I've been re-watching "Mad Men" recently — I just finished up season 3 and will be moving onto the most recent season sometime soon — and my husband calls me obsessed.
I generally object, but I must admit that I do spend a lot of time thinking about the show — it's characters, style, music, etc.
Since I know how the story unfolds I find myself paying a lot more attention to things like how Betty Draper hosts a dinner party or how little input Joan Harris seems to have in her own marriage. I also realized how strange, and sort of wonderful, it is that no one has a cell phone.
And despite the year+ gap between season four and the upcoming season five, "Mad Men's" influence is being touted worldwide. There's the obvious: Banana Republic's launch of "Mad Men"-inspired clothing.
But also this article about how more women are drinking whiskey nowadays as a tip-o'-the hat to Don and Co.
Or the Needham, Mass.,-couple who wrote “The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook: Inside the Kitchens, Bars and Restaurants of Mad Men."
When I was younger — junior high into high school — it was cool to wear peace signs and bell bottoms, the hippy side of the 1960s. And it does seem that the whole "peace and love" thing is back en vogue with pre-teens and teens (just check out some of the merchandise at Pottery Barn Teen).
But I'm rather enjoying this nostalgia for the 1950s/early '60s because of the formality it's reintroducing to my generation. Don't get me wrong, I generally don't subscribe to the adage that we must suffer for fashion (though I've got a few pairs of shoes that fit the bill), but it does seem like each generation gets less and less formal, more and more casual, until they have to be told that flip flops are not appropriate office attire.
It takes awhile for change like that to take place — not everyone can just run out and buy a new wardrobe — but in spite of it's obviously philandering and misogyny, I think the "Mad Men" effect has been quite positive.
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