It's Mad Men time!

OK, after a loooooong delay Mad Men is back on the air. The Chiarella's have a special place in their hearts for this show as it feels like 'we were there'. I am reposting this from a while back in part because I love these old photos of my father. Enjoy!

Mad Men has started, and it's hard not to watch this show. You know, I knew 'Don Draper', or perhaps his real life body double! Our Don had a different name, though but it feels exactly the same. Dad lived a very similar life, his agency was actually right on Madison Avenue, and his clients were a lot like these characters.
We knew a lot of these 'mad men', they came for dinner parties in our Bayside home. For each party, I put on a great outfit and went in to greet the guests, then my brother and I would watch from the top of the stairs. When he was older, he tended bar, whipping up rye and gingers, bourbon old fashions and mai-tai's. The refrigerator was full of maraschino cherries and tom collins mixer!

Mom at a party (that's NOT dad)

The madison avenue husbands and wives really looked like the cast, we wouldn't notice anything funny if they'd been transported back in time and dropped into our house at one of moms dinner parties! Well, the pics below don't have the drama that comes with the real 'Don Draper', I think they are from a sales meeting my dad went to in 1964. The look is right, it's so cool. See where I get it from? Ciao!

Caption: Joe Chiarella, from Ad Graphics clarifies advertising policy. With a beer in his hand, at lunch. Seems perfectly fine, if you really want to know!








Caption: "Tell me another one". This looks like a meeting i'd
go to anytime!


The storyboard begins here....



"Joe swapping stories with Doug Blow and
Jack Ware." Dad was pretty cool, and a great
artist as well.



We still have drawers full of Dixon Ticonderoga pencils, the only pencils we ever had. No other brand would do, 'cause it was his account!

emmy and me

Did you see the emmy awards last week? You know I did, it's like religion to me, watching the stars march down the red carpet, waving to the crowds, stopping for a quick interview, seeing the crowds wish their favorite stars good luck. The emmys are always the place to see superstar fashion, with some of the coolest gowns, hair and accessories. I also like to see if TV shows I like win an award or two, my favorite, Mad Med won!!! You also get to see what everyone's wearing, and this year had lots of great outfits and jewelry. It's my job, as your jewelry expert, to examine all the girls jewelry and see if what they wore is represented in my jewelry line.

This year, JACKPOT! I sketched some of what the stars wore and went back into the catalog and the websites, to see if we had baubles similar to what the stars were wearing. I do this cause it's a given that the TV shows and magazines will always show the affordable, lookalike collections that enable you and me to dress like an emmy winner for less.

Us magazine picked up my reports, and when this weeks issue came out, with 'knock off' gowns and accessories, I was proud to have 4 pieces chosen by the Us style editors for their 'emmy looks for less section. The pieces are on the website and select retailers, so check them out. The emmys were great television theatre, with Mad Men and 30 Rock winning as best TV comedy and drama. I'm glad Glenn Close won for the FX show Damages, though I didn't see an episode till after it was nominated.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus didn't win an Emmy, but she did look great, and her earrings were unbelievably close to my senorita frieda earrings. The Little fig leaf earring is just about an identical twin to Debra Messing's earring- of course hers probably cost thousands, but my crystallized swarovski elements come pretty close to giving you that look for a lot less.

.

All in all, I had a great time watching the emmys, and am thrilled Us Magazine used so many of my pieces in their red carpet emmy look issue. It's a blast to see your jewelry in print, and at these prices. Even though some lucky people will win the look, it's not hard to acquire your own, they're all specially priced at my site. Ciao!

mad (dad) men

Mad Men has started, and it's hard not to watch this show. You know, I knew 'Don Draper', our Don had a different name, though. We knew a lot of 'mad men', they came for dinner parties in our Bayside home. For each party, I put on a great outfit and went in to greet the guests, then my brother and I would watch from the top of the stairs. When he was older, he tended bar, whipping up rye and gingers, bourbon old fashions and mai-tai's. The refrigerator was full of maraschino cherries and tom collins mixer!
The madison avenue husbands and wives really looked like the cast, we wouldn't notice anything funny if they'd been transported back in time and dropped into our house at one of moms dinner parties! Well, the pics below don't have the drama that comes with the real 'Don Draper', I think they are from a sales meeting my dad went to in 1964. The look is right, it's so cool. See where I get it from? ciao!

Caption: Joe Chiarella, from Ad Graphics clarifies advertising policy. With a beer in his hand, at lunch. Seems perfectly fine, if you really want to know!

Caption: "Tell me another one". This looks like a meeting i'd
go to anytime!

The storyboard begins here....

"Joe swapping stories with Doug Blow and
Jack Ware." Dad was pretty cool, and a great
artist as well.



We still have drawers full of Dixon Ticonderoga pencils, the only pencils we ever had. No other brand would do, 'cause it was his account!