If not for the turbulent negotiations this past year over contracts and such I might be writing to you today to recap the season five premiere of Mad Men but, as we are all so painfully aware, the new season will not be airing until March. If you, like me, are spending your Sundays weeping into a high ball glass over the absence of Mad Men in our summer viewing lineup then perhaps I can help you out with a quick fix of all things Mad Men.
It seems as though a lot of people actually have Mad Men on the brain including media giant IPG who used the show’s portrayal of gender roles in the advertising industry as a springboard to discuss how things have progressed in the past
forty years or so. I’d love to write an in-depth analysis of that topic but unfortunately I’m just a woman and serious discussions like that are best left for the men folk. Instead, let’s discuss something I am qualified to talk about: fashion.
Janie Bryant, Mad Men’s costume designer, has teamed up with Banana Republic to create a line of clothing that will give every average Jane the chance to dress like Joan and Betty. The collection will be available in store Aug. 11. The acclaimed designer sat down with StyleList to discuss the process of designing the line. According to Janie, it was “designed to look modern, but if you wanted to go for more vintage you could get a fabulous ’60s beehive and have a cocktail!” Don’t mind if I do.
One benefit of the delay of Season 5 is that it has given some dedicated viewers extra time to spend on Mad Men related projects. Paul Rogers, an illustrator who works on the faculty at Art Center College of Design, created a motion piece that redesigns the opening credits sequence in the style of film and television titles from the early 1960s.
Mad Men Opening Titles Re-Design from Paul Rogers on Vimeo.
I’m not sure how much I’d like it for the show itself since it’s a period drama as opposed to a send up of shows from the era but it’s definitely a fun little “what-if.”
If you’d like to use this downtime to do your homework so you can better understand some of the references when the shows picks back up, Lynn Peril’s recently released Swimming in the Steno Pool: A Retro Guide to Making it in the Office is a great place to start. The book provides a history of female secretaries from when they first broke into the profession in the late 19th century through the golden era of the Joan Holloways and up to modern day. According to the book, secretaries historically were paid less than their male counterparts for doing the same job and were subject to blatant sexual harassment in the workplace. I’m so glad we don’t have to deal with any of that kind of stuff nowadays. The book mixes quotes from actual secretarial advice books from the eras with Peril’s own recollections of what life was like in the steno pool and looks like a quick, fun read for the summer.
If that’s not enough Mad Men for you then I’ll let Don Draper bring it home.
