New Collection for Kiel James Patrick Giveaway & Now You Can Have Don Draper

Hello-Hello, welcome to a crazy Tuesday here at the Prepatorium.

We have just a few brief items before moving to our primary topic, Kiel’s fabulous new line of belts. But first, a quick glance at the Mad Men premiere party in New York Sunday night. Below, Betty & Peggy January Jones and Elizabeth Moss at the party.

Evan Angostini/Chase Sapphire/AP

There was quite a crowd on hand in Times Square for the festivities.

Evan Angostini/Chase Sapphire/AP

In related news…

Courtesy BarbieCollector.com

Yes indeedy, the official Barbie Mad Men dolls are now available. We are a tad confused about the target audience for these, as most girls enjoying their Barbies are not old enough to be watching the show, so how would they know who Betty and Don are …? Are adults expected to buy them?

As well as Roger and Joan.

Unlikely to be seen here at Princess InterGalactic HQ.

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We are ever-so-excited to share a new product launch with our friend Kiel James Patrick.  Behold the designer’s new Croffix Sailing Belts!

Kiel James Patrick

Kiel launched these in the wee hours of Monday morning after months of hard work, and we are delighted to share them with you.  Princess readers won’t be surprised to see that one of our faves is the Arabella Brayton Fellix (L), we also like the Gigi Tripler in a classic combination, pink and navy.

To see them in person is to marvel at the craftsmanship and attention to detail.  As with all KJP products, the belts are created from hand-knotted rope, finished with the finest Italian pebbled leather and lined with the firm’s trademark madras fabric.

Of course they coordinate perfectly with the bracelets we carry at the Princess.

Including our exclusive pink and green KJP Princess Bracelet seen sandwiched below between Kiel’s solid green and white belts.

Below, more styles from the new collection.

Kiel James Patrick

How excited are all of us about the belts? Enough that Kiel has asked us to help kick-off the Croffix Belt launch with a giveaway! The winner receives one of the new Sailing Belts in the pattern  and size of their choosing.  How fun is that? Here’s how to enter:

• For one entry leave a comment telling us your favorite KJP belt
• For a 2nd entry leave a comment telling us your favorite KJP product at The Princess
• For a 3rd entry fan The Princess on Facebook & leave a comment telling us you did (If already a fan just let us know)
• For a 4th entry blog about this giveaway (please leave a link to your post in your comment)
• For a 5th entry Tweet about the Giveaway and let us know you did
• Receive 3 additional entries for sending friends/readers to the contest, just have them tell us you sent them here in their comment

Entries will be taken until Noon next Monday, August 2 and we will announce the winner in Tuesday’s post.

Until next, thank you for popping in to visit!

The Mad Men Barbie Collection, “Future Prep”

Hello-Hello, happy rainy day! Yes, we are so gaga over the warmer weather we are happy about the rain, it is so much nicer than the snow!

We start with absolutely delightful news: the folks at Mattel have made our favorite Mad Men characters into Barbie dolls. As the Guardian put it:

“It is a move that would have the male denizens of Sterling Cooper reaching for their whiskey and cigarettes. Don Draper, a symbol of pre-sexual revolution male values from the hit TV show Mad Men, is to be made into a Barbie doll.”

Courtesy Photo via NYTimes.com

We think Joan Holloway and Betty Draper look simply smashing, their hair and makeup are captured perfectly, although Joan is nowhere near as curvaceous as on the show.

Unfortunately Don Draper and Roger Sterling aren’t as easy to depict, especially their clothing, an element key to the show’s success and cult following. Their suits just don’t translate well, they are not as well-tailored. Here is a comparison:

But then, these are merely 11-inch dolls, oui?

More on the wardrobe selections from amc’s Mad Men blog:

“Don Draper wears his classic, polished red-lined suit and comes accessorized with a hat, overcoat and brief case; Betty Draper’s classic look is captured with unparalleled detail, from her faux pearl necklace to her pumps; Joan Holloway looks chic in a purple skirt suit and perfectly styled coif with her staple accessory – a pen necklace; and Roger Sterling is looking dapper in his monogrammed shirt.”

Stuart Elliott’s column in today’s Times is excellent, loaded with interesting background on the Mattel deal and addressing almost every question that sprang to mind, including these:

“The dolls come with period accessories like hats, overcoats, pearls and padded undergarments, but no cigarettes, ashtrays, martini glasses or cocktail shakers.”

The dolls launch in July at a retail of $74.95, they will be available at the Barbie Collector site. (We apologize to our Facebook and Twitter friends for repeating this item, as we did Tweet and put the photo up on the Princess FB fan page as soon as we heard about the dolls, we simply couldn’t wait.)

We’re thinking a few bloggy friends may contemplate bringing Don home. So to speak. (You know who you are.)

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We have a few quick SOTTs (Signs of the Times) to share:

• It’s official, American Eagle is closing all 28 of its poorly performing Martin and Osa stores.
• Stationery and gift retailer Swoozie’s has filed bankruptcy but hopes to keep most stores operational. In looking for recent updates we noticed the last time Swoozie’s Twitter account was active was Feb. 3, the company’s Facebook page is more current.  We wish them the best, we always enjoyed a trip to Swoozie’s.

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We are intrigued by a line from across the pond, Polistas.

Courtesy Polistas

Described by Luxist as “… the first true polo lifestyle brand made for polo players by polo players…”, the company is now launching a Polo Dress.

Courtesy Polistas via Luxist

We enjoyed bouncing about the Polistas website.

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We close with a few more looks from Paris Fashion Week, beginning with the Balenciaga fall collection, characterized by at least one trade magazine as “future prep”.

We are guessing the crewneck sweaters from designer Nicolas Ghesquiere contributed significantly to this appellation.

While there was some lovely pink and green in the collection we wouldn’t exactly refer to it as preppish. But doesn’t it look pretty, like candy, or Easter eggs?

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We close with a bit of retail bliss:

Jason Squires/Getty Images for Sperry

Remember when we chatted about Sperry opening retail stores in select locations?  The Kansas City store celebrated its grand opening on Saturday and the liquid refreshments look dreamy.

Jason Squires/Getty Images for Sperry

The clothes are also easy on the eyes, as is the footwear.

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If interested in the company’s 75th Anniversary CVOs seen above right, they are now available online.  We initially stumbled on the party pix while gathering the info for today’s Pretty in Pink, the Seasonal Bahama.

Sperry Top-sider

We shall pray to the retail Pooh-bahs for a Sperry store in our corner of the globe someday.

Until next time dollfaces, grins and giggles!

ADDITIONAL PHOTO CREDITS:

• Balenciaga: Giovanni Giannoni/WWD