An Open Letter to Mad Men

Dear Mad Men,

I really love you. I think you are super fantastic and I tell all my friends to watch your show. I don’t have cable, so I would drive to my parents house to watch you during season two, but that got old, so I splurged and bought a season 3 pass on iTunes. That is how much I love your show. However, I am a bit tired of the “we’re such a stickler for historical accuracy” spiel. That is a fine ambition, but we all know you can never be 100% historically accurate. As a lover of period films, I have learned to accept that sometimes creative licenses need to be taken. I can even accept it from you, if you stopped talking about how anal you are about the tiniest detail. But until you step down from your “historically accurate” high horse, I am going to call you out when you mess up.

That cookbook looks pretty swell. Too bad it wasn’t published until 1967.

There are other things that bother me, like the Vietnam pre-draft dodger in 1963, or the pink bakery box. But I am willing to let it slide, in the name of artistic license. But only if you stop being a snob about your “accuracy”, okay? Okay.

I still love you,

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Mad Men Fashion Friday: Peggy & Bows

Peggy likes plaid. So do I. Peggy also likes bows. I like bows. I like bows in my hair; on my shoes; adorning my purses; bows as a brooch. I do not like bows on my waist or hips. Sorry Peggy, you may be my favorite, but our thoughts on bows & men differ greatly.

{From 1962, Butterick 2137. Available on etsy here and here and here.

Look! No bow and it is still a beautiful dress. You don’t agree? Fine. Here are some dresses with bows Peggy might approve:

Wait a moment. The dress on the right has brought to mind one of the greatest costumes ever created and suddenly I am rethinking my stance on bows.

Okay. Bows are acceptable, but only if worn above your bust and below your hips. Audrey has declared it so.

Happy Friday everyone! Do you have any special weekend plans? This will be my first Saturday off in a very, very long time, so I plan on sleeping in until noon, laying in bed with a book for 6 hours before finally dragging myself into the world of the living for a dinner of bacon & waffles. Whatever the weekend brings you, I hope it brings a smile to your face.

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Hurray for Labor Day!

I decided to have a very lazy and relaxing Labor Day, full of reading, sleeping, free Chick-fil-A, more sleeping and listening to my brother mix the first three songs of the new LP. You might see a belated MMM post later this week, but I’m not holding my breath. The only thing I’ve got to say about last night’s episode, The Arrangements, is this:

Great-Grandfather Paulsen does not approve of nice Norwegian girls fraternizing with the Swedes. Nor does he understand why Peggy’s name is spelled “Olson” instead of “OlsEn”. Also, why would a nice Lutheran boy marry a Catholic girl? These are just a few things Great-Grandfather Paulsen ponders.

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Mad Men Monday: My Old Kentucky Home (Late Tuesday Edition)

“You know, my mother was right. It’s a mistake to be conspicuously happy. Some people don’t like it.”

“No one thinks you’re happy. They think you’re foolish.”

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There is a great piece analyzing and comparing “My Old Kentucky Home” to “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at Basket of Kisses, which got me thinking. If you’ll indulge me a bit, I think an underlying theme of this episode was how we all play the fool at times.

Sometimes, we knowingly act the fool.

At times, we must choose to pretend we don’t know what part we are playing.

There are those who may enjoy playing the part—especially for someone we care about.

And some of us, more often than not, unknowingly play the fool.

Finally, there are those of us who no matter how expensive our cuff links, feel like we’ve got the head of a jackass.

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Links of interest

~Watch the 1935 version of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” on youtube.

~A few vintage Bacardi ads up on flickr.

~Paul isn’t arrogant. He’s confident.

~Sew Retro is having a Mad Men themed competition for the month of September.

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I’m in a very good place right now.

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Mad Men Monday: Love Among the Ruins

“Those stores smell bad.”

“…You’re going to stare at some antique chair for so long the buttons are going to seem interesting.”

That whole exchange made me laugh. I’ll wager the majority of us who love rummaging around antique & thrift stores has had a similar conversation with a poor, unfortunate friend you’ve dragged along for the “adventure”. In those shops, I count myself blessed to have a very poor sense of smell.

Hey look, Pyrex! I don’t know if I haven’t been paying attention, but this was the first episode where I noticed the vintage cookware. The Pyrex snowflake cinderella dish is pretty recognizable and at the moment easily found on etsy. The sugar bowl is a Fire King pattern and the matching coffee & custard cups are also available on etsy.

You know you want a pair of aviators just like Don.

Natasha Vargas-Cooper of the Footnotes of Mad Men (which you are reading, right? ‘Cause it is made of awesome) wrote a bit about the Madison Square Garden issue, the Patio campaign & Wallenda throw-away reference in a post over at The Awl. An interesting read for those of us who weren’t even a glimmer in our parents eyes (or so the saying goes) in 1963 and perhaps didn’t feel like spending our entire evening on wikipedia or trolling through flickr & google searches. Hey, I’m just being honest here.

I leave you with one of my favorite moments from this episode.

“You’re not fat anymore.”

“Thank you.”

Oh Harry, I do love you so.

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Mad Men Monday: Out of Town

“I keep going a lot of places and ending up
somewhere I’ve already been.”

~via dhw20500 on flickr~

“Don’t go to the well. There’s no water there.”

Do the Drapers and the Campbells have the same phone? I wouldn’t be surprised, it is a fantastic shade of blue. Cassie Lynne’s etsy store happens to have a vintage Princess phone available at a very reasonable price if you took a fancy to Trudy’s phone last night.

