Mad about the Girl

I love 'Mad Men', in a kind of obsessive, watch 4 or 5 episodes in a row, watch the seasons over and over again way. It's smart, edgy and oh so stylish. The first season is set in 1959, the second in 1962, which means some really, really great dresses. The kind of dresses that cling to every curve but don't actually show a huge amount of flesh. The show may be called Mad 'Men' and focus around the male executives in an New York advertising agency but it's the woman in those wonderful dresses that steal the show. When the Office Manager, Joan Holloway, struts across the room in one of her slinky little numbers the whole room stops and stares, she is poised, confident, sexy and together. Sure she is trying to impress the boys, because deep down she knows she will never be the one with the corner office but you get the impression that she has worked that out and is happy just to be who she is. Unlike most of the woman in the programme, she doesn't cook dinner or wait up for her man, she just gets on with her life in her own way, all whilst working that wonderful hourglass figure. She manipulates men with her curves. Although she is not the only woman on the show who wears beautiful dresses, she is the most eye-catching and the strongest of the female characters. I think I might be a little bit in love with her.
Anyway I was thinking about the way she dressed and after a long winter of wrapping myself up in ugly clothes in an attempt to stay warm, I decided to try a little experiment. Not for the boys but for myself. I have a reasonably large collection of late 50's style dresses, as it's period that I love and for a long time it was the look I most emulated. Then I stopped, no one else could be bothered to make the effort so I gave up too. But really I enjoy making the effort so I decided to start again. For the last couple of weeks I have been wearing my 50's style dresses to work, everyday. And admittedly it seems to have made me feel more confident. I might not have the Joan curves (I wish), to really, truly fill the dresses but I do somehow feel more professional, more together and much more of a woman. Sure I am just an assistant, just like the ladies in Mad Men actually, (although in my office 3 out of 5 of the managers are woman), but someone I feel more efficient, more like my idol Joan. All I need now is the curves and the fabulous wardrobe.

Devil Woman

Recent rumours that Anna Wintour's time at American Vogue could be coming to an end, may have an element of truth to them or they may just be idle gossip. However I think it would be safe to say that if she is indeed leaving I get the sneaking suspicion that it will be completely under her own terms. I recently read the unauthorised biography about her "Front Row", written without her consent but featuring opinions from many people who have known her over the years. It was certainly an interesting read, going right back to her youth in London and in the course of reading it I discovered many things about the mysterious lady that I didn't previously know. She didn't actually complete her expensive, private education and her career wasn't as quite as unblemished as she makes it out to be. However there is no denying that she great at what she does, that she has had a huge impact on the world of fashion and that she is a great example of a successful working woman. Some of the stories in the book, especially the ones in which she reduces colleagues to tears, make her come across as the bitchy boss from hell, just like Miranda Priestly, the editor from The Devil Wears Prada, who is supposedly based on Ms Wintour. However whilst reading the book I did wonder if really she was actually all that bad. I mean obviously she was a bit of a nightmare boss but she was a dedicated, determined, with a strong vision of what she wanted for her career and for her magazine. Right from the start she knew she wanted to be the Editor in Chief of American Vogue and she worked and worked until she got there. Given that you know that when she does finally give up the position it will be on her terms and no one else's.
Throughout the book I did wonder whether she would have been regarded as such a nasty piece of work if she had been a man. Mind you maybe she wouldn't have been so highly regarded either.