Q&A - Gloria Ponce (Hairstylist)
Mad Men-inspired 'dos reigned the catwalk this year, from Jackie flips to mini-beehives. Gloria Ponce, the set's hairstylist, sat down with AMCtv.com to discuss the confection-like curls and coifs that have viewers at home whispering, "How did they get their hair to do that?"
Q: Two of the final episodes of Season 2 were set in California. Did the location change necessitate different styles?
A: My research showed that California women looked very different from women in New York. New York styles were bigger and more stylized. LA was softer and just a little behind the times, more towards the late '50s. They all had the same hairstyles -- the flips, the pageboys, the French twists and beautiful chignons. The men weren't so coiffed, and they'd stopped using all that slick gel. They were shaggier, longer, less side-parts. And Palms Springs was more European-influenced. The women were very high society, jet set people. The women had more elaborate chignons and French twists than New York women.
Q: How much did a person's rank affect his or her hairstyle?
A: A lot, actually. Some of the secretaries are more simple, like the secretary that Don fired. She came from the telephone pool, and didn't know how to cover for Don because she was so naive. We made her hair a little dated, simple, and conservative. Contrast her with beautiful, bombshell Christina [Hendricks], with her beautiful red hair and those very stylish curls. You can also look at the divorcee down Betty's street -- her hair is in a ponytail, because she's a mother who works. She doesn't have time to perfect January Jones' coiffure.
Q: A lot of us girls would love to roll out of bed looking like Joan, but it seems like her hair would take hours to perfect.
A: Not really! Get yourself a set of hot rollers and roll up your entire head. Keep them on for 25 minutes, take them out, put your hair up in a ponytail and pin the curls to your scalp. It wouldn't be exactly like Joan's, but it would give you a beautiful flavor of her style.
Q: Is Joan a natural redhead?
A: [Laughs] Yes, she is.
Q: Was it common for women to wear wigs?
A: All the time! That was definitely part of Midge's character: She was an artist who explored different types of wigs to make it interesting for Don while they had an affair. Women also used falls, which was false hair attached to a comb that women inserted on their crown of their heads, which is what gave them that characteristic 60's bump behind their headbands. You never saw the comb -- that was a big no-no - -but they were very common.
Q: What '60s grooming rituals would shock modern audiences?
A: The women would go to the salon once a week, and then they would
maintain their hair for six days without shampooing once. At night,
they would stuff their hair with toilet paper and little perm papers,
and pin their bangs with little clippies so they wouldn't mess up their
styles while they slept. If women couldn't afford to go to the salon,
they'd put their hair up in pin curls, wrap their heads with a scarf,
put on big sunglasses, and run errands until their hair had set.
Q: What's the one hair product you can't live without on set?
A: For women, hairspray. I use two different kinds. With men, I use gel and strong hairspray. Back in those days, men were constantly combing back their hair to keep it looking slick and put-together.
Q: How have the hairstyles changed from 1960 to 1962?
A: Betty has transitioned from the tightly curled 1950s hairstyle to a little more updated hair this season. We put her in headbands and chignons recently, and her hair is a bit bigger and more stylized because she's really coming out in 1962.
Q: Are you excited for mid-60s beehives?
A: Oh my god, yes.
Didn't "Dippity-Do" come out in the early-mid sixties? That's what I remember being "big" with having to style your hair for the women's sideburn curls.
> Q: A lot of us girls would love to roll out of bed looking like Joan
and a lot of us guys would love to roll out of bed looking *at* Joan *badum-bum-ching!*
I find Joan's hair,a bit on the 'home-made' end of the scale.. It is dull like cotton yarn and not 'done'.. She would have had a standing Saturday appointment . I expect it to have that highly lacquered look and it just can't be achieved at home, no matter how talented a craftsman ...
Ms. Ponce, you've done an outstanding job with the hair styles on MM. It's just so wonderful to see it all again. I was a secretary in the City at the same time and I'm just amazed how well you've captured the hairstyles so well. The style I favored was more the Grace Kelly type look - like when she would have all her hair pulled back off her face. I made a high, tight pony tail and then evenly tucked it around a donut 'rat'. To cover up the bobbie pins and you could buy little wreaths of flowers to pin around the rat. Different colors for different dresses. It was very easy to wear everyday when you had to take a bus and the subway to work. Dippity Do (jamm54!) was a life-saver to hold all the loose stray hairs in place. Hair sprays worked too but there were very 'sticky'.
What I liked about this style, was I didn't have to sleep in curlers or nets and it always looked neat and stylish. In the 50's and 60's lots of gals went to beauty salons weekly and you're right on when you said they didn't wash or comb their hair for days. I considered myself too hip for that and I really hated beauty salons; too old-fashioned.
But not the ones on Fifth Avenue! Boy, were my eyes opened when I went to "The Great Maurice's"....and got something new and catchy - called a "cut and comb"....wow what a new concept that was. His idea at that time was that if you got a great short hair cut all you had to do is blow dry and go.....! Gawd, how I loved that guy! He was expensive but I just loved it. What freedom it was for the working girl. And the place was crowded with Betty-types who traveled down for one of Maurice's cut and combs. These gals were just as beautiful as Betty and so casual and comfortable with their expensive stylish clothes. I admit now that I did envy them. And, boy, did my new style haircut get attention!!! It was kind of radical for the time I guess and other gals in the subway or on the bus asked me where I got that look!!! Why, at The Great Maurice's on Fifth of cource! What fun it all was.