- [Narrator] This is Betty Draper.
This is Joan Holloway,
and this is Peggy Olson.
You know them from Mad Men.
You know this look and this look and this look,
but are they accurate?
We got this fashion historian.
- Hi, I'm Raissa Bretana and I'm a fashion historian.
- [Narrator] To fact check the fashion in Mad Men.
First, let's establish a setting.
- Mad Men is set in New York City in the 1960s,
specifically on Madison Avenue in midtown Manhattan.
We begin season one in March 1960,
and season seven wraps in November 1970,
giving us a full decade of excellent fashion.
The 1960s are widely heralded
as the golden age of advertising.
This time in the ad industry is characterized
by creativity and brand innovation,
as well as sexism, racism, alcoholism,
and incessant chain smoking.
As we see in the show, women were very much part
of the advertising workforce,
though many of them were relegated to the secretarial pool.
Like Peggy, there were some very prominent
female copywriters who largely contributed
to advertising in this era.
They were mostly relegated to feminine products
like cosmetics and household items.
Just as the show's characters do
in the world of advertising,
Mad Men sells a very distinctive brand
of visual style that's become iconic in its own right.
Mad Men is a masterclass in character study,
visually communicating each character's motivations
before they even utter a line.
Costume designer Janie Bryant developed a specific formula
for each of her leading ladies that remains
more or less consistent throughout the entire series.
She created a signature style for each character
through consistency of silhouette and color palette.
So the costumes themselves are not necessarily inaccurate,
but they are highly stylized versions
of 1960s fashionable dress that creates
a greater visual impact on television.
Let's get into the looks.
First up, Betty Draper.
When we first meet Betty Draper,
she is the quintessential mid-century housewife
and exhibits suburban style in polished American sportswear.
The consistent elements that make up the look
of Betty Draper are the fit and flare silhouette
and the cool color palette which emphasizes
her glacial demeanor.
For example, cool blues, whites, pastel pinks,
and other neutral tones.
For the first half of the series,
Betty Draper's clothes more closely resemble 1950s styles
and it just goes to show that just because
we're officially in the '60s now,
it doesn't mean people just throw out
everything in their closets from the previous decade.
Furthermore, the continuation of the 1950s styles
emphasizes those stereotypical values and gender roles
that took place during that era.
We see the evolution of Betty's character
when she transitions from the role of housewife,
when she's married to Don, to the role of political wife,
when she's married to Henry Francis.
So fittingly, her style icon goes from
Grace Kelly to Jackie Kennedy.
- [Narrator] Time to break this look down.
First, the undergarments.
- At one point, we see Betty wearing a long-line bra,
which is a brassiere with an extended panel beneath it
to help control the torso.
The bra cups are pointed in the bullet bra style
which is a holdover from the 1950s.
A high waist girdle would be worn
and would meet the long-line at the waist.
Shapewear was absolutely essential
when it came to accurately conveying the styles of this era.
Betty would likely also be wearing nude pantyhose.
So these undergarments are totally accurate.
- [Narrator] Moving on to the next layer.
- To achieve such a voluminous skirt,
she would likely be wearing
at least one petticoat or crinoline.
- [Narrator] Next, the shirt dress.
- The crisp, cotton shirt dress is the uniform
of the mid-century suburban housewife.
This dress was washable, wearable,
comfortable, and practical.
This garment could either be a single dress
or a separate blouse and skirt combination
that coordinated and was unified by a belt.
We do see Betty in both variations.
The fit and flare silhouette was highly feminine
and we do see Betty wear it in both day wear
and evening wear, sometimes in delicate floral prints.
Betty's look is always pristine and put together,
and that could be in part due to
technological advancements in textiles.
Wrinkle-resistant fabrics like Dacron or sanforized cotton
really cut down on the need for ironing
and figured prominently into advertising campaigns.
- [Narrator] Moving on to the coat.
- In early seasons, Betty wears a royal blue swing coat.
This would have been made of wool
and would have flowed away from the body
in order to accommodate a full skirt.
Later, when she leaves the hospital with baby Jane,
we see her in a chic pink peacoat with a stand collar,
very similar to this one from Glamour.
These types of coats in the 1960s often came
with a detachable fur collar.
- [Narrator] Then, the next layer.
- Betty upholds the 1950s tradition of ensemble dressing,
which means your purse, your shoes,
and your gloves all match.
Handbags during this era often had
top handles and kiss lock closures.
A woman of her status could be carrying an Hermes Kelly bag,
which Grace Kelly made famous in 1954
when she used it to try to shield her body
to hide her pregnancy.
It's a timeless design that's still fashionable today.
