Up until this season, the stylish women of "Mad Men" rarely deviated from their set looks. Joan wore her tight, bold dresses; Betty Draper (pre weight-gain) honed her Grace Kelly image; and Jane Siegel was all about flash. (Even Peggy, the most awkward dresser of the group, stuck to mostly menswear-influenced outfits around the office.) It took the new Mrs. Draper and her fabulous wardrobe to give the show what it needed to chronicle the changing fashions of the 60s: a clotheshorse.
And a trendy one at that. We never know what Megan Draper will decide to wear next—now a rhinestone mod mini-dress, next a floor-length gown and cape in watermelon—because she probably doesn?t know either: the editors at Vogue haven't told her yet. Megan might be the first series regular who not only reads Vogue but studies it.
?Do they always give you clothes?" the new copywriter Michael Ginsberg asks Megan when she decides to leave the agency to become an actress. ?Or do you have to do it in your own clothes?" It seems obvious the new Mrs. Draper would be a natural at acting: she?s been stepping into a new costume each week through her brand-new, Don Draper-funded wardrobe. By the looks of episodes seven and eight, she (or rather costume designer Janie Bryant) has clearly been taking cues from the 1966 September issues of the magazine. Compare Megan's outfits with the original editorials and her inspirations become obvious.
Megan must have taken notice of the editorial ?Paris... New Proportions Rampant... A Fresh Eye On Line And Limb? published on Sept. 15, 1966 (when Vogue used to come out twice a month). Two of her outfits from episode seven (?Lady Lazarus?) look plucked from its pages. While Vogue had already begun to heavily feature houndstooth (a later October 1966 editorial on Paris fashions showed a similar style) the outfit Megan wears to the office at the episode's beginning bears a striking resemblance to the styling in the magazine—she even paired her dress with the lighter stockings shown.
Another outfit, the striking green raincoat she wears on her last day at SCDP, mimics a YSL slicker from the same editorial.
That issue also featured a spread called, ?Fashions to Own Right Now.? Megan, with her upgraded status from secretary to young, wealthy wife of Don Draper, now has the power to do so.
Of course, Megan took on many new roles outside the workplace this season, too. She became a wife at home and out on the town. Her more glamorous looks seem to come from another editorial called ?New York Collections: American Fashion to Go Out and Buy Now? in the Sept. 1 issue. For example, her shopping outfit from episode six (?At the Codfish Ball?) and her shift dress from episode seven:
Her casual wear—she seems to have a house uniform of cropped pants and sweaters—looks pulled from the very same shoot. (More views of this standard outfit found here.)
And what's with all the Incan prints Megan wears in the office? As it turns out, the magazine featured a more creative shoot in July 1966 on ?Incametrics,? set to accompany a travel article on Peru.
The best visual clue? Megan herself. Look through a 1960s issue of Vogue, and Megan would easily fit in among the models. The magazine was not immune to the drastic changes of the decade; Diana Vreeland took its helm in 1963. The storied editor put more downtown trends, more sex appeal and more iconic 60s girls in the magazine?s pages, girls like Edie Sedgwick, Baby Jane Holzer—and like Megan Draper.
When this promotional poster of Don Draper staring rapt at a naked mannequin first appeared to herald in the new season, some predicted that it meant that, despite his recent proposal to Megan Calvet, Don Draper would be philandering again in season five. In retrospect, what it really hinted at seems obvious given the psychology of an ad man. As the laser sharp Tom and Lorenzo have astutely pointed out at their blog, Don likes a covergirl wife. ?That?s the kind of girl Don marries,? Joan observed when Megan ditched advertising for acting. Goodbye Betty, Megan is the updated model.
Jennifer Lopez is exploring the idea of "having a surrogate child" with Casper Smart, reports OK!
According to the mag, "The idea to go the surrogacy route came after the couple visited Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban, whose 15-month-old daughter, Faith, was carried by a surrogate."
Really?
