Mad Men: The fashion evolution
updated the 6 October 2015 à 23:07
As the hit series Mad Men comes to a near close, we look at the impeccable costuming and how it evolved throughout its 7 seasons.
Besides its intriguing character and plot development, Mad Men also delights us with some great on-screen fashion. The critically acclaimed show started in 2007, but depicts a setting that transports us back to the 1960s, an age where fashion— breaking away from restrictive traditions — was all about freedom and garish colours.
Award-winning costume designer Janie Bryant dressed each character to mirror the zeitgeist of the psychedelic era. Thanks to her creativity and attention to details, Mad Men‘s looks speak volume to the storyline, and to TV fashion scene entirely.
A walk through the fashion evolution
During the earlier seasons, the men of Sterling Cooper appeared strikingly neat to a fault. Don Draper (Jon Hamm) was clad almost exclusively in a broad-collared, crisp white shirt and an old-school business-grey three-piece suit. Similarly, Roger Sterling (John Slattery) constantly rocked his spiffy bespoke suit, a white shirt with club collars and a collar bar. Back home, Draper’s wife Betty (January Jones) was decked in Suzy Homemaker’s puffy shirt dresses in pastel colours, while the advertising company’s office manager, Joan Holloway (Christina Hendricks) wore form-fitting office-wear in muted colours.
As the series unravelled and progressed towards the late 60s, and as the characters’ personalities and status shifted, so did the costumes. The characters ‘let go’ a little, and fans would attest to the pleasure of seeing Draper and Sterling in semi-smart blazers, Holloway in more daringly playful getups, and Betty more confident and comfortable and slim-fitted pants, sleeveless shirts and loose shift dresses.
To grasp how sublime the fashion of Mad Men has been throughout all seven seasons, flip through our gallery for the fetching visuals. It won’t come as a surprise if the ladies and gents of Sterling Cooper remain the best dressed troupe television has ever seen to date.
Natasha Gan
