Mad Men Party!

my search for the perfect dress for halloween led ben and me to Playclothes, the awesomest vintage shop in the valley. when we were at the counter, a MAD MEN COSTUME PARTY flyer caught my eye. any picture of christina hendricks, Mad Men's red headed bombshell Joan Holloway, would catch my eye. the flyer promised 60s jazz, cocktails, a fashion show, and a talk by the guest of honor, the show's costume designer Janie Bryant.

we immediately asked if we could come, and the nice Playclothes lady put us on the guest list. i dusted off my 1960s rhinestone encrusted cocktail dress (last seen at our wedding) and ben got into his suit with skinny tie and pocket square.

my bowl cut transformed into my mom's high school 'do - minus the hair bow.

we headed out to Playclothes and joined the other Mad Men devotees (and one cast member, Rich Sommer aka Harry Crane) for the party.


this guy was wearing a Kennedy for President pin

two kitty romano special pegnoir sets

sharp!

being a wellesley grad, i asked more questions of Janie Bryant than anyone else and then approached her afterwards to ask even more. here are some tidbits we learned:

- surprisingly, while they do buy and rent a lot of vintage pieces for the show, almost everything the male principal actors wear, and EVERYTHING joan holloway wears, are "built" from scratch by the costumers.

- joan's pen necklace was purchased at the pasadena rose bowl flea market. they wanted her to wear something secretarial, but didn't expect it to become her trademark.

- the way the men's pocket squares are folded reflects the characters' personalities. she said the silver fox's is always far more elaborate than others because he's so much more flamboyant.

-that crazy hat jane sterling wore in her first appearance in the third season was by givenchy - she said the actors thought it looked like an old fashioned hair dryer.


fashion show model in bridal suit


ben draper and his thunderbird