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Jean Paul Gaultier’s girls looked ready to take off in their era-appropriate beehives and spiffy fur-trimmed luggage, while at Victoria Beckham, mod was the word with neat-as-a-pin jackets and ladylike box bags. Bottega Veneta’s knee-length skirts and posh accents (rounded collars, leather pumps, elbow-length gloves) looked luxuriously retro.
Not since Sex and the City have we seen a television show shape the fashion zeitgeist with quite the reach as AMC’s Mad Men. “I saw an ad for Wal-Mart that had a funnel-neck suit, tweed, and a pencil skirt,” says Janie Bryant, the show’s genius costume designer who also won an Emmy for her work on the seminal HBO outlaw series Deadwood. "And I thought, ‘Oh my God! That’s Mad Men!”
Get Inspired : Betty Draper
The Character:
She’s a character who is trying to create the perfect façade. She spends time on what she wears, how she looks, and how she presents herself to the world.
The Look:
I love the idea of her wearing full skirts and petticoats and all the foundations, really presenting that façade of perfection.
The winter white cashmere coat is a vintage piece, and it’s really all about maintaining Betty Draper’s color palette. I have always seen her character in whites, beiges, grays, and light blues. I love the idea of her being in cool, cool colors because her character is very cool.
The scarf is a classic accessory. Betty has many different, beautiful silk scarves.
Get the look:
Get your Betty on with this back-button cashmere sweater and silk pleated skirt, Chloé
Accessorize with Smoke gold plated bracelet, Bijoux Heart, New Decoltissimo 85 pumps, Christian Louboutin, Two-strand pearl necklace, Lanvin
Top it off with Bayswater ostrich leather bag, Mulberry Lace detailed leather gloves, 3.1 Phillip Lim and Camel hair bolero jacket, Smythe
Betty for pre fall in Lewis cashmere cardigan, Luella and Wool-blend brocade skirt, Jason Wu
Paired with Tahiti glitter peep-toe pumps, Jimmy Choo, Ballerina Swarovski crystal and pearl earrings, Erickson Beamon and large printed silk scarf, Alexander McQueen
Get Inspired: Peggy Olson
For Peggy, it’s about her growing position in the company. But she maintains her modesty and that go-getter personality. Now that she’s really emerged into the office, her costumes have matured, step by step with every season.
The Look:
She’s always that Catholic schoolgirl. A lot of plaid for her, and a lot of pleated skirts. It’s still very buttoned up.
Pairing the old with the new, like her brown and grey plaid dress with the jabot front that used a lot in season two and repeated in season three. I think she would go out and buy a couple of new suits for herself, but she’s mixing them with old pieces.
She’s growing into her position, she has a little more authority, and she’s working with the boys more. She has a lot of textured fabrics, whether it’s plaids, tweeds, checks, raw silk, or gingham. She has so many different layers that we’re discovering and they are incorporate into her costumes.
Get the look:
Tweed drop-waist dress, Oscar de la Renta coupled with tweed cropped-sleeve jacket, Milly and Ankle strap pumps, Miu Miu
Or a Double-breasted wool dress, Moschino under a Harold wool-blend coat, Luella
Get Inspired: Joan Holloway
The Character:The Look:
Big Bold color, she has a palette of a lot of jewel tones to have that richness and strength.
I think that, for that period, this was a big part of the secretary’s wardrobe – having separates of skirts and blouses. They’re good basics that you could mix and match. And women wear that same classic style today.
Her dresses are inspiring to show off her hourglass figure although most of them are are same cut they all feel different on her
Get the look:
Pair this silk jersey wrap top, Issa with either draped tweed skirt, Vivienne Westwood Red Label or Houndstooth pencil skirt, Alexander McQueen
Wear with Satin rosette pumps, Lanvin and Muse Two ponyskin bag, Yves Saint Laurent
In mood for a shift dress then wear Scarf neck dress, Marc by Marc Jacobs or Gold-tone pavé or Techno crepe dress, Jil Sander with gold earrings, Kenneth Jay Lane and Bat Girl 100 shoes, Christian Louboutin
Speaking of Don Draper—he'd raise a moody eyebrow at plenty if he got plunked down on Madison Avenue circa 2011, but not at the offerings at his local Banana Republic. For fall, the retailer is debuting a capsule collection of menswear and womenswear inspired by the ’60s looks and characters on Mad Men. Emmy-winning costume designer Janie Bryant worked with Simon Kneen and the Banana Republic team to create period-friendly fare, which ranges from sharp suiting for the gents to nip-waisted, formfitting day dresses that would surely catch Joan's eye. Best of all, they're timeless enough to work as well today as they would've then. Waiting for the show's season-five debut in 2012 just got a little bit easier.
P.S. – Some other Mod inspirations !
Victoria Beckham launched her line of chic sturdy handbags this season, and one to lust for is the leather tote in what she calls “vermillion” red.
Inspired by 1940s glamour, Lancôme’s fall 2011 collection includes two limited-edition lipsticks, Hold Up Red and Rouge Canaille (shown here)
If anything can take you back to the days when air travel was a glamorous luxury, not a privacy-stripped form of crowded mass transit, its Prada’s graphic hard-sided suitcase collection.
