Ultra Swank - Retro Adventures

mad men

South for Winter Photoset – From Brittany McLaren

Photographer Brittany McLaren sends us “South for Winter” with this Mad Men’esque inspired 1960s styled photo shoot. I love the melancholy and somewhat cold feeling this set gives me, not reminiscent of Mad Man Don Draper’s relationship with his ex-wife Betty. Or maybe it’s just that semi-sad 1960s nostalgia that’s shining through. Either way, I love the photos. What do you think?...

Why Don Draper must remain a swinging New York Bachelor

When it comes to lounge culture there is a man who really does epitomize the culture through and through. Don Draper. The characteristics of Don Draper is that he that guy that looks great in formal wear, business wear and casual wear. He has great taste in clothes and has great taste in women, he has money, is successful, confident, well groomed and looks a...

The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook – Inside The Kitchens, Bars, and Restaurants of Mad Men

Paradigm shift. If you could boil down into a phrase what Mad Men is about, it would be “mid-century paradigm shift.” Mad Men explores it on the large scale: Clueless about how to sell coffee to young adults, the men of Sterling Cooper attempted to shoehorn the Port Huron Statement into their ad campaign. They completely missed the point because the cultural paradigm was changing....

Mad Men’s Bacardi fueled Fantasies

While the rest of the Sterling Cooper staff attends a Kentucky Derby party thrown by Roger Sterling and new wife Jane, Peggy and the other writers are stuck in the office to brainstorm ideas for the Bacardi campaign. Bacardi is looking for five vacation situations for their overall concept “Daiquiri Beach.” Peggy and the boys sip on Bacardi for inspiration but find none. Copywriter Paul...

Video

Since the turn of the 20th century, Coca-Cola and Pepsi have been fighting to capture the hearts and taste buds of America’s youth. Fifty years into the great carbonation beverage battle, cola companies decided to look for new opportunities and target demographics. In an attempt to lure in diabetics, the cola companies began developing and marketing low-calorie, sugar-free alternatives. As early as the 1950s, Royal...

The Fashion File – From the Costume Designer of “Mad Men”

Film is escapism. Anyone who has seen “The Thomas Crowne Affair,” or a classic James Bond film knows that part of film fantasy is an exotic environment and all it contains. While that environment is not always true, in escapism people tend to look up at glamour rather than down at the real world. In film, fantastic environments are created by sets. Ironically, though, the...

Mad Men and Lucky Strike celebrate a “toasted” Christmas

As we see more and more public spaces become smoke-free, it’s easy to forget that smoking wasn’t always considered hazardous. In the days when it was socially acceptable to smoke, cigarettes were advertised on television and endorsed by popular celebrities and cartoon characters. A carton of cigarettes was considered an appropriate gift for children to give their fathers. In the Mad Men universe, where smoking...

Get all the goods straight to your inbox