In the city where the men are mad

Besides my current love affair with Manhattan, I have a slight obsession with Mad Men, Betty Draper and the restoration of 1950's fashion. I have this dream of wearing big 50's skirts and beautiful dresses all day long. Betty Draper is such a great character. Where would Don be without his perfectly poised wife? Clearly in the first few seasons we've seen that Betty has a much deeper story to tell and I absolutely love her outbursts of opinion. Who didn't enjoy when she slapped the woman in the grocery store and the scene of her emerging from her home with a bb gun to kill her neighbour's doves? Aside from the fantastic-ness that is Mad Men, we've seen a lot of 50's women's wear inspiration making its way into the Fall/ Winter collections. The decade is one of the season's top trends for design houses like Louis Vuitton and Prada.

I'm completely in love with Louis Vuitton's  full skirts and Prada's take on prints. When I was in the city I saw this incredible high wasted leather skirt while shopping in a high end vintage store and I cannot stop thinking about it. Louis V's structured skirts remind me so much of it and I would kill to have one for myself.  We can see Betty's character in every one of these pieces and I can imagine her wearing them in a modern setting. Every piece of both collections is sophisticated but definitely has a sense of mystery and daringness. The collections are very fall/ winter, very elegant and seem to have a story in need of telling. It goes much deeper than beautiful fabrics; much like the story of Betty in Mad Men.

I picked up some fabric from a textile shop in the middle of nowhere so that (when I learn how to sew) I can make myself a big, high-wasted, full length skirt. It's this great pale pink and will have an exposed zipper detail.

Follow up with the latest issue of Vogue - there is a beautiful 1950's spread worth browsing 
http://www.vogue.com/
Also, get your hands on the third season of Mad Men. Like the first two, its completely addictive with a fantastic story line and, as always, costumes to die for. 

Louis Vuitton - F/ W 2010

Prada - F/ W 2010