Get some Southern style with Sookie Stackhouse's summer dresses from True Blood

Sink your fangs into Sookie's summery Southern style.

True Blood is back and we couldn’t be more excited. We’ve got our Merlotte’s t-shirt, 4-pack of Tru Blood and DVD boxset, although we’re still kind of undecided on whether we’re Team Eric (Alexander Skarsgård) or Bill (Anna’s real-life fiancé Stephen Moyer). Whether you watched the season three premiere last night or still have to wait until you can get back to Bon Temps, we think you’ll like our fashion choice for today. As summer and True Blood are both finally here, we’ve decided to take some inspiration from southern belle Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin).

Sookie’s style is simple yet sassy, just like her personality. She’s happy to work in a bar in the town she was born in, but she’s not afraid to delve into the supernatural underworld that seems to always lead back to her. Costume designer Audrey Fisher had no trouble dressing Sookie, since author Charlaine Harris gave so much direction in her Southern Vampire Mysteries series of books (on which the series is based.) “Sookie is a smart, emotionally connected young woman living in this tiny little town. She is bigger than Bon Temps but loves it. She has this country side to her, but there is a touch of sophistication. You know she was raised right, likes to put on a dress, likes to go on a date, likes to be put together, but she is a country girl at heart.”

So how do you represent a modern woman living in a small town in her clothes? To do this Fisher went back to the classic 50’s silhouette with A-line skirts and dresses with cute cardigans and simple accessories. She says: “If you think of someone like Kim Novak or Audrey Hepburn with the defined waist — A-line skirt, simple with an edge of sophistication — I’ve gone that way because it suits Anna and the character. It doesn’t look too unexpected. It’s still a small-town look, and it works.”

Fisher designs most of Sookie’s summer dresses herself, as she says: “It’s very hard to find this sort of ‘50s style that fits Anna’s body perfectly. I could shop forever. Honestly, she has the perfect body and could fit into a million off-the-rack dresses, but the details are so specific, and it is much more fun for me to build it.” She might find it hard but we’ve taken on the task and found you a great selection of little summer dresses that wouldn’t look out of place in Sookie’s closet.

Add a cardigan and “cute little white pumps – those are very Sookie" on Fisher’s advice, and you have the telepaths signature style down. Let you hair loose and join the patrons of Merlotte’s or Fangtasia for a night of fun. Of course you could always go for her work look of black shorts, Merlotte’s tee and apron and black Nike Cortez sneakers with a high ponytail.