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Mad Men costumes - discuss

Get Smart

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^^ i dont think so

season 2 ended in 1962, season 3 is a continuation time-wise, otherwise Draper's baby would be 2 years old already
 

bowtielover

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Although I am pleased that the show is inspiring a more sophisticated dress amoung men I am not a big fan of the fashions of the 50's. I don't like that it promotes the skinny tie and small lapel look and the horrid thin clip on bowties as well. I do enjoy the show but find myself distracted by these things.
 

Get Smart

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Originally Posted by bowtielover
Although I am pleased that the show is inspiring a more sophisticated dress amoung men I am not a big fan of the fashions of the 50's. I don't like that it promotes the skinny tie and small lapel look and the horrid thin clip on bowties as well. I do enjoy the show but find myself distracted by these things.

similarily, yet on the opposite end, I dont like how it promotes the slim tie/small lapel look as it's now become the "Mad Men look"
frown.gif
, plenty of guys were dressing that way before anyone ever thought to pitch the tv show.
 

belmondo

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It is 1963. Kennedy has not been shot yet. Re: the suits, Don's and Roger's suits in season 3 are made at Brooks Brothers. The one Don wore to Roger's Derby party looked alot like Black Fleece. The lapel is almost too narrow, even for 1963. Also there is something about the fabric that when I saw it I knew it wasn't vintage.

The show definitely presents a fictionalized and idealized version of the decade, and the clothes are no exception. The shirts are wrong, and clearly not vintage. They look like any standard point collar. 1950s shirts had much softer collars.

Paul Kinsey is often shown wearing a sportcoat to the office. I am pretty sure this would have been quite a faux pas in 1963, and even a wannabe beatnik like Kinsey wouldn't have gotten away with it. Back then sportcoats were still worn for sporting events.

Pete wears the "pete campbell blue" because it is supposed to convey his youth and fashion-consciousness. An ivy league suit would much better suit his character IMO. He was born into the establishment, raised by it, school by it, and he would, in the interest of his own ambition, ape the manner of dress of the establishment of the time.

Now Sal, he wears what was called the continental look: one and two button shiny sharksin suits, sometimes with thin peaked lapels. It makes more sense for him: he is arty, not part of the establishment, flashy, and has a closer connection to Europe ("the continent") than most.

Also, the costumers have an odd habit of putting odd vests on some characters, particularly Sal and Lane Pryce, in odd vests. The odd vest would have totally been out of style by the 1960s, and if it was worn, it would not have been with sharkskin one button suits.
 

belmondo

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Originally Posted by Get Smart
similarily, yet on the opposite end, I dont like how it promotes the slim tie/small lapel look as it's now become the "Mad Men look"
frown.gif
, plenty of guys were dressing that way before anyone ever thought to pitch the tv show.


This irritates me. People who have paid no attention to how I like to dress all of a sudden call me Don Draper. I don't use brylcreem or anything like that, just like a narrow lapel and a narrow trouser.
 

MORNINGSTAR777

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Originally Posted by Get Smart
similarily, yet on the opposite end, I dont like how it promotes the slim tie/small lapel look as it's now become the "Mad Men look"
frown.gif
, plenty of guys were dressing that way before anyone ever thought to pitch the tv show.


+1. This has totally turned me off to ties smaller than 3". It doesn't help that I wear horn rimmed style eyeglasses either. For the general population the nuances of slim and narrow suiting and/or ties of now and those of Mad Men are lost.
 

Montauk

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Originally Posted by UserNameToronto
No discussion on Season 3's looks?

The year is now 1964...

ep3-don-pete.jpg


main-cast.jpg


In the Derby Party episode, I was very surprised to see both Pete and Roger at different points dressed in what were supposed to be "casual" looks but which were in fact two different suit halves. No way, I say.
 

BBSLM

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Originally Posted by belmondo
An ivy league suit would much better suit his character IMO. He was born into the establishment, raised by it, school by it, and he would, in the interest of his own ambition, ape the manner of dress of the establishment of the time.

Now Sal, he wears what was called the continental look: one and two button shiny sharksin suits, sometimes with thin peaked lapels. It makes more sense for him: he is arty, not part of the establishment, flashy, and has a closer connection to Europe ("the continent") than most.

Also, the costumers have an odd habit of putting odd vests on some characters, particularly Sal and Lane Pryce, in odd vests. The odd vest would have totally been out of style by the 1960s, and if it was worn, it would not have been with sharkskin one button suits.


I love mad men but am not very educated on suits. What characterizes an ivy league suit?
 

Montauk

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http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=1609

I suppose this answers my question about the suit separates worn by Pete and Roger at the Derby party: "peacock suits!" I do wonder, though, if this novelty was so widely adopted as the show is implying...

"Dry cleaning has given clothes a shorter life." No beating around the bush there!
 

MrDaniels

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Manton

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Originally Posted by chorse123
I've noticed in the last two episodes that some of the suit jackets have a wider collar than lapel. Maybe they've been that way all along, but it seemed new to me.

Looks like the iconic Oxxford lapel/collar, only narrower.
 

SkinnyGoomba

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Roger Sterling's double breasted suit that he wore for the 'American Airlines' meeting was really spectacular.

Overall i think its done very well and I also think it realistic for them to have made some errors, these are guys who dress in suits daily so they may not be that well versed in sportswear and I'm sure the show wanted to use that idea.

Some of the characters do sportswear very well.
 

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