Banana Republic Mad Men Collection – do we love it?

I am about to betray an entire generation of women who worked so hard to gain the rights and opportunities for our gender that I so freely enjoy each and everyday, but I can’t help myself – I think Betty Draper is an idiot. Yes, I know her ex-husband is a womanizing philanderer who has multiple mistresses and a serious drinking problem. But her ex-husband also looks like this:

Hi Don – I love you.

So needless to say I was very disappointed not to be getting my summer Mad Men fix this year. (Thank goodness for this guy who is filling in for Don on Sunday nights this summer quite admirably.)

But Don Draper is not the only thing I love and miss about Mad Men. I also love the wardrobe, set design and overall look of the show. So you can imagine my excitement when I heard that one of my favorite retailers was debuting a collection designed by Mad Men costume designer Janie Bryant (who is an absolute genius) that was inspired by the show. Unfortunately the results left me more confused than Peggy when she went to the doctor with what she thought was a stomachache and gave birth to Pete Campbell’s love child instead. (Oops – spoiler alert)

For example – this leopard trench coat gets a thumbs up:

It would be a super-fab way to accessorize a classic Joan Holloway-Harris jewel-toned sheath dress. This “Betty dress”, however, gets a thumbs down:

The color is sad, the fabric is too shiny and I don’t believe Betty Draper has ever worn a jaunty neck scarf.

This floral-print dress gets a conditional thumbs-up:

The conditions being that you add a belt, lose the necklace and don’t stand with your hands in your pockets like that.

But this – I don’t have enough thumbs to express how much I hate this:

I’m not talking about the skirt. The skirt is boring, but fine. I’m talking about the aneurysm-inducing, dirty-looking socks that someone paired with BRONZE PUMPS. Is this going to be a thing now? If so I think I’m going to be physically ill.

So aside from that last affront to nature, how do we feel about Banana Republic’s Mad Men Collection?