Tagged: Jaeger-LeCoultre watch

Mad Men: Don Draper’s Casual Picnic Clothes

Jon Hamm and January Jones on Mad Men

Jon Hamm and January Jones on Mad Men (Episode 2.07: “The Gold Violin”)

Vitals

Jon Hamm as Don Draper, affluent ad man and Korean War veteran

Ossining, New York, Summer 1962

Series: Mad Men
Episode: “The Gold Violin” (Episode 2.07)
Air Date: September 7, 2008
Director: Andrew Bernstein
Creator: Matthew Weiner
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Following yesterday’s observance of National Picnic Day, I wanted to focus on one of my favorite on-screen picnics. Midway through the second season of Mad Men, the Draper family spends part of a sunny Sunday afternoon bringing a Norman Rockwell painting to life.

By mid-century standards, advertising executive Don Draper (Jon Hamm) appears to illustrate the American dream, providing for his beautiful wife Betty (January Jones) and their two children and having just acquired a sleek new Cadillac that—as was pitched to him—indicates that he’s “already arrived.” Life looks easy for the family, reclining with nary a care in the world as The Pentagons serenade them from the Coupe de Ville’s radio with their dulcet 1962 B-side “I’m in Love”.

Betty: We should do this more often.
Don: We should only do this.

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Mad Men: Don’s Blue Knit Golf Shirt for Memorial Day

Jon Hamm as Don Draper on Mad Men (Episode 2.06: "Maidenform")

Jon Hamm as Don Draper on Mad Men (Episode 2.06: “Maidenform”)

Vitals

Jon Hamm as Don Draper, mysterious ad man and Korean War veteran

Ossining, New York, Spring 1962

Series: Mad Men
Episode: “Maidenform” (Episode 2.06)
Air Date: August 31, 2008
Director: Phil Abraham
Creator: Matthew Weiner
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

It’s Memorial Day weekend on Mad Men, and the Drapers and their Ossining neighbors gather at the Willow Oaks Golf Club’s annual Ribs and Fashion Show to bemoan their self-described “high-class problems” ranging from the sticky summer from when the Rosenbergs were murdered to taking the fall for the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. Among the elite in their tennis whites and the veterans in their aging uniforms, Don’s simple and timeless knit shirt and trousers has been frequently requested as a popular look from the fashion series, despite only appearing in this one episode.

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Mad Men: Don’s Embroidered Brown Shirt for the First of “Three Sundays”

Jon Hamm as Don Draper on Mad Men (Episode 2.04: "Three Sundays")

Jon Hamm as Don Draper on Mad Men (Episode 2.04: “Three Sundays”)

Vitals

Jon Hamm as Don Draper, mysterious ad man and wannabe family man

Ossining, New York, Spring 1962

Series: Mad Men
Episode: “Three Sundays” (Episode 2.04)
Air Date: August 17, 2008
Director: Tim Hunter
Creator: Matthew Weiner
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

The anthological fourth episode of Mad Men‘s second season checks in with our regulars—particularly Don Draper and Peggy Olsen—with explorations of parenting and piety leading up to Easter Sunday 1962.

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James Dean in Breton Stripes

James Dean, photographed by Sanford Roth, 1955.

James Dean, photographed by Sanford Roth, 1955.

Vitals

James Dean, enigmatic young actor and rebellious emblem

Los Angeles, Summer 1955

Photographs by Sanford Roth

Part of BAMF Style’s Iconic Photo Series, focusing on style featured in famous photography of classic stars rather than from specific productions.

Background

Today would have been the 90th birthday of James Dean, born in central Indiana on February 8, 1931. Considering his cultural impact, it’s remarkable that Dean condensed his entire career into less than a half decade in the early 1950s, acting in a series of commercials, TV anthology programs, and uncredited bit parts in movies until delivering a trio of enduring performances in East of EdenRebel Without a Cause, and Giant that would be released within a year and a half of each other.

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Mad Men: Don Draper’s Decade of Black Tie

Jon Hamm as Don Draper on Mad Men (Episode 1.05: "5G").

Jon Hamm as Don Draper on Mad Men (Episode 1.05: “5G”).

Vitals

Jon Hamm as Don Draper, mysterious and award-winning Madison Avenue ad man

Series: Mad Men
Creator: Matthew Weiner
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant

Background

Only three days left in 2020! The tradition of gents wearing black tie on New Year’s Eve, popularized in movies like the 1960 Rat Pack classic Ocean’s Eleven, seems to have fallen out of favor among the general population as standards of formality have decreased. However, given how excited many will be to see 2020 come to an end may herald a resurgence in dinner jackets and tuxedoes as many celebrate the new year in private.

