ICONOGRAPHY: Joan Clayton
From lawyer to restaurant owner, a boss nonetheless and even with the trials her friendships have been through, she holds her girls down, while coming up
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Every woman ever knows that having a good group of girlfriends is the key to surviving through all the things of womanhood. No matter how intentional, most of us end up building a group— big or small— of women who make us feel safe to navigate our lives and all that our lives may bring. The women in Girlfriends are exactly this, and as they take us on their separate journeys, we see a little of ourselves in each of them, making the series one of legends. One of which, Joan Clayton, the woman of the four that, for anyone who’s really watching, seems to be the glue in the group.
Joan Clayton, a successful lawyer and later restaurant owner, is awe inspiring to most. In both her drive and passion, but in her humor and fashion. The show in and of itself strips down the barrier between what the outside world sees when a group of beautiful and successful women walk by. Letting us in on the one particular group, it displays the quirks, flaws and complexities of women who outwardly are not just fawned over, but are role models for many younger women. To put it plainly, we get the “behind the scenes,” which for us, is just life without the performance that is being a woman in society. Joan is, of course, no exception to this. She is a visionary to the fashion eye, especially with her very open love for clothes and accessories, but also in her passion for all things aesthetic and decor. Her career for most of the series as a lawyer, makes it so that her taste is one of quality, regardless of price. She may love a pair of heels, or a designer dress, but more for the fit and quality than for the brand itself. She is expensive but in a quiet way. It’s this quiet that leaves room for the rest of what makes her who she is, and for us and most of the characters in the show, there is so much more to Joan than how she looks.
Her attention to detail in her home and her outfits are one of the many things symbolizing her attention to details everywhere else in her life. Known as probably the most anal and particular character of the four main women, Clayton can easily be labeled the “mom friend,” of the group. She’s the planner, hostess and overall reliable friend of the four of them for a majority of the show. This makes Joan the woman that we either want to be, or want to have around.
What probably makes Joan the most interesting, though, is the character arc that she seems to have. For most of the series we know her to be reliable, constantly and consistently making sure to not just show up for her friends but to show out too. But there’s a time in the show, after she’s quit being a lawyer to pursue her dream of opening a restaurant, where things shift. Well, not immediately after, as her restaurant doesn’t start off a huge success. But it is the new found success of her restaurant, the J spot, where the restaurant starts getting traction due to its feature in a magazine, that it seems Joan starts to view herself and her life in a much different way than before. There’s a shift in her friendships not just because the world of exclusivity is opening up for her, but also because for once, she is thinking far more selfishly about her life.
As new opportunities present themselves and make her realize how much of her life has been put on hold up until this point, we see an entire transformation. Now, don’t get me wrong, Joan was always putting together outfits that blew us away for both work and nights out with the girls. But it’s after this shift of perspective, where she finally gets to embrace and be a part of the groups of people who don’t have to wait in lines. The designer outfits become more frequent and even the scandalous nature of them increases. She begins dressing for an audience in a way rather than for herself. This is not to say that her increased inclusion of higher end fashion was performative by nature, but that the shift in her life made it difficult for her to balance new aspects of a more privileged and popular life and made her fashion choices more about the new crowds she’d be around. However, in a weird way, I don’t think her outfits would scream, “I belong here!” if she wasn’t aiming to belong so much. Like wearing a green cut out dress to a party that she’d assumed would be more of a club like environment, only to arrive and feel out of place and like her dress was too much for a party that was far calmer than expected. It’s after this that things crumble for Joan in order for them to be rebuilt, and this includes her style. Her friendships suffer and so does her familiarity with herself. Everything about her becomes unrecognizable to her and everyone around her, and not because it’s new, but because it’s just not quite… Joan.
She is humbled by the experiences of failing her friends, despite her past reputation of being the dependable one, and decides volunteer work is the way to bring herself back to Earth. Her style during her time there is very practical and casual. Having picked up running, and focusing on her volunteer work, her clothes reflect her very minimalistic and focused mind space. It’s when she returns home from volunteering that we see her style calm down a bit since her party debacle. Almost to confirm that while she is still herself, and still dresses with intentionality and attention to detail, she is not distracted by the flashiness of clothes, but rather appreciative of quality. While she’s not back to the old Joan, her demeanor and style suggests that her days of viewing herself as a celebrity in ways that distracted her from what was important, are behind her. She shows up later in the series after volunteering, in a simple black and white, casual outfit. An almost peasant style blouse, with slim fit jeans and a black and white jacket. The style of it all cute but calm, and suggesting a humbleness that’d seemed to be missing during her celebrity era. A reflection of the revelation she’s made in life, really. Good clothes, good people, and good opportunities trump anything flashy and empty; and if it’s one thing about Joan, no part of her has ever lacked feeling or substance, after all, she’s the glue of the group for a reason.