Think Hepburn

The Series: “Martha Stewart Living,” 5:30 a.m. Sundays, NBC

*

The Setup: Stewart--cookbook writer, magazine editor and chef/gardener/hostess/craft maker/antique picker extraordinaire --hosts a weekly series highlighting her varied skills. Segments are shot on location at her homes and gardens in Westport, Conn., and East Hampton, N.Y., plus nearby field trips.

*

The Costume Designer: None.

*

Inspiration: Martha Stewart, as she appears in her book and magazine spreads.

*

The Look: Let’s call it fantasy nesting. It’s worth setting your VCR to see how Stewart--with the help of Los Angeles-based stylist Paige Leavell--turns each exercise into a Katharine Hepburn movie version of what to wear while, say, building a compost heap (multipocket olive trousers, pink T-shirt, aqua gloves, pearl stud earrings), morning antiquing in Sag Harbor, N.Y., (green-striped cotton shirt, white jeans, pearl stud earrings) or cooking a whole salmon (steel-blue crew-neck sweater, chestnut-brown jeans, pearl stud earrings).

The series will follow the star laboring through the seasons, which means gardening jackets, cozy sweaters, flannel shirts and a variety of foul-weather shoes.

*

Hit: Stewart assiduously avoids cute--no ruffled aprons, floral prints or gathered skirts for her. Her one foray into clever theme dressing works:

While making a circular submarine sandwich, she wears a shirt of black-and-white gingham with appliques of pie slices, hamburgers and ants.

*

Miss: She appears in an untucked shirt at least once per show. They are not only boring but also unflattering.

*

Quoted: “We’re learning that people like to see the star of the show roll up her sleeves and get in there and look like she’s really doing it, and she is really doing it. We’re trying to get more and more dirt (on her) as we progress,” said executive producer George Zaloom.

Good Hair Day: For a touch of cinema realite , Stewart’s overgrown shag is always a bit of a mess.

*

Sources: Most of her basic pieces--cotton and linen shirts, shorts, T-shirts--are from J. Crew and Eddie Bauer. Her olive pants (with optional kneepad inserts) are from the Smith & Hawken gardening catalogue. Her many-colored rubber rain shoes resembling loafers are J. Crew. Jeans are by For Joseph.