Up until this season, the stylish women of "Mad Men" rarely deviated from their set looks. Joan wore her tight, bold dresses; Betty Draper (pre weight-gain) honed her Grace Kelly image; and Jane Siegel was all about flash. (Even Peggy, the most awkward dresser of the group, stuck to mostly menswear-influenced outfits around the office.) It took the new Mrs. Draper and her fabulous wardrobe to give the show what it needed to chronicle the changing fashions of the 60s: a clotheshorse.
And a trendy one at that. We never know what Megan Draper will decide to wear next—now a rhinestone mod mini-dress, next a floor-length gown and cape in watermelon—because she probably doesn?t know either: the editors at Vogue haven't told her yet. Megan might be the first series regular who not only reads Vogue but studies it.
?Do they always give you clothes?" the new copywriter Michael Ginsberg asks Megan when she decides to leave the agency to become an actress. ?Or do you have to do it in your own clothes?" It seems obvious the new Mrs. Draper would be a natural at acting: she?s been stepping into a new costume each week through her brand-new, Don Draper-funded wardrobe. By the looks of episodes seven and eight, she (or rather costume designer Janie Bryant) has clearly been taking cues from the 1966 September issues of the magazine. Compare Megan's outfits with the original editorials and her inspirations become obvious.
Megan must have taken notice of the editorial ?Paris... New Proportions Rampant... A Fresh Eye On Line And Limb? published on Sept. 15, 1966 (when Vogue used to come out twice a month). Two of her outfits from episode seven (?Lady Lazarus?) look plucked from its pages. While Vogue had already begun to heavily feature houndstooth (a later October 1966 editorial on Paris fashions showed a similar style) the outfit Megan wears to the office at the episode's beginning bears a striking resemblance to the styling in the magazine—she even paired her dress with the lighter stockings shown.
Another outfit, the striking green raincoat she wears on her last day at SCDP, mimics a YSL slicker from the same editorial.
That issue also featured a spread called, ?Fashions to Own Right Now.? Megan, with her upgraded status from secretary to young, wealthy wife of Don Draper, now has the power to do so.
Of course, Megan took on many new roles outside the workplace this season, too. She became a wife at home and out on the town. Her more glamorous looks seem to come from another editorial called ?New York Collections: American Fashion to Go Out and Buy Now? in the Sept. 1 issue. For example, her shopping outfit from episode six (?At the Codfish Ball?) and her shift dress from episode seven:
Her casual wear—she seems to have a house uniform of cropped pants and sweaters—looks pulled from the very same shoot. (More views of this standard outfit found here.)
And what's with all the Incan prints Megan wears in the office? As it turns out, the magazine featured a more creative shoot in July 1966 on ?Incametrics,? set to accompany a travel article on Peru.
The best visual clue? Megan herself. Look through a 1960s issue of Vogue, and Megan would easily fit in among the models. The magazine was not immune to the drastic changes of the decade; Diana Vreeland took its helm in 1963. The storied editor put more downtown trends, more sex appeal and more iconic 60s girls in the magazine?s pages, girls like Edie Sedgwick, Baby Jane Holzer—and like Megan Draper.
When this promotional poster of Don Draper staring rapt at a naked mannequin first appeared to herald in the new season, some predicted that it meant that, despite his recent proposal to Megan Calvet, Don Draper would be philandering again in season five. In retrospect, what it really hinted at seems obvious given the psychology of an ad man. As the laser sharp Tom and Lorenzo have astutely pointed out at their blog, Don likes a covergirl wife. ?That?s the kind of girl Don marries,? Joan observed when Megan ditched advertising for acting. Goodbye Betty, Megan is the updated model.
Jack White and the Guinness Book of Records have fallen out in what is perhaps the year's most bizarre spat.
One of the White Stripes' final shows was also one of their shortest. Vowing to play every territory in Canada, the Detroit duo flew to a remote destination where a music hungry crowd had assembled.
