Emmys 2012: ‘Mad Men’ Star Christina Hendricks Might Wear Atelier Versace to the Awards

Once upon a time, Mad Men’s sexy star Christina Hendricks was thwarted in her attempts to score designer gowns for red carpet strolls. In 2010, she told a Scottish newspaper that she’d had to beg for an Emmy dress from designers who thought she was too curvy (read: Not a sample size 0-2).

“Not one designer will loan me a dress,” the 2012 Emmy nominee said at the time. “They only lend out a size zero or a size 2. So I’m still struggling for someone to give me a darn dress!”

That year, she ended up walking the Emmy carpet in a vintage-inspired lavender Zac Posen gown with fluttery sleeves. Not her finest fashion moment.

PHOTOS: Unzipping Joan: Christina Hendricks Is TV’s Most Talked-About Bombshell

Well, that’s all changing. Hendricks snagged a stunning silver beaded couture dress by Aussie designer Johanna Johnson for the 2011 awards ceremony. While the dress took a month to make, the designer’s sales went through the roof, making the effort well worth the global media exposure.

“The red carpet is incredibly powerful. It was literally within minutes of (Hendricks) walking on the red carpet that we recorded our first sale, and I would say by the end of the day we would have doubled on the previous day’s sales, and that’s probably being conservative,” Johnson told the Sydney Morning Herald.

For the 2012 Emmys, Hendricks no longer has to beg. After all, she’s got a darn good shot at winning for her sensitive, layered portrayal of Mad Men‘s Joan Holloway, who doesn’t let her pride — or her morals — get in the way of her professional advancement and financial security. This past season, she agreed to sleep with a client to land a big account for the firm and was made a partner as a reward.

Her Emmy chances might be why Hendricks was seated in the coveted front row at the Versace 2013 Couture show in Paris a few weeks ago. She wore a revealing Atelier Versace Spring 2012 gold gown, unfortunately covered by a black blazer.

This front row placement signals that she was invited to the show, flown to Paris and put up in a fancy hotel by the fashion house. And this implies a possible working fashion relationship with Donatella Versace for the Emmy carpet and perhaps the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild as well.

Hendricks has lately been wearing designs by British designer Vivienne Westwood, who makes silhouettes very flattering to an hourglass figure and full bust. Her latest winner was Westwood’s pink silk off-the-shoulder gown worn to the New York premiere of I Don’t Know How She Does It.  

But those red-carpet placements could be because she’s the face of Westwood’s Palladium jewelry collection. 

Either way, our money is on a spectacular shimmery, sexy Versace creation for the big Emmy night of September 26. How about you?