I watched the first season of Mad Men not long after it came out on dvd, and like most people, was immediately enthralled by the costumes and glamor of life in NYC in the '60s. Granted, the characters all make me want to kick them in the crotch, but hey . . . everything is still too interesting not to keep watching.
I think all of us have wondered why no brand has created a line specifically for those of us posting links to vintage dresses on our Facebook pages saying, "I could look like Betty Draper if I owned this!". Of course, Banana Republic finally decided to step forward and fulfill the need. It's about time.
I'll take the nipped waistlines,
but the prints are a bit much for my style.
Glancing through the collection online the day it appeared, I admit I was a little bit disappointed that nothing really just reached out and grabbed me. I mean, I liked most of the outfits, and yet I didn't see anything that I couldn't live without. A lot of this has to do with it not really fitting into my own style personality, though, I guess-- I like it on other people, but for me, it's often too floral or something.
I hopped over to BR anyway, to see if I would like any of the styles once I put them on. By the time I got there, I was already pretty sure I didn't want to bother taking anything into the fitting room-- my friend Aline and I were headed back to Anthropologie to check on a pair of pants I fell in love with.
Aline's styling of the tweed skirt + leopard sweater.
(Pllleeeeeease ignore my gross hair/make-up . . .
I'd just gotten off work).
Of course, immediately when we walked in, I spotted an incredible tweed pencil skirt from the collection that did not look all that impressive online. The skirt felt super fancy, so I knew I wasn't getting out of there without trying it on. Aline picked out a top for me-- we were looking for something a deep, rich, dramatic red, and yet BR had NOTHING that color! Only muted reds and pinks and corals. I tried on the leopard-print sweater (which I shall describe as "fantastically itchy") with the tweed skirt, which seemed like such an odd combination to me, but Aline's instincts were right on that they would look good together.
After that outfit, I went back to my no-nonsense, often boring style and paired the skirt with a random, supersupersuper soft pink sweater. The minimal styling was definitely more "me", but I'm really trying to branch out and embrace more layers/patterns/colors. It was definitely way more interesting to pair the different patterns together.
I don't know which I wanted more--
the skirt or The Super Soft Sweater.
Meanwhile, Aline tried on the cream-colored lace dress. We both agreed that it looked cute, but maybe not for normal life. I'm not sure how to describe it. Maybe it just looked good (but it's hard for anything to look bad on Aline), but wasn't either one of our styles.
Needless to say, at the current price points, the skirt was out of my price range for something that it's practical for me at all (I only wish I had an office job). On top of that, the particular BR that we visited apparently closes early, so we almost literally had to drop everything in the dressing room and leave.
Lovely Aline models the lace Mad Men dress.
Honestly though, I felt most of us would have better luck finding vintage-styled dresses on Etsy, from the gorgeous party dresses to winter coats. Below are some of my recent finds.
from Etsy seller mrspomeranz
And although it's technically 1963, I'm curious to see the costume design for this show:
It seems like everyone is in love with the early '60s, fashion-wise. But the '80s trend is still definitely around, too, if you follow street fashion blogs. While I like a little from both decades, I'm really more of a fan of the '70s. My style isn't boho or anything, but I love the long, super lean silhouettes and the bell bottom pants and the tall heels and the giant sunglasses. I guess that will just have to be saved for another post . . .
So what decade in fashion do you love and why do you love it?
(And thanks to Aline for taking pics!)
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