On #MadMenMonday, we can take a few style tips from the enigmatic Don Draper on assembling a classic black tie ensemble from his half-dozen screen-worn dinner jackets. Continue reading

Ike’s Shark Gray Suit on Magic City

Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Ike Evans on Magic City

Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Ike Evans on Magic City

Vitals

Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Isaac “Ike” Evans, tough and shrewd hotel owner

Miami Beach, Spring into Summer 1959

Series: Magic City
– “Crime and Punishment” (Episode 2.01), dir. Clark Johnson, aired 6/14/2013
– “Adapt or Die” (Episode 2.03), dir. Ed Bianchi, aired 6/28/2013
– “…And Your Enemies Closer” (Episode 2.07), dir. Simon Cellan Jones, aired 8/2/2013
Creator: Mitch Glazer
Costume Designer: Carol Ramsey

Background

In celebration of my friend and BAMF Style reader Eric’s birthday today, I wanted to pay tribute to the Magic City superfan by highlighting more of the magnificent mid-century fashions worn by Ike Evans (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), boss of Miami Beach’s ritzy Miramar Playa hotel.

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Don Draper’s Plaid Sport Shirt for the Solar Eclipse

Jon Hamm as Don Draper in "Seven Twenty Three", Episode 3.07 of Mad Men.

Jon Hamm as Don Draper in “Seven Twenty Three”, Episode 3.07 of Mad Men.

Vitals

Jon Hamm as Don Draper, mysterious ad exec and suburban dad

Ossining, New York, July 1963

Series: Mad Men
Episode: “Seven Twenty Three” (Episode 3.07)
Air Date: September 27, 2009
Director: Daisy von Scherler Mayer
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant

Background

“Why can’t you stare into the eclipse? I mean, what’s it gonna do, really? I stare at the sun every day,” wonders Carlton Hanson (Kristoffer Polaha), the philandering husband in Don and Betty Draper’s suburban social set.

After a few dismissive seconds staring through his sunglasses, Don merely responds by asking “You stare at the sun every day?”

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Mad Men – Don’s Brown Sweater in “The Grown Ups”

Jon Hamm as Don Draper in "The Grown-Ups", Episode 3.12 of Mad Men.

Jon Hamm as Don Draper in “The Grown-Ups”, Episode 3.12 of Mad Men.

Vitals

Jon Hamm as Don Draper, Madison Avenue ad man with a crumbling personal life

Ossining, New York, November 1963

Series: Mad Men
Episode: “The Grown-Ups” (Episode 3.12)
Air Date: November 1, 2009
Director: Barbet Schroeder
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant

Background

Best known for his sharp business suits at the office, Don Draper has a very clear weekend relaxation style that emerges during the series. In the cooler months of spring and fall, Don often pairs a white dress shirt with a dark sweater and trousers. This was first notably seen in the second season’s “Three Sundays” when he and the Sterling Cooper gang bustled around the office on a weekend to prepare the perfect pitch for American Airlines.

A year and a half later, the country is reeling from the recent tragedy of the JFK assassination. The sixties had yet to become the turbulent and violent decade it is now remembered as, and American life was still viewed as the idyllic Norman Rockwell painting or Father Knows Best episode. This all began to change in 1963 as the white picket fence of Leave It to Beaver gave way to presidential assassinations, city-wide riots, and unthinkable racial violence. Continue reading

Nikolai in Eastern Promises

Viggo Mortensen as Nikolai Luzhin in Eastern Promises (2007).

Viggo Mortensen as Nikolai Luzhin in Eastern Promises (2007).

Vitals

Viggo Mortensen as Nikolai Luzhin, Russian Mafiya “undertaker” and chauffeur with a few secrets of his own

London, Christmas 2006

Film: Eastern Promises
Release Date: September 8, 2007
Director: David Cronenberg
Costume Designer: Denise Cronenberg

Background

WARNING! Spoilers possible!
Eastern Promises is a great film, but there is a noteworthy twist that is hard to ignore when discussing the main character. If you haven’t seen it, please watch it before reading the post! Continue reading

Autumn on Mad Men – Draper’s Brown Suit in Season 2

Yesterday was the Autumnal Equinox, or – as normal people call it – the first day of autumn. If you’re looking for a good suit to wear as the leaves change and months get colder, Mad Men offers a fine sartorial suggestion from lead character Don Draper.

Jon Hamm as Don Draper in the second season finale of Mad Men.

Jon Hamm as Don Draper in the second season finale of Mad Men.

Vitals

Jon Hamm as Don Draper, recently enlightened Madison Avenue ad man

New York City, October 1962

Series: Mad Men
Episodes: “Flight 1” (Episode 2.02); “Three Sundays” (Episode 2.04)”; “Meditations in an Emergency” (Episode 2.13)
Air Date: August 3, 2008; August 17, 2008; October 26, 2008
Director: Andrew Bernstein; Tim Hunter; Matthew Weiner
Costume Designer: Janie Bryant

Background

Don Draper only wears his brown suit three times in the second season – first in “Flight 1” (March), again when “entertaining” Bobbie Barrett in “Three Sundays” (April), and finally after his return from California in the finale “Meditations in an Emergency” (October, during the Cuban Missile Crisis). Continue reading