This is Joan Hallway, and this is Peggy Olson.

You know them from madmen.

You know, this look and this look and this look, But are they accurate?

We got this fashion historian.

Hi, I'm Rice of Britannia and I'm a fashion historian.

To fact check the fashion in madmen.

First, let's establish a setting Madman is set in New York City in the 19 sixties, specifically on Madison Avenue in midtown Manhattan.

We begin Season one in March 1960 Season seven wraps in November 1970 giving us a full decade of excellent fashion.

The 19 sixties are widely heralded as the golden age of advertising.

This time in the ad industry is characterized by creativity and brand innovation, as well as sexism, racism, alcoholism and incessant chain smoking.

As we see in this show, women were very much part of the advertising workforce, though many of them were relegated to the secretarial pool.

Like Peggy, there were some very prominent female copywriters who largely contributed to advertising.

In this era, they were mostly relegated to feminine products like cosmetics and household items.

Justus, the show's characters do in the world of advertising madman sells a very distinctive brand of visual style that's become iconic in its own right.

Madman is a master class in character study, visually communicating each character's motivations before they even utter a line.

Costume designer Janie Bryant developed a specific formula for each of her leading ladies that remains more or less consistent throughout the entire Siri's.

She created a signature style for each character through consistency of silhouette and color palette, so the costumes themselves are not necessarily inaccurate.

But they are highly stylized versions of 19 sixties fashionable dress that creates a greater visual impact on television.

Let's get into the looks First ups.

Betty Draper When we first meet Betty Draper, she is the quintessential mid century housewife and exhibits suburban style in polished American sportswear.

The consistent elements that make up the look of Betty Draper are fit and flare silhouette and the cool color palette, which emphasizes her glacial demeanor, for example, cool blues whites, pastel pinks and other neutral tones.

For the first half of the series, Betty Draper's clothes more closely resemble 19 fifties styles, and it just goes to show that just because we're officially in the sixties now, it doesn't mean people just throw out everything in their closets from the previous decade.

Furthermore, the continuation of the 1950 styles emphasizes those stereotypical values and gender roles that took place during that era.

We see the evolution of Betty's character when she transitions from the role of housewife when she's married to Don to the role of political wife when she's married to Henry Francis.

So fittingly, her style icon goes from Grace Kelly to Jackie Kennedy.

Time to break this look down first Thea undergarments.

At one point we see Betty wearing a long line bra, which is a bruise ear with an extended panel beneath it to help control the torso.

The bra cups are pointed in the bullet bra style, which is a holdover from the 19 fifties.

Ah, high waist girdle would be worn and would meet the long line at the waist.

Shapewear was absolutely essential when it came to accurately conveying the styles of this era.

Betty would likely also be wearing nude pantyhose, so these undergarments are totally accurate, losing on to the next layer.

To achieve such a voluminous skirt, she would likely be wearing at least one petty coat or criminal in next.

The shirtdress three crisp cotton shirt dress is the uniform of the mid century suburban housewife.

This dress was washable, wearable, comfortable and practical.

This garment could either be a single dress or a separate blouse and skirt combination that coordinated and was unified by a belt.

We do see Betty in both variations, fit and flare.

Silhouette was highly feminine, and we do see Betty wear it in both daywear and evening, where sometimes and delicate floral prints buddies look is always pristine and put together.

And that could be in part due to technological advancements in textiles.

Wrinkle resistant fabrics like Dak Ron or Santa Rised cotton really cut down on the need for ironing and figured prominently into advertising campaigns.

Moving onto the coat.

In early seasons, Betty wears a royal blue swing coat.

This would have been made of wool and would have flowed away from the body in order to accommodate a full skirt.

Later, when she leaves the hospital with Baby Jane, we see her in a chic pink peacoat with a stand collar very similar to this one from glamour.

These types of coats in the 19 sixties often came with a detachable fur collar.

Then the next layer.

Betty upholds the 19 fifties tradition of ensemble dressing, which means your proofs, your shoes and your gloves.

All match handbags during this era often had top handles and kiss lock closures.

A woman of her status could be carrying honor Mez Kelly Bag, which Grace Kelly made famous in 1954 when she used it to try to shield her body to hide her pregnancy.

It's a timeless design that's still fashionable today.

