With families and family trees being so central to the story this time, it’s not surprising that the two branches springing from the Hofstadt-Draper union are both being defined through their clothing, and that subtle points about the differences in each household are being made. Here,...

There were some interesting callbacks to earlier episodes and the ghost of Betty Draper loomed large once again. Let’s get to it. This outfit served as a focal point because an actual story point hinged on the audience realizing that she had changed into a cocktail dress. It’s an...

We’ll start off slow, with a couple snapshots of 1966 teen and tweenhood, upper middle class-style. This episode was the story of three daughters, and while Sally’s clothes definitely played a part and made an impact in this story, the costuming really worked its ass off telling...

Let’s go on a trip, shall we? Before we get into the weeds of it all, we want to point out something that’s not strictly style-related, but since we’re all about the visual motifs here, it’s worth noting. Three parallel, overlapping stories were told this episode. Those...

Because this episode was dominated by men in suits, it’s a little tougher to pull out any sort of inferences or meaning from the costumes. To our amusement, we found ourselves desperately scanning all the ties, looking for something to present itself. To our surprise, something...

It’s true in every episode, but in this one, color stories really took center stage in the costuming. Walk with us. The staging on this scene was very smart. Don’s coughing caused Megan to move away so that when Andrea entered the elevator she had no idea they were together. The...

Zip yourselves up and let’s get to it. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover. Could there possibly have been a more shocking way to reintroduce Betty? Did you gasp like we did? The combination of the bejeweled cuffs and collar (very much in style for the older crowd at this time),...

Part 1 here.   There’s a lot of signalling here that says “British” even if it’s not obvious. Lane has always had a distinctive style that set him apart from the other partners and subtly reinforced a European vibe in opposition their entirely American ways of...

Wake up, children! The SIXTIES are here! Like most viewers, we were struck by Sally’s newly stretched-out body and suddenly deeper voice. And probably like a lot of viewers, we originally figured this was her new house she was waking up in. The scene was designed to be as confusing as...

As we said in the previous installment of Mad Style, we feel like our best work in this series is behind us and we’ve said just about everything there is to say, at least when it comes to the female characters. Because this is the last episode for a distressingly long time, we chose to...

We have to admit something. For us, it feels like we’ve done our best work with the Mad Style series and now we’re at that brief period after the finals have been graded but before the last day of the school year. With the last few entries, we didn’t feel like we said...

Check your teeth for lipstick and put on your metallic dressing gowns, ladies. It’s time once again. When will the American male get over his thighphobia and return to the days of yore when men bared their thighs proudly? Not much to analyze here, just a snapshot of the Scooby...

Swinging Sixties, Baby! We weren’t sure we were going to include the screencaps from this scene until we noticed the sewing machine. We just know something like that is going to prompt a dozen “My mom had that!” responses. Notice how Betty and Sally are wearing pretty much...

Slap on those brooches and let’s get to reading, ladies. Betty working her icy blues again. It’s an interesting dichotomy, the floral themes rendered in icy colors. If we had to pick two surface qualities of Betty that define her, we’d say it’s femininity and coldness....

It’s all about the ladies this time. It’s comforting to know that Betty can still step it up when she needs to. You don’t lose those trophy wife skills overnight. This is a pretty stylish, pretty fabulous, dinner in the city kind of look. And yet it still has a maturity to...

Nothing could illustrate the wave of change that’s coming in men’s fashion than these shots. In a couple of years, they’ll have the option of wearing bell bottoms and Nehru jackets, wild paisleys and wide ties. For now, you can see how the choices in menswear are increasing....

You know, for all the shit she gets from reviewers and fandom, at the end of the day, Betty’s anger is usually pretty understandable, at least as it pertains to Don. He’s proving himself to be as reliable and accessible an ex-husband as he was a husband. Here she is having her...

…and the Sword. There’s a whole lot of groovy going on in the offices of CGC. Four men and 3 turtlenecks (both real and mock), people. They really are similar in a lot of ways to SCDP, aggressively pushing this NEW and MODERN concept to its limits because they know it’s an...

“Do you want a Miltown? It’s the only thing keeping me from chewing my nails off.” It’s a credit to Anne Dudek, who plays Francine, that she’s such a memorable character. In putting together this post it struck us that while she appeared in a lot of scenes, many...

Cover your Selectrics and meet us in the conference room, girls! Bring your cigarettes! Her Christmas party dress was in blue and green and we asked back then, what is it about the ’60s that made blue and green work so well together? And in a range of shades? We think it must have had to...

Just a quick once over for Allison. She definitely favors mixing shades of blue. Not to mention she and Peggy could get into a pussy bow battle if it came to it. These are good girl clothes. Just enough style but not too flashy. Smart work clothes. A couple shots of Harry in his gold-toned...

“The hardest part was realizing you’re in charge.” There are so many aspects to Mad Men that make it a superior television series, but one of our favorites is the pool of rich peripheral characters who support and enhance the storylines, giving the main characters someone to...

Get out your shiny dresses and plaid tuxedos! Here’s Allison as the perfect secretary, both efficient and comfortable in her role as “office wife.” Outfits like this were worn by women long after they went out of style. We entered the workforce in the mid-eighties and older...

“Do you even see me here?” With a show as full of nuance and shades of gray as Mad Men, it’s expected that the viewer understands the imperfections and contradictions in all the characters. And while Mad Men is essentially a night-time soap opera, it remains refreshingly free...

Darlings, welcome to Mad Style, Phase 2. Here’s how it works: we’re going to continue the Mad Style series until we go insane or until our typing fingers fall off. Phase 1, will continue with retrospectives on various characters like Kitty Romano, Helen Bishop, various prostitutes...

Season 3 Episode 7 – “Seven Twenty Three” Betty hosts the ladies of the Junior League in her brand new, 1963-fabulous living room and is appointed the new secretary of the local chapter. She’s doing everything an upper-middle class suburban wife would be expected to do...