Stepping onstage, the band played just one note before rushing offstage and back into their helicopter. At time, it was labelled the world's shortest gig but since then the White Stripes' claim has been challenged.
Removed from the Guinness Book of Records, Jack White recently took issue with the debate around the show. Chatting with Buzz Aldrin for Interview Magazine, the guitarist took a swipe at the organisation.
"There's nothing scientific about what they do" he said. "They just have an office full of people who decide what is a record and what isn't. I mean, there is some stuff like Olympic records where they have a committee. But most of the records in there-who has the biggest collection of salt-and-pepper shakers or whatever-are just whatever they want them to be".
"So with something like the shortest concert of all time, they didn't think whatever we did was interesting enough to make it a record. I don't know why they get to decide that, but, you know, they own the book... Maybe this will help us get the word out."
NME then tracked down a spokesperson for the Guinness Book of Records, who argued that "the nature of competing to make something the 'shortest' by its very nature trivialises the activity being carried out".
As a result, all 'shortest' categories - shortest song, gig etc etc - were removed from the Guinness Book of Records. "Many of us at Guinness World Records are enormous admirers of Mr White's oeuvre,"they continued. "We would be extremely pleased if he were to attempt any of the 40,000 records that are currently active on our database.??"
Jennifer Lopez may top Forbes‘ Celebrity 100 list, but it’s Justin Bieber who’s got the cover. He might not have proved himself to be what GQ considers to be a “man”, but this “Swaggy Adult” ranked third on the list ? just behind Oprah Winfrey ? having raked in $55 million in the last year. ... More »
Back in the early 80s, the boom in arcades and entertainment made icons of the likes of Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and Q*Bert. The popularity and novelty of video games was great enough to produce a fair amount of peculiar cultural runoff. If you grew up then, you may or may not remember watching cartoon series based on the likes of Kangaroo and Space Ace, or raunchy arcade-set comedies like Hollywood Zap and Joysticks ("More Fun Than Games!"). Some dubious efforts to translate the excitement of playing video games into different mediums also happened, as seen with the ill-conceived board game above.
There was even a game show based on the concept of watching people play video games: the TBS-produced ?Starcade.? The whole concept behind the show was, basically, "hey, kids, how'd you like to have the feeling of hanging around an arcade without actually getting to play?" Yet somehow for video game-obsessed kids like me it was worth ditching cartoons for at least a half-hour on Saturday mornings to watch. But as a relic of that time, nothing may be as odd and mesmerizing as "Battle Of The Video Games," a one-time special featuring Heather Locklear, Scott Baio and a bunch of other 80s stars. If for nothing else, it deserves recognition for leaving us with footage of Lynn Redgrave playing BurgerTime.
This was also the time when celebrity competitions like ?Circus of the Stars? and ?Battle of the Network Stars? were at the height of their popularity. On these shows, well-known TV performers would perform weird stunts, trapeze tricks and race kayaks in front of the cameras in order to raise money for charity, promote their shows and amuse millions. These shows were distinct from the celebrity reality shows of today in that (a) the actors actually had current shows at the time, and (b) they were specials, not series. So instead of watching Tempestt Bledsoe attempt to lose twenty pounds over an entire season, you'd just admire her as she did a quick tiptoe across the tightrope, and voila! Done!
Given the popularity of video games and shows like these, it's not surprising someone decided to combine them to make "Battle Of The Video Games."
This one-shot special was, in essence, the celebrity version of ?Watch Someone Else Play a Video Game." Produced by Los Angeles? KTLA (Channel 5), it aired once, on a late summer evening in 1983 before the fall brought such gifts as new series like ?Jennifer Slept Here? and ?Bay City Blues.? Thanks to the magic of archiving and file sharing, however, the show has lately emerged for a brand-new audience to view with awe and amazement.
In style and format, the special was like a more youth-oriented version of the ?Battle of the Network Stars? specials, gathering together a wide group of actors and celebrities to compete. But because KTLA was a local station and not a nationwide network, many of its stars were notably more second-tier than "Battle of the Network Stars" might have featured.