It's in this time period that we start to see stilettos
because of technological advancements
which allowed for skinnier heels supported by steel rods.
Prior to that, heels were typically made of stacked wood
or other materials that did not permit
for such a slender silhouette.
- [Narrator] And now the jewelry.
- For daytime, Betty would probably be wearing
a simple pair of pearl clip-on earrings
or else a novelty pair of featherlight plastic earrings.
For evening, she wears matching sets of costume jewelry,
many of which we see throughout the seasons,
although Don does gift her with fine jewelry in season one.
- [Narrator] Finally, the hair and makeup.
- Betty's signature hairstyle closely resembles
that worn by Grace Kelly in the mid-1950s.
To achieve this look, she either gets
her hair set professionally at a salon,
or we also see her wearing curlers at home.
To complement her hair, her makeup is also soft and feminine
which upholds the beauty standards of the previous decade.
- [Narrator] So here's what Betty's outfit
would have looked like compared to the original,
pretty much the same.
- Next up, Joan Holloway, who represented
the ideal body type of the late 1950s.
Her character's style is modeled after such bombshells
as Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren.
- [Narrator] Let's get into the layers.
First, the undergarments.
- The key to Joan Holloway's
va-va-voom silhouette was shapewear.
Because of how closely her clothes are fitted,
Joan would likely be wearing an all-in-one,
or merrywidow style foundation garment.
This garment prioritized smooth, streamlined silhouettes,
which was the hallmark of the Joan look.
These undergarments would have incorporated
Lycra or spandex, which was invented by Dupont in 1959
and revolutionized the undergarment industry.
In interviews with costume designer Janie Bryant,
she often cites real vintage undergarments
as contributing to Joan's look.
Throughout the 1950s and '60s,
the fashionable bustline was the lifted and separated look
with pointed, conical cups.
Joan would also be wearing stockings
or pantyhose to the office.
- [Narrator] Next, the slip.
- We see Joan wearing a full black slip here.
So this is accurate.
- [Narrator] Moving on to the dress.
- Joan's character exhibits perhaps the most consistent
style formula throughout the series.
This consisted of tightly fitted dresses
with short or elbow-length sleeves in rich jewel tones.
We can see variations on the Joan Holloway uniform
in these examples.
Although Joan's style comes off
as rather provocative on television,
she actually dresses rather conservatively
with higher necklines and longer sleeves for the office.
These dresses are usually a solid, saturated color
but sometimes incorporate a small bow or other design detail
to create visual interest.
Joan's uniform of body-hugging sheath dresses
were mostly made of wool,
and all had an emphasized waistline
to really show off her hourglass figure.
They were called wiggle dresses
because you kinda had to wiggle when you walked in them.
These dresses are highly stylized in that
they're just a little bit tighter
and a little bit brighter than what would be typically worn.
- [Narrator] And then the shoes.
- Joan would also wear a pointed pump in a neutral color
or one that coordinates with her outfit.
- [Narrator] Now for the jewelry.
- Joan usually wears gold clip-on earrings
that coordinate with a gold brooch,
pinned at the neckline close to one shoulder.
Perhaps the most iconic aspect of Joan's look
is her pen necklace, which is a true vintage item
that Janie Bryant found at a flea market.
This tiny detail helps signify her position of authority
within the secretarial pool.
It helps to show that, above all,
she is extremely capable and always prepared
for the duties of her job.
Interestingly, she also tends to wear long gold necklaces
of similar scale in her evening wear looks as well.
- [Narrator] Finally, the hair and makeup.
- For the majority of the series, Joan wears variations
on that distinctive, 1960s beehive hairstyle.
Here, we see an updo of stacked curls and a lot of volume
which would have required extensive teasing.
It's not until the very end of the series, in season seven,
that we see her signature hairstyle loosen up a bit.
Overall, her makeup is rather understated.
She tends to wear rosier tones
to complement her copper hair.
Joan's personal style reflects the ideals of the 1950s,
which makes sense because that's probably the decade
when she came of age and discovered her signature look.
- [Narrator] So here's what Joan's outfit
would have looked like compared to the show.
Again, basically the same.
Now, let's break down Peggy's look.
- Peggy undergoes the most dramatic transformation
over the course of the series.
She is the youngest character and you can watch her
come of age and discover her own personal style
between season one and season seven.
This is a decade of rapidly changing fashion,
but we actually get to see
the slow progression through Peggy's costumes.
In the earlier seasons, Peggy's palette
is made up of dull, mossy greens and warm mustard tones.
Peggy's earlier look, when she first joined Sterling Cooper,
is all-parochial plaids and pleats,
which really give off a young schoolgirl vibe.
