mom who has to suddenly go back to work after your husband's "alleged" sex tape is released…then this is how you want to dress. Like a "good wife" with secrets of her own.

Ms. Emily Thorne/ Amanda Clarke from Revenge…I love everything about her. Especially how she always has a calm facade. She is the original Snow Princess Elsa…I'm sure that "the cold never bothers her anyway" but she prefers the fashion and climate of the Hampton's.

Victoria Grayson on Revenge…I want to dress like her when I grow up. If there is one female character on TV that society Turkish women's fashion resembles the most…then this is it…Perfectly accessorized, splendid hair and makeup, always ready for a photo op...

Rachel Zane from Suits…always borderline "too sexy" but simple and splendid anyway…she rocked the button down tucked into the pencil skirt before Claire Underwood.

Joan Holloway on Mad Men…1950's voluptuous and office vixen dressing at it's best. All of her outfits and hairstyles are fabulous...

Nancy Botwin on Weeds…If I had to be a drug dealer then this is how I would like to dress. The perfect urban-suburban mash-up. I especially like her hair and makeup...

Kate Beckett on Castle. Although her hairstyles (yes I am jealous of her effortless curls and color) are super unrealistic for her job, the immaculate masculine/feminine balance in all of her outfits is absolutely perfect.

Nola Lyons from Dirty Sexy Money…Any character Lucy Liu plays would be on my best dressed list (except for when she plays a foul-mouthed version of herself on SITC) because she herself is simply splendid looking. If bone structure and skin could be duplicated, then I'd like to copy and paste hers on to my face...

Nikita Mears from Nikkita. Another bad-ass spy/secret operative/vigilante who somehow has unlimited?!? resources to buy awesome outfits (which she keeps where, I'm not really sure). It helps that she is super fit and the she can move in all of her outfits as the actress who portrays Nikita performs all of her own stunts on the show...

Serena van der Woodsen from Gossip Girl. No list of inspirational female tv characters would be complete without Serena. She has inspired generations of women to sleep around, spend feverishly and abuse alcohol and drugs…oops sorry, I was talking about fashion inspirations…well this character was that too…making bags bigger, heels higher and label-porn available for all ages of women.

Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City. She is the original fashionista. She probably took the biggest fashion risks to date…albeit within a designer and NYC context. She is Serena van der Woodsen's illegitimate aunt.

All of the women of Wisteria Lane on Desperate Housewives…Especially when they were sporting casual real-life clothes from GAP and J Crew whilst baking cookies and scheming to kill a neighbor or two.

Robin Sherbatsky from How I Met Your Mother…her fashion improved halfway through the show…probably because she acclimated to NYC after moving there from CANADA. She is the girl next door with a little edge and eternal-Canada-in-her. Robin Sparkles was an especially inspiring character for teeny-boppers hanging out at malls waiting to be "discovered"...

Kate Austen on Lost…This character made looking dirty and layering tank tops sexy…How skin can look so dewy after so long on an island without sunblock is another question altogether...

Rachel Green on Friends. Her style also evolved through the years…she probably had the most sought after hairstyles and has inspired generations of hairstylists to learn and perfect versions of the "Rachel Cut".

Sydney Bristow on Alias…she started the kick-ass female undercover agent who changes into fantastic costumes for her fantastic missions trend. I am sure her wigs and leather get-ups were especially inspiring for a variety of not-so-legal vocations all over the world.

Buffy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer…See kids, we used to watch vampire shows back in the day toooo. Buffy was the original lover/hater of hot Vampire men. Her outfits were the edgiest we had ever seen to date but very apropos for a teenager who would spend the entire night out of her house (unnoticed) killing villains.

Ally Mcbeal of Ally Mcbeal. This show put a lot of stars on the map and put co-ed office bathrooms and risqué courtroom/office outfits" in vouge". Although Ally was always criticized for being a little too thin, this didn't prevent millions of women (of all sizes) from trying to emulate her style...

Last but not least, the lovely Angels of Charlie's Angels. I think the second cast had better clothes but one thing is for certain…these characters started it…the simple and sensational masculine/feminine blending of styles for women of my generation...