It's in this time period that we start to see stilettos because of technological advancements, which allowed for skinnier heels supported by steel rods.

Prior to that, heels were typically made of stacked wood or other materials that did not permit for such a slender silhouette.

And now the jewelry.

For daytime Betty would probably be wearing a simple pair of pearl clip on earrings or else a novelty pair of feather light plastic earrings.

For evening.

She wears matching sets of costume jewelry, many of which we see throughout the seasons, although Don does gift her with fine jewelry in season one.

Finally, the hair and makeup Betty's signature hairstyle closely resembles that warned by Grace Kelly in the mid 19 fifties.

To achieve this look, she either gets her hair set professionally at a salon, or we also see her wearing curlers at home to compliment her hair.

Her makeup is also soft and feminine, which upholds the beauty standards of the previous decade.

So here's what Betty's outfit would have looked like compared to the original.

Pretty much the same.

Next steps.

Joan Holloway, who represented the ideal body type of the late 19 fifties.

Her character style is modeled after such bombshells as Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren.

Let's get into the layers first.

The undergarments.

The key to Joan Holloway's Va Va Voom silhouette, was shapewear because of how closely her clothes are fitted.

Joan would likely be wearing an all in one or merry widow style foundation garment.

This garment prioritized smooth, streamlined silhouettes, which is the hallmark of the Joan look.

Thes undergarments would have incorporated Lycra or Spandex, which was invented by DuPont in 1959 and revolutionized the undergarment industry.

In interviews with costume designer Janie Bryant, she often cites riel vintage undergarments as contributing to Jones Look.

Throughout the 19 fifties and sixties, the fashionable bust line was the lifted and separated looks with pointed conical cups.

Joan would also be wearing stockings or pantyhose to the office next The slip way.

See Joan wearing a full black slip here, so this is accurate.

Living onto the dress.

Jones character exhibits perhaps the most consistent style formula throughout the series.

This consisted of tightly fitted dresses with short or elbow length sleeves in rich jewel tones.

We conceive variations on the Joan Holloway uniforms in these examples.

Although Jones Style comes office rather provocative on television, she actually dresses rather conservatively with higher necklines and longer sleeps for the office.

Thes dresses air usually a solid, saturated color, but sometimes incorporate a small bow or other design detail to create visual interest.

Jones, uniform of body hugging sheath dresses, were mostly made of wool and all had an emphasized waistline to really show off her hourglass figure.

They were called wiggle dresses because he kind of had to wiggle when you walked in them.

These dresses are highly stylized and that they're just a little bit tighter and a little bit brighter than what would typically be worn.

And then the shoes.

Joan would also wear appointed pump in a neutral color or one that coordinates with her outfit.

Now for the jewelry.

Joan usually wears gold clip on earrings.

The coordinate with a gold broach penned after neckline close toe one shoulder.

Perhaps the most iconic aspect of Jones look is her pen necklace, which is a true vintage item that Janie Bryant founded.

A flea market.

This tiny detail helps signify her position of authority within the secretarial pool.

It helps to show that, above all, she is extremely capable and always prepared for the duties of her job.

Interestingly, she also tends to wear long gold necklaces of similar scale in her evening wear looks as well.

Finally, the hair and makeup for the majority of the Siri's Joan wears variations on that distinctive 19 sixties beehive hair style.

Here we see an up do of stacked curls and a lot of volume, which would have required extensive teasing.

It's not until the very end of the Siri's and Season seven that we see her signature hairstyle loosen up a bit.

Over all, her makeup is rather understated.

She tends to wear rosier tones to compliment her copper hair.

Jones, personal style reflects the ideals of the 19 fifties, which makes sense because that's probably the decade when she came of age and discovered her signature look.

So here's what Jones outfit would have looked like compared to the show again, basically the same.

Now let's break down piggies.

Look, Peggy undergoes the most dramatic transformation of the course of the Siri's.

She is the youngest character, and you can watch her come of age and discover her own personal style between Season one and Season seven.

This is a decade of rapidly changing fashion, but we actually get to see the slow progression through Peggy's costumes in the earlier seasons.

Peggy's palate is made up of dull, mossy greens and warm mustard tones.

Peggy's earlier look when she first joined Sterling Cooper is all parochial, Platt's and pleats, which really give off a young schoolgirl vibe.

