I have always been a huge fan of the fashion, hair & makeup from the 60’s. When I was a kid, I pored over the pictures of my mum from back then, admiring the clean lines, graphic colours, and sense of playfulness and creativity they conveyed. I proudly told people my mum got married in a pants suit she made herself: a long tunic and wide pants in cream, edged with gold braid – it was gorgeous! 🙂
I have heard about Mad Men a lot lately, and seen countless pics of that style vixen, Joan – but just recently realized it was about an ad agency!! Well hello? I’m a graphic designer so there were two undeniable reasons I should check it out.
So we watched the first episode last night (yay Netflix!) and I loved it! Hello clothes…. but also it was enthralling because of the social stigmas, and cultural differences. I found myself saying, “wow, I could never say that to a client!” or “imagine drinking with your boss in your office!” lol but the creative angst of trying to work with clients and be innovative on cue was all too familiar to me so I totally loved that.
Now to the other part: Simplicity. Not just the style element but… this!!:
I popped into the Sally Ann after work the other day on a whim and look what I found!! The Simplicity sewing book from 1969, complete with tons of detailed info and pics, as well as a hefty section on fitting, including a full section on pants:
with several detailed and photographed instructions for each fitting issue. It also covers style details, finishing, hand stitching, working with special fabrics (the era of faux fur & leather) and lining/interlining 🙂 As an added bonus the center has an insert of 4 glossy full colour spreads of fashion plates:
I was giddy! 🙂
I’ll probably post more once I get a chance to read it more thoroughly as it’s a lot more detailed than most books I’ve seen, and covers a wider variety of topics.
And I’ll definitely be catching up on the Mad Men this weekend! 🙂
February 24th, 2012 at 6:54 am
I’m glad I’m not the only one who hasn’t watched Mad Men yet! I think I had a fear of being addicted to another telly series which would mean even less sewing time! But I don’t think I can hold out much more. Netflix it is then. As for drinking with ones boss in the office, plenty of that was done when I worked in an advertising agency but in the lovely world of children’s book design its more like tea and cakes with the boss!
February 24th, 2012 at 7:19 am
LOL! You’d love it – it’ll appeal to you too, being a designer as well. We’re gonna limit ourselves to one episode at a time to avoid the inevitable loss of productive activities – but yeah, I can safely say I’m probably in for an addiction LOL.
Come to think of it, there’s been occasions where there’s been drinking with the boss in our office, but it’s really only been on special occasions – and there’s never been any chain smoking accompanying it – at least not while I’ve been here LOL.
February 24th, 2012 at 7:29 am
lucky you – what a score!
mad men is such a great series – the detail of the sets, the clothing, the products, the language, the atmosphere…it’s all so exact.
February 24th, 2012 at 7:32 am
Yes! I’m so glad I jumped on board! There’s four seasons on Netflix so I should be set for a little while anyway 😉 LOL… and yeah the book was a great score indeed; i would have paid more for it, but it only set me back a whole whopping $1.99 LOL.
February 25th, 2012 at 9:50 am
Me again! Just to say I passed on the Liebster Award to you today. Not sure if you are into that sort of thing but I really like reading your posts and I’m glad we found each other! 🙂
February 25th, 2012 at 9:50 am
ooops! …the link is: http://ooobop.com/2012/02/25/two-awards-in-one-week/
February 26th, 2012 at 9:08 pm
yay! I’m so glad too!! ^____^ thanks for the honour! 🙂
March 6th, 2012 at 1:30 am
I remember when I was like 9 and learning to sew and mend my clothes/or dino plushie and my dad scolded telling me that was for girls. Old people and their stereotypes never get old, except they do.
March 6th, 2012 at 6:17 am
That’s a shame, Freddy – some of the worlds best bespoke tailors are men 🙂