This is further emphasized by her Peter Pan collars
and her curly ponytail.
- You wanna be taken seriously?
Stop dressing like a little girl.
- Later, her signature plaids become bolder
in color and in scale, until eventually she transitions
into vibrant stripes and geometric prints by season seven.
By then, she becomes one of the more
fashion-forward people in the office
when she adopts the new fashionable 1960s silhouette
of the trapeze or A-line.
- [Narrator] Let's get into the layers.
First, the undergarments.
- We see Peggy wearing a white bra
which is probably by Playtex, an account that she worked on
while she was at Sterling Cooper.
- Are you aware that I'm on the Playtex account?
- What about it?
- In the 1960s, Playtex debuted the Cross Your Heart style,
which emphasized the lifted and separated ideal.
Peggy is the type of girl who would wear
a sensible pair of white cotton bra and panties.
Throughout the series, she wears nude pantyhose
to the office, but later when she finds her style
in season seven, it could turn into
a brighter color of pantyhose,
which was pioneered by British designer Mary Quandt.
We see her wearing bright orange pantyhose
in the season seven promotional photos.
- [Narrator] Next, her slip.
- In one scene, we see that Peggy wears a short half-slip
and seemingly no girdle.
- [Narrator] Moving on to the dress.
- By the time Peggy develops a modern sense of style,
we see her sporting the fashionable A-line silhouette
in either drop-waist or trapeze styles.
Garments like this flowed away from the body
and were less restrictive.
In later seasons, we see her sporting a shorter hemline,
not quite a miniskirt but getting close.
In this dress that she wears for an important pitch,
we see bold stripes that mimic
the fashionable color blocking and mod fashions.
Though not necessarily worn in the office,
the miniskirt was invented in the '60s by
British designer Mary Quandt.
The asymmetrical neckerchief on this dress
is a nod to Peggy's favorite design element.
As we can see throughout the series,
Peggy loved a neckbow.
Also notable is the more vibrant shade of green
that she wears, which really shows
her character development over the arc of the series.
This dress is very accurate and very fashionable.
- [Narrator] Next up, the hat and coat.
- At one point, we see Peggy wearing
a youthful white halo hat, much like the one
on the January 1960 cover of Glamour.
This could be paired with a boxy mod coat.
- [Narrator] Now for the shoes and purse.
- In the later 1960s, lower, blockier heels
became more fashionable.
Square toes began to replace pointed toes
and sometimes shoes incorporated a Mary Jane style strap.
This was the era of the youth-quake,
when fashion began to cater to the younger generation.
By this point of the series,
Peggy is a serious working woman
and often carries a serious working bag.
- [Narrator] And then the next layer.
- Peggy's jewelry isn't especially distinctive,
but she likely would have been wearing
a simple set of clip-ons that were either
a pearl or a cluster.
She also regularly wears a wristwatch
with a simple, thin band.
- [Narrator] Now for the hair and makeup.
- Peggy's hair is central to her character's transformation.
She begins the series with short bangs
and a long, curly ponytail, which essentially
keep her trapped in the 1950s and in her schoolgirl style.
However, one of her colleagues cuts her hair
at the end of season two, and we finally see
the transformation from the naive schoolgirl
to the ambitious career woman.
From season three on, we see variations
on shorter hairstyles for Peggy.
Many incorporate teased volume at the crown
and the very fashionable flip.
Her short bangs become side-swept and frame her face.
Peggy accurately depicts the variations
and fashionable hairstyles during this period.
Over the course of the series,
we see that Peggy's beauty regimen
also becomes more polished.
The clothes themselves are accurate,
but what's more accurate is the idea
that one's personal style would evolve
over the period of ten years.
If we want to see Peggy's style journey,
all we have to do is look at day one Peggy and this,
perhaps the most iconic, memeable moment of the show.
- [Narrator] So here's what Peggy's outfit
would have looked like compared to the one in the show.
- As iconic as each individual character may be,
it's actually in the juxtaposition of characters onscreen
that we see how effective this costuming formula is
in creating different personas.
While it was on the air, Mad Men-inspired fashion
showed up on the runways of Michael Kors and Prada.
Most notable were the official collaborations
that the show did with Brooks Brothers and Banana Republic.
These collaborations capitalized on the show's affiliation
with style and extended the visual reach
of the show's brand.
This is just one example of how period films
and television shows can have a profound influence
on contemporary fashion.
When it comes to reviving vintage styles from the past,
there's a general rule.
10 years ago, ugly.
20 years ago, hideous,
but 50 years ago, fabulous.
- [Narrator] So as you can see,
the outfits in Mad Men are pretty much totally accurate.
[soft piano riff]