Shift in the Wild: Megan Draper Is Free

Sigh, I love Mad Men. A large part of that has to do with the clothes, of course, and I look forward to reading Tom and Lorenzo's Mad Style analysis of each episode almost as much as watching! I love seeing how costume designer Janie Bryant uses clothes to help tell the story. Think about Betty's perfect housewife dresses, Joan's curvy sheath shapes, and Peggy's extremely practical tops and skirts. You could almost line them up in an "evolution of womankind" poster -- as the idealized femininity of the 50s fell away, something new took its place.

Enter Megan Draper, a woman just a bit younger than Peggy but far freer in her ideas, speech, and emotions than any other female character we've seen on the show (except maybe Peggy's awesome lesbian photographer pal). And I couldn't help noticing that, in the first episode of this season, she's wearing a lot of shifts. Some pretty frickin fabulous ones, too.

Free waists for free women! Janie Bryant is telling us that women are changing, and Megan is one of the new models.

Not only is she setting aside traditional feminine silhouettes; she's also showing quite a bit of leg in these looks. New shapes for a new kind of gal.

I can't wait to see these trends play out over the rest of the season. Will we see Megan in a Yves St Laurent Mondrian-inspired shift? Will Peggy rock a mini-skirt? How long till Sally's running around in ripped jeans and muddy feet? I rub my hands in gleeful anticipation!