Lipstick on His Collar-Dressing Well is the Best Revenge! MAD about the Style, Betty Draper's Closet

Close the laptop, shut off the cell phone, cancel all plans...Tonight the third season of arguably the best series on television, Mad Men, premiers. The series is graced with pitch perfect writing that is filled with carefully and slowly revealed characters, characters that individually and collectively portray and explore the extraordinary period of change that was the late 50s and 60s. These are characters you care about, love to hate and are amazed by. Mad Men keeps you wanting more. The show is exquisitely crafted with sets that stage the era, which is truly the central point of Mad Men, to every detail. The story line captures the extraordinary shift in lifestyle and culture this country would undergo in those years. The performances pull you into that world of smoke filled rooms and Mad Men is flawless in its representation of the most fascinating time in the twentieth century, a time of revolutionary societal change. Watching Mad men,however, you stop and wonder how much has really changed!

Mad Men is a reason to sit and watch TV at a time when there is not much reason to do so,this is appointment viewing! I love to re-watch Mad Men to look at , yes John Hamm, but also the clothes, the styling, the jewelry... The fashion and the "look" of Mad Men is meticulously selected to not only define the characters but also reflect the changes that they experience and that the country was experiencing. The fashions of the series tell so much of the story, especially about women and their role---and it is a powerful one.

The wardrobes are to envy and sitting in flip flops and cut off shorts I wonder how my Mother did it ...and I want everything in Betty Draper's closet!

Betty's closet is filled with the clothes, shoes, bags and jewelry that work forever-the look of Dior, Hermes, Bonnie Cashen,Givenchy...

Betty is married to the mysterious, enigmatic, habitually unfaithful and totally delicious ad man Don Draper. Their life, a portrait of what the magazine's sold in the late 50s and early 60s, one of suburban bliss...which rarely was....

Betty Draper's style is perfectly coiffed and adorned. Madmen costume designer Janie Bryant describes Betty's look as "... quite simple but so gorgeous. And you know, you still see women like this. That beautiful classic style from the period that they've carried on for their entire lives..."

Bryant defines Betty's wardrobe to reveal the character her role as wife and mother and her reality "...its about having that image and maintaining that sense of perfection, so it's sort of how everyone sees her from the outside and not so much what's on the inside."

Beautifully played by January Jones, Betty Draper carries a cool serene exterior that hides to perfection the fragility that lies under the cashmere and pearls.

She is part Donna Reed




part Grace Kelley

part Jackie Kennedy

and a little Marilyn...

Of course to go with all the wonderful clothes, bags, shoes and jewelry...Betty also has The Best accessory...John Hamm!

Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair

The Polyvore Playground

When I was growing up my favorite after school activity was art class. In camp it was always arts and crafts... that got me through archery! One of the projects I loved working on were collages, pulling bits and scraps and cutting pictures out of magazines. Later I went on to decoupage and took the images and covered anything that didn't move with everything from the cover of Vogue to greeting cards to strips from the funny pages. So you can imagine how excited I am about this site...Polyvore is the playground I have been waiting for but could never have imagined. If you love design, shopping, style, trends, art,color... GO! but don't say I didn't warn you... this could get addictive.

Here's the idea...type in a search word or phrase and up pops an image library pulled from sources all over the web -from shopping site to blogs. You can narrow your search by site or color scheme, pull the image and then decide where it goes on your set, and play with each image you add. For example, I typed in..you got it... Strands of Pearls and this is what I did

Next I started playing with some vintage Vogue covers, a work in progress but so much fun...

...there are some amazing sets posted to inspire your work-

You can design an outfit, like playing with paper dolls only better, a room or a piece of art. Of course this is also a very cool way to shop.

Let's say you want a new sweater...type in sweater, narrow the sites you like to shop on, pick your sweater. Now you need jeans...then boots...maybe a scarf..hello earings...bracelet..belt..outfit! and you can click on any of the images to get to the sites to buy what you put together.

I thought why not a few things for the season ahead???
So... I went shopping...first the shoes,how much fun is this!..Manolos anyone? Next a coat...Burberry works for me. Need a bag or 6...Gucci, Valentino, Tory Burch,Hermes??? Stopped in at Netaporter.com,Neimans,Gucci.com,Burberry.com...all in my bunny slippers and look what I got without once taking out the plastic!!

For room design, I love that I can move furniture around...add in fabric wallpaper, lamps, tables,accessories, a rug...and here's a room. I clicked around with two of my favorite room elements-chairs and wallpaper...I could have played all day!!

Go have fun...you may be up all night!!