As the first of several final episodes signalled, Mad Men, the TV show that's influenced fashion more than any other since Sex and the City, is coming to an end.
The 1960s period drama about slick ad men and curvy women has been an aesthetic gold mine, influencing the slim silhouette of men’s suits, the beauty ideal for women’s bodies and more, particularly during the first five years of the show’s 2007 to 2015 run. It brought the worlds of fashion and costume design ever closer in the process.
From the very first season, I - like most viewers - was seduced by the show’s post-1950s innocence. I dreamed about living in an era before surgeon general warnings, when cigarettes and booze were a given at lunchtime, and the polished glamour and propriety of opera gloves and pillbox hats were the norm.
“I don’t think you would have liked it,” said my baby boomer mother, shattering the spell. “It wasn’t much of a place for women.”
Of course she was right, as we’ve seen in episodes since, but they did dress fine.
The look of the show was envisioned by costume designer Janie Bryant, who was inspired by old catalogues, her Southern grandparents and the wares at Los Angeles area vintage stores - which she helped to make fashion destinations - including Playclothes in Burbank, the Way We Wore on La Brea Avenue and Shareen downtown.