The question has been posed, "Why do fans hate Betty and love Don?" The Atlantic has answered the question quite well, as it truly is (one of) the double standard(s) of Mad Men.
To show Betty Draper Francis some love, I decided to pull together her 11 best looks from seasons one through six. Because getting dressed and looking impeccable is something she actually does well (sorry Betts). As the list goes on, the get-ups get better:
11. Season 3, Episode 3, "My Old Kentucky Home"
Betty and Don attend a country club party hosted by newlyweds Roger and Jane. Obviously someone else thought Betty looked good, as this is the first time she meets Henry Francis.
10. Season 1, Episode 9, "Shoot"
Betty is just doing some outdoors work. She is wearing plaid pants in this scene, but this photo of her is just too good, and focuses in on what the look is really about: the gloves and glasses. This is Betty in her element, her suburban utopia. In this specific still, it's as if someone called her name and she, without any words, gives them the staredown.
9. Season 2, Episode 13, "Meditations in an Emergency"
A very worried-looking Betty crosses her legs at the doctor's office. As you may remember, in this very memorable episode, Betty learns that she is pregnant and tugs at the idea of terminating the pregnancy. The doctor rejects the idea, saying that she is a married woman of means. What Betty knows, but can't share, is that her marriage is actually falling apart.
8. Season 6, Episode 9, "The Better Half"
Just after her dramatic weight loss.
7. Season 3, Episode 10, "The Color Blue"
Betty has just learned that her marriage to Don has been one big lie, by snooping through his desk drawers. She still attends a SDCP 40th anniversary gala, but pretty much ices Don. With her hair pulled back tightly, and her stiff dress...she does not look happy.
6. Season 1, Episode 9, "Shoot"
Betty models clothing in her bedroom, for a very pregnant Francine, that an Italian designer named Gianni (Versace?) once made around her. This reminds me how we don't usually see this much skin on Betty.
Betty is just doing some outdoors work. She is wearing plaid pants in this scene, but this photo of her is just too good, and focuses in on what the look is really about: the gloves and glasses. This is Betty in her element, her suburban utopia. In this specific still, it's as if someone called her name and she, without any words, gives them the staredown.
9. Season 2, Episode 13, "Meditations in an Emergency"
A very worried-looking Betty crosses her legs at the doctor's office. As you may remember, in this very memorable episode, Betty learns that she is pregnant and tugs at the idea of terminating the pregnancy. The doctor rejects the idea, saying that she is a married woman of means. What Betty knows, but can't share, is that her marriage is actually falling apart.
8. Season 6, Episode 9, "The Better Half"
Just after her dramatic weight loss.
7. Season 3, Episode 10, "The Color Blue"
Betty has just learned that her marriage to Don has been one big lie, by snooping through his desk drawers. She still attends a SDCP 40th anniversary gala, but pretty much ices Don. With her hair pulled back tightly, and her stiff dress...she does not look happy.
Betty models clothing in her bedroom, for a very pregnant Francine, that an Italian designer named Gianni (Versace?) once made around her. This reminds me how we don't usually see this much skin on Betty.
5. Season 2, Episode 1, "For Those Who Think Young"
Betty and Don head to the Plaza for Valentine's Day dinner. She really looks like a movie star.
4. Season 1, Episode 9, "Shoot"
Betty shows up at the Coca-Cola try outs, where she is in this dressy dress, while the other models don casual attire. It's when we realize that Betty is living in the past of her successful modeling days. Betty recognizes that she is overdressed, and apologizes. Tom and Lorenzo perfectly state, "the subtext of the costume becomes the text of the scene."
3. Season 2, Episode 3, "The Benefactor"
Betty channels Marilyn Monroe in this bubblegum silk taffeta number while at a tense client dinner.
2. Season 3, Episode 7, "Seven Twenty Three"
Betty meets Henry to discuss the reservoir. Betty looks absolutely smokin' in this floral sheath. I guess in the 60s, most housewives carried Hermes Kelly bags to coffee shops. Tom and Lorenzo note that "most of her memorable outfits are expensive 'in the city' getups. The fact that this is so simple yet looks so spectacular on her tells you how much looking good for Henry while looking respectable in the eyes of her neighbors was a goal for he."
1. Season 3, Episode 8, "When in Rome"
Betty and Don's relationship reignites, if only for a short while, on a trip to Rome. Once exiting the plane, Betty becomes a different person. Maybe it's the hair, but Betty really nails it here.
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