The Mad Men Fashion File - Don Draper, Invisible Man of Menswear
Betty's father is far from lucid, but when he screamed, "You can't trust a man who has no people!" it felt like a moment of chilling clarity, especially for those viewers like me, who think Mad Men is more like Lost than we ever expected. From a fashion standpoint, it's curious too, because not only are Don's people nowhere to be seen but his style is practically invisible.
Oh sure, Don Draper has a lot of finesse and a great Look -- a credit to the excellent actor Jon Hamm. But his hair? It's always the same length with the same comb-through crackle. His suit? It's always the same cut. His tie? It's always the same kind of skinny. And it's deliberately to ruffle and unsettle us, because everyone around Don is constantly changing their clothes:
Betty's visual vocabulary is making a quick sprint to into technicolor frustration. Peggy's flirting with a way out of schoolgirl and a path up to something sexier, and also smarter. 
Joan's silhouette is no longer shocking and feels even a bit more restrained; even her colors have toned down. And it's not just the women. Peter Campbell's outfits have gotten increasingly foppier, from tweedy last season to two fruits short of a salad. Harry's bohemian cravings likewise damn him to accessories like wimpy scarves and rolled corduroy slacks that undermine his very cool sojourn down South this episode. Even Roger Sterling's color palette cooled and lightened, which makes sense.
But Don is always Don, and in that way, it's phenomenal. His shape and his style are so solid, we can count on them every week. But the things inside his head? So unpredictable. Probably dangerous, too. It's always the quiet ones (okay, the ones with the quiet wardrobes)...
Meanwhile, totally changing the subject: Are any of you dressing up as a Mad Man for Halloween? I think I'm going as Nancy Drew, but if I had more guts, I'd go as Joan, though I'd have to pad my bottom...
You're right about Joan, I hadn't thought it through, but she has looser waistlines and more blue.
Harry isn't the one on the Southern sojourn, that's Paul.
I thought Don's fashion was remarkable in this week's episode, precisely because he DID change. I wonder what it means.
Don's stoicism has a way of hiding that dark side of his character -- the Dick Whitman fella.. the one that's always on the edge; that inkling of uncertainty in his demeanor of total confidence.. that "something/someone" lurking just below that smooth, polished, razor-sharp image. Don is surely a study in inconcruity.
That's my BOOOY- The Donald!
RDee
"Pad your bottom" if you went as Joan for Halloween?!
I had to chuckle on that one -- Joan's ALL bust and NO bottom as it turns out. That's why the guys like her -- they're breast men and she's... well, the "Walking Bust".
Gotta love her..
RDee
My friend just had a Mad Men costume party, heard it was a hoot! Great Halloween idea, and Joan is a drag queen's dream! lolol! I'm sure people will see more than a few this Halloween.. .
RobinDee:
What do you mean, "NO bottom?" Check it out again in one of the scenes when she's walking away. She's BALANCED. :-)
Faran:
Except for the height of the waist in his trousers, Jon Hamm could wear any of his suits into any office today and no one would think him out of place except the fashion mavens. His look is Classic. Look at the picture for Episode 11. His tie is about the same width as everyone else's. He's Mr. Gray Flannel Suit.
Yes, his hair is always just so but so is everyone else's, a result of weekly or at the most bi-weekly haircuts which was usual in those days. Brylcreem (or whatever the makeup people use) keeps his hair just so in the office. It's when he's not in the office that we see differences - sweaters, sport coats, corduroy trousers, etc.
Well, IMHO Joan has a perfect "hourglass figure"...esp. for 1962 when women had real curves and weren't thought of as fat because of it.
And as for Don...well, his "style" is just great, thank you...esp. from the collar up.
I've noticed Joan's clothes getting less sexy and more subdued lately, too. This, to me, seems to reflect her worry about getting older: the nasty driver's license trick, young Jane in the office replaying Joan's old fling with Roger, her getting engaged because she's afraid of becoming an old maid, for example.