How to Dress Like Mad Men

As you can see, the Mad Men characters are some of the best dressed people on the planet. It’s sort of sad that we have so much technology now but we still can’t seem to make clothes the way they did in the sixties. Over at the Wall Street Journal, they discuss how to dress like Mad Men characters and not look fake. It’s a good read. Check it out.

Q: I want to wear the style of retro clothes and suits that are on the “Mad Men” TV series. How can I dress like that so I look really cool and not like I am wearing a costume?

The goal: emulating the styles of “Mad Men”
A: Fashion is at its most intriguing when it focuses on novelties, styles that look new—or fresh because we haven’t seen them in a while. That is now working to the advantage of the business suit. Most guys don’t go much dressier these days than a sport coat, a blazer or perhaps a black suit with an open collar.

So viewers of “Mad Men” just can’t get enough of all those sharply dressed characters in suits at Sterling Cooper, the show’s fictional Madison Avenue ad agency. The spiffy men’s suits on the show are varied—including glen plaids, herringbones and pinstripes—and they’re worn with crisp white shirts, skinny ties, fedoras and top coats.

At the same time, the show’s 1960s styles are in keeping with some trends in menswear today, such as flat-front pants and jackets with higher armholes, skinnier lapels and double vents. “Men’s suit styles have dramatically changed in the past couple of years, and the styling of the late ’50s and ’60s, as well as designers like Thom Browne, has been influential,” says Guy Voglino, divisional merchandise manager at Brooks Brothers. Last month, Brooks Brothers, which custom-designed suits for the actors on the show, introduced a limited-edition run of light gray sharkskin “Mad Men” suits.

The narrow silhouette is key; look for “a trimmer feeling and a jacket that is about a half-inch shorter,” Mr. Voglino says. If you take time to find the right suit for your body type, he adds, you won’t run the risk of looking like you just walked off a movie set.

Still, it’s possible to take the retro look too far: Are you really comfortable in a Borsalino hat? And go easy with the Brylcreem.