“Limit Your Exposure.”

If I lived in a city that actually saw rain, I would snatch the above vintage aqua London Fog jacket from Violetville Vintage in a heartbeat. Sadly here in Austin, we are experiencing one of the worst droughts in a hundred years, so it’s a bit hard to imagine ever needing to pull my own London Fog trench coat out of the closet again.

“I could listen to him read the phone book.”

It’s probably a good thing Peggy’s new secretary, Lola, wasn’t wearing this fetching aqua dress, else Moneypenny might not have ever left her alone.

~Links of interest~

~The Footnotes of Mad Men on Tumblr

~Take a peak at the real 1960’s ad campain over in the history section of the London Fog website.

~Slightly unsettling 1960’s American Airlines ad

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am very happy the gang at Sterling Cooper are back.

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Previously, on Mad Men…

Pete saw Tony Curtis in the men’s room.

Peggy gave Freddy his basket of kisses.

Betty isn’t profoundly sad. It’s just that her people are Nordic.

“It will shock you how much it never happened.”

Don Draper is Dick Whitman.

Dick Whitman is Don Draper.

Joan is so much woman.

“One day, you’re there. And then, all of the sudden, there’s less of you. And you wonder where that part went—if it’s living somewhere outside of you. And you keep thinking, maybe you’ll get it back. And then you realize—it’s just gone.”

And finally:

Mad Men returns next week, hurray! Mad Men Monday is also making it’s return to my rambling little blog, in a slightly different format. We’ll see how it goes. I’m excited to see what has changed since we last saw the gang at Sterling Cooper. If Ken Cosgrove is married I will laugh. A lot.

See you next Monday!

P.S. Have you made a Mad Men version of yourself yet? It’s pretty much the greatest way to spend an evening. I’ve spent far too much time making different version of myself and some friends, but this is my favorite version of me. It’s remarkable how much it resembles the real-life version of Christine.

(All images via the AMC Mad Men photo gallery)

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Mad Men Fashion Monday: Special Edition

I know I’m ridiculously late with this, but between “real life” and the day and a half I spent downtown during SXSW, I am exhausted. So this will be short and sweet.

The above young man is not a character in the new Wes Anderson film, but is Arlo Weiner, son of Mad Men creator/writer/executive producer Matt Weiner. He is clearly made of awesome. Be sure to read GQ’s article on Arlo, complete with a slideshow of outfits with commentary from Arlo himself.

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Mad Men Monday: Dyna Moe Edition

This week, Austin plays host to one of the greatest conference/festivals in the world: South by Southwest. A week of films, interactive media and above all else, bands (also, free drinks!). Hundreds of bands from all over the world playing every kind of music you could imagine. It’s a good week to be an Austinite and great week for anyone involved in creative arts. With all this creativity on my brain, I decided that this week I would highlight an artist who expresses her love for Mad Men through digital art.

Dyna Moe is the talent behind these fun illustrations. Her snarky comments on her MM illustrations are priceless (like the above picture of Sal: “DO download and use this lovely invitation for any Holiday- or New Year-themed soirees you might be planning. DON’T use it to make a VHS cover for some ghastly porno.”).

Perhaps my favorite (and clearly the most amazing) thing Dyna has made is Joan Holloway paper dolls. You can either print them off from flickr, or order a deluxe print (complete with more outfits!) from zazzle.

Be sure to check out Dyna’s flickr for more Mad Men illustrations and read the story of how she met Matt Weiner (creator & writer of MM) backstage at the Saturday Night Live taping when Jon Hamm hosted. Lucky girl.

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Mad Men Fashion Monday: Betty Draper-Yellow Eyelet Dress

Image courtesy of AMC.

Hello, dear readers! This week we are taking a peek at this buttery number Betty wears in episode four, “New Amsterdam”. I have to admit that I’m a bit jealous of January Jones in this costume. I am a fair blond myself, but I cannot wear any shade of yellow without looking like death (perhaps it’s because Betty’s people are Nordic and mine are German), so I am a little resentful that she wears yellow so very well.

I love the fabric in this dress, it is so very dainty and sweet, but I’m afraid I couldn’t find anything that was a close match available online. If you want to troll around your local fabric shops for a suitable substitute, be sure to check out all the screen shots I uploaded up flickr—it’s a little ridiculous how many I took, but when I do research I like to look at as many photos as I can from every possible angle and I know there are other people out there who like to do the same, so these are for you, fellow researcher.

Vintage Dresses on Etsy

Maybe your people are Nordic or perhaps you are a brunette who can rock yellow like no other color—either way, these dresses are for you. However, if you are like me and people constantly ask you if you are ill when you wear yellow in any shade, shape, size & form, maybe you should go for this green shirt dress instead…..

Vintage Sewing Patterns

….or you could make your own version! All four of these patterns are nearly identical to Betty’s dress—and they are in a myriad of bust sizes and price ranges, so snap your favorite up before it’s gone. I’m partial to the top left and bottom right, not only for the pattern but also the handwritten notes. I think there is something magical about finding vintage sewing patterns & books with notes written all over them. I know some people don’t like buying & using/wearing/reading vintage & pre-owned items, and maybe it’s the wannabe archaeologist in me, but I like feeling connected to a previous owner.

That’s it for this edition of MMFM. I have a few random sewing projects I was going share with you later this week, so I hope to see you then!

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