While set on a cheap-looking soundstage, the show was well-funded enough to have three (!) hosts: ?Happy Days?? Anson Williams (Potsie); model Jayne Kennedy (who would have been familiar to viewers because of her appearances on "NFL Today," if they weren?t aware of her popular exercise videos or Playboy spread) and future game-show host Marty Cohen ("Super Password," "The (New) $25,000 Pyramid"). Technically, Cohen was billed as the ?commentator? rather than a host, as three hosts would have been silly, but the difference in roles seems to have mainly been that, as commentator, Cohen got to tell more bad jokes.
The contestants were about as random of an 80s grab bag as you could ever dream up: soap actors, Dynamite cover regulars and Lou Ferrigno. During the introductions, some performers were judged to be well known enough to be identifiable without a TV show credit (Scott Baio); some got the name-hint of their TV show being read after their name (Mindy Cohn from "Facts Of Life," Todd Bridges from "Diff'rent Strokes"); and others, like Jenilee Harrison (Suzanne Somers' replacement on "Three's Company"), just got the vague ?TV Star? descriptor. Watching it now, the actor whose presence seems most random is Lynn Redgrave, who was then hyping her (soon-to-be-cancelled) TV series ?Teachers Only.?
Here's how the battle worked: The celebrity players were divided into four teams of three. Across three rounds, a player from each team would come out to play a different video game (Ms. Pac-Man, BurgerTime and Frogger). After the third round, the two teams that had scored the most points sent up their best player for a rousing round of head-to-head Pac-Man.
Some highlights!
Scott Baio explains to his ?Happy Days? co-star Anson Williams that he enjoys Ms. Pac-Man, but then quickly corrects himself, saying that he meant Pac-Man. Because Ms. Pac-Man is a girls game, silly!
Mindy Cohn (Natalie!) explained that she doesn?t date so it ?doesn?t end up in the papers.? She placed a distant second behind Ms. Pac-Man hustler Philip McKeon (aka the kid from "Alice").
Heather Locklear edged out Jenilee Harrison in Ms. Pac-Man. In her interview she talked about juggling roles on ?T.J. Hooker? and ?Dynasty? at the same time.
One would think Lou Ferrigno would be better at BurgerTime, but he placed last.
Deney Terrio, host of "Dance Fever," talks about his new movie Ladies? Night (later renamed A Night in Heaven.) He also kicked ass at Frogger, dominating the round.
Redgrave did amazingly well, and ended up playing BurgerTime, placing third! But in the final round, Todd Bridges faced off against Philip McKeon. McKeon, it turns out, was a bit of a ringer, as evidenced by his Ms. Pac-Man game, wherein he clearly had patterns memorized.
The McKeon vs. Bridges finale has to count as the most tense match-up between two sitcom stars playing a video game that the world has ever seen via videotape.
The show also featured a brief behind-the-scenes look at the making of a BurgerTime machine, in the Midway plant in Chicago, which served as an excuse to cut away from the single-set stage. Unfortunately, it was about as exciting as a 3M industrial film—who could have guessed?
It's impressive that a local station like KTLA talked a dozen working actors into appearing on a show about video games, even if it turns out that watching people play arcade games isn?t exciting even when they players are B-list celebrities. But sadly, if I found a dozen more shows exactly like this, only with, say, William Conrad, Ricky Schroeder and the girl from ?Whiz Kids? playing Donkey Kong 3, I?d watch them as well.
Paul Freitag writes regularly for Fine Print Magazine and Daily Grindhouse. He also owns a working Vectrex, and knows far too much about the cast of "Three's Company."
The tough thing about interviews with talent is that you go in with a huge list of questions and never enough time. Such was the case during my sit-down with Kristen Stewart this past weekend at the Snow White and the Huntsman junket. By the time I got around to bringing up her new producer [...]
Your True Self (original mix)
