mad men | The Selvedge Yard

1960, Reno, Nevada — The cast, writer, and director of The Misfits. Montgomery Clift as Perce Howland, Eli Wallach as Guido, screenwriter Arthur Miller, director John Huston, Clark Gable as Gay Langland, and Marilyn Monroe as Roslyn Taber (and who had recently divorced Miller) — Image by © Underwood & Underwood

There are certain films of the 1950s-60s that capture what I love best– Hollywood icons clad in cool denim. The Wild One… Rebel Without a Cause… and the list goes on. Wild, rebellious, good-looking misfits wreaking havoc on the mainstream squares– and doing it wearing denim all the while. Yes.

Marilyn Monroe (in her Lee Storm Rider jacket) & Monty Clift (who wore Lee Riders jeans) in John Huston’s 1961 film The Misfits.

Marilyn Monroe wore her fair share of denim back in the day– both onscreen and off. In The Misfits, alongside costar Montgomery Clift, you see great Lee icons of denim history well worn by Hollywood’s finest. It’s an added bonus for a film that’s a true classic, and full of real-life irony, sadness and loss of epic proportion– which just serves to add to my sentimental yearnings for this bygone Hollywood era.

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I love Mad Men for all the obvious reasons- so I’m waiting (not-so-patiently) and wondering what’s in store for season III. Visually, it’s eye candy, right? The wardrobe, styling, scenery, furniture, props- even the much-blogged-about fonts used in the show are all a feast for the eyes. Mad Men also wonderfully reflects the attitudes and flavor of an era that I just missed out on, but saw my parents and family in– through old photographs, slides and stories. It’s personal too– in the way that we all probably know someone who’s just like each of the characters- even see a little of ourselves in them. I know I do, especially with Don. No, I don’t look like him unfortunately. It’s more about his outlook. And that’s not something to brag about– that’s something to work on.