They may not be obsessed with shoes -- yet -- or live in the greatest city in the world -- New York -- but the ladies of Desperate Housewives are the latest fashion queens on the suburban block.
Brace yourselves, people, because for the next one, two, five, or ten years, what these tiptop, shaped women wear will be the unofficial quota.
Five women, five different bodies and styles; let's take a look at what makes each of these gals rock both Wisteria Lane and the red carpet.
Marcia Cross:
Bree Van De Kamp
Housewife: She's ultra-anal and super conservative -- straight from a Norman Rockwell dream.
You'll really only ever see traditionalist Bree in pastels, baby hues, and creams. She can cook, clean, garden and "accidentally" almost kill her cheating husband without blowing a single hair from her Carol Brady flip-do out of place.
Her: The eldest of the five stars -- almost 43 -- Cross has a very straightforward and sophisticated style. She isn't as unadventurous as her alter-ego; however, the red-headed actress still likes to keep it simple -- an occasional fur, yes, here and there, but overall not much bright color and a lot of soft-colored longer dresses and floor-length gowns.
Nicolette Sheridan:
Edie Britt
Housewife: Ready and able, the new skank on the block is one Miss Edie Britt.
Edie's shirts and pants are tight, breasts high to sky, belt loose and ready to fly. She'll be most commonly seen parading into everyone's life in vivid attention-grabbing colors.
Her: Aside from the recent magnificence that was her Golden Globes dress, Nicolette really doesn't do clothes with too much sensibility.
Sheridan's outfits tend to be, well, train wrecks, to put it nicely. She wears sloppy and distasteful sequence gowns that leave not much for the imagination. But hey, at least she's a risk-taker and there may come a day when she takes the right risk -- or hires the right stylist.
Felicity Huffman:
Lynette Scavo
Housewife: Lynette has four young rowdy kids. The fact that she gets up in the morning and puts on clothes is even admirable. Khakis, jeans, T-shirts, button-ups, and flat shoes are understandably the standard; who knows how many kids there would be if she dressed like Edie?
Her: In the past, the hard-bodied Hollywood wife hasn't seemed to love a lot of color. But she has a very consistent, safe style.
Rarely showing more skin then her arms or shoulders, Mrs. William H. Macy can be seen keeping it simple with ankle-length brown, black, cream and sometimes red or violet dresses. She doesn't dress like a star, but rather like a your average middle-class woman, which will most likely work to her advantage as middle-aged fans can relate.
Eva Longoria:
Gabrielle Solis
Housewife: The philandering Mrs. Solis is everything and anything over-the-top glamorous. This sneaky mama loves silk and satin dresses made to shine and glitter.
Lower than hell plunging necklines are also a favorite of the former supermodel gold-digger. But what Gabrielle loves more than anything is just straight-up lingerie, since the majority of her time on screen is spent in bras and undies.
Her: Longoria has been the most successful on the red carpet. The 29-year-old Texan is much more class and less trash than her small-screen character.
Eva is all about halter tops and dresses, lots of color and lots of girliness. Oscar de la Renta or just blue jeans, her small, petite, sub-zero waistline fits into just about anything and is usually accented with a steamy man on her arm.
Teri Hatcher:
Susan Mayer
Housewife: She's the casual-hip, sexy, single mother with a crush across the street.
Susan rocks low-rise jeans and shirts just short and tight enough to be neither too sweet nor too hot.
But let's not forget the super-snug, shiny red number she sported on her first planned date with Mike Delfino.
Her: As with Longoria, Hatcher likes girly.
Her style is Cinderella with a mature twist.
Corseted couture, low necklines, embroidery and beads, flowy and bright, she wins the prize for the housewife with the most versatile style.
