Channel your favourite TV character with clothes and accessories

NEW YORK - So, you admire the fashions of popular TV characters. Do you want to dress just like them?

This fall, you can if you favour the slim suits worn by one smartly dressed 1960s ad man, the sexy looks of those real-life housewives or necklaces dripping with "blood" - make that rubies - inspired by modern vampires.

The latest collaborations from the intersection of television and retail are licensed clothing and jewelry lines tied to the hit shows "Mad Men," the "Real Housewives" franchise and the vampire drama "True Blood."

"It is a loud and clear signal that the American consumer is looking for fashion excitement that isn't being delivered by traditional stores or designers," said David Wolfe, creative director at The Doneger Group, a fashion-forecasting company.

The agreements make sense, experts say, because people are watching more television, the shows are better today than in decades past, and because fashion is no longer limited to insiders.

"The whole world knows about fashion and follows fashion," said John Mincarelli, a fashion merchandising professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. "It's the right time for the small screen."

People have always looked to all corners of the entertainment world for style cues, but TV is having a greater influence on fashion now because the shows themselves are more fashion-conscious, Wolfe said.

"In the 1950s and early '60s, people who chose clothes for most TV shows were afraid of being too fashionable because they thought the average American wouldn't get it," he said. "In the '70s and '80s, the young and the fashionable started to get it, but it was still too much for the mainstream taste level. I think the average American now gets it."

Viewers have emulated the style of TV characters for many years - from Mary Richards' beret to Carrie Bradshaw's stilettos. A savvy business ploy sometimes follows with sanctioned, licensed fashions: There was the "Davy Crockett" coonskin cap in the 1950s, the side-button doctor shirt tied to "Ben Casey" in the 1960s and the glitz and glamour of the 1980s captured in "The Dynasty Collection" by Nolan Miller.

TV's sway over fashion can be seen today at Target, where a line this season by designer Anna Sui was inspired by "Gossip Girl."

Last year, "Sex and The City" devotees could buy lingerie from Cosabella - licensed by HBO - that was modeled on the show's four feisty women.

Of the latest as-seen-on-TV looks, the most high profile is likely the Brooks Brothers "Mad Men Edition" suit, inspired by AMC's Emmy-winning 1960s Madison Avenue drama. The retailer is selling 250 of the grey sharkskin suits through the season finale on Nov. 8. Selling for $998, it has '60s detailing, including a two-button jacket with narrow lapels, diagonal pockets and side vents.

The trimmer suit has been around for several seasons (Brooks Brothers brought it back in 2006). But "Mad Men" is giving the silhouette a boost by showing today's man how it comes alive, said Lou Amendola, Brooks Brothers' chief merchandising officer, calling the TV visual "a major selling tool."

"They relate to it. They see it and it really gives men a sense of credibility," he said. "It's, 'Oh I can wear that slimmer suit. It's in."'

"Mad Men" costume designer Janie Bryant, who created the suit, calls it a modern version of what she designs for the Don Draper character. "When a suit is fitted and tailored to your body, it looks very sharp and elegant, and that's the look of the suit," Bryant said.