This is further emphasized by her Peter Pan collars and her curly ponytail.

You want to be taken seriously later, Her signature plaid become bolder in color and in scale until eventually she transitions into vibrant stripes and geometric prints.

By season seven.

By then, she becomes one of the more fashion forward people in the office when she adopts the new fashionable 19 sixties silhouette of the trap he's or a line, Let's get into the layers First Thea undergarments.

We see Peggy wearing a white brow, which is probably by Playtex on account that she worked on while she was at Sterling Cooper.

Are you aware that I'm on the Playtex account?

What about it?

In the 19 sixties, Playtex debuted the Cross Your Heart Style, which emphasized the lifted and separated ideal.

Peggy is the type of girl would wear a sensible pair of white cotton Bron panties.

Throughout the series, she wears nude panty hose to the office.

But later, when she finds her style in Season seven, it could turn into a brighter color of pantyhose, which was pioneered by British designer Mary Quant Way See her wearing bright orange pantyhose in the season.

Seven promotional photos.

Next, her slip.

In one scene we see that Peggy wears a short half slip and seemingly no girdle moving on to the dress.

By the time Peggy develops a modern sense of style, we see her sporting the fashionable a line silhouette in either drop placed or trapeze styles.

Garments like this float away from the body and we're less restrictive.

In later seasons, we see her sporting a shorter hem line.

Not quite a mini skirts, but getting close in this dress that she wears.

For an important pitch, we see bold stripes that mimic the fashionable color blocking and mod fashions.

Though not necessarily worn in the office, the mini skirt was invented in the sixties by British designer Mary Quant.

Asymmetrical neckerchief on this dress is a nod to Peggy's favorite design element.

As we can see throughout the Siri's, Peggy loved a neck bo.

Also notable is the more vibrant shade of green that she wears, which really shows her character development over the arc of Siri's.

This dress is very accurate and very fashionable.

Next up the hat and coat.

At one point we see Peggy wearing a youthful white halo hat, much like the one on the January 1960 cover of Glamour.

This could be paired with a boxy mod coat now for the shoes and purse.

In the later 19 sixties lower block here, heels became more fashionable.

Square toes began to replace pointed toes, and sometimes she was incorporated.

A Mary Jane style strap.

This was the era of the youth quake, when passion began to cater to the younger generation.

By this point of the Siri's, Peggy is a serious working woman and often carries a serious working bag and then the next layer.

Peggy's jewelry isn't especially distinctive, but she likely would have been worrying a simple set of clip ons that were either a pearl or a cluster.

She also regularly wears a wristwatch with a simple thin band.

Now for the hair and makeup, Peggy's hair is central to her character's transformation.

She begins the Siri's with short bangs and a long, curly ponytail, which essentially keep her trapped in the 19 fifties and in her school girl style.

However, one of her colleagues cuts her hair at the end of Season two, and we finally see the transformation from the naive schoolgirl to the ambitious career woman.

From Season three on, we see variations on shorter hair styles for Peggy, many incorporate teased volume at the crown and the very fashionable flip.

Her short bangs become side swept and frame her face.

Peggy accurately depicts the variations in fashionable hairstyles during this period, over the course of the series, we see that Peggy's Beauty Regiment also becomes more polished.

The clothes themselves are accurate.

But what's more accurate is the idea that one's personal style would evolve over the period of 10 years.

If we want to see Peggy's style journey, all we have to do is look a Day one Peggy and this perhaps the most iconic, memorable moments of the show.

So here's what Peggy's outfit would have looked like compared to the one in the show as iconic as each individual character.

Maybe it's actually in the juxtaposition of characters on screen that we see how effective this costuming formula is in creating different personas.

While it was on the air, madman inspired fashion showed up on the runways of Michael Cores and Prada.

Most notable were the official collaborations that the show did with Brooks Brothers and Banana Republic.

Thes collaborations capitalized on the show's affiliation with style and extended the visual reach of the show's brand.

This is just one example of how period films and television shows can have a profound influence on contemporary fashion when it comes to reviving vintage styles from the past.

There's a general rule 10 years ago.

Ugly?

20 years ago.

Hideous.

But 50 years ago.

Fabulous.

So as you can see, the outfits and madmen are pretty much totally accurate.