As the second season of Mad Men draws to a close, it’s time to engage in some wardrobe musings…

Set in the early 1960’s, Mad Men is centered around an advertising company located on Madison Avenue in New York. The able men who work there wear natty suits, narrow ties and hats, whilst the extremely able-bodied women wear molded foundation garments, curve-clinging cocktail dresses and hats. This band of bright style beacons live in a world of Eames lounge chairs, Noguchi furniture and appropriately placed hand-blown Italian glass. The cast is led by the beautiful Jon Hamm, who portrays Don Draper, one of the partners of this cheerful firm, and the delectable Christina Hendricks, who interprets the pointedly efficient office manager, Joan Holloway.

Before the demise of the hat, worn as a necessity and an intrinsic part of every man and woman’s ensemble, the 1960’s allowed for both the silly and the practical as inspiration for hat designs. Both sides of this particular millinery coin have always come into play, but due to the period’s linear style, inspired by post-modern architecture, the hats of the 1960’s were perhaps slightly more obvious. The pillbox, the bucket, the calot (or half-hat) snuck out of the 1950’s and became star accessories of the martini manic era that was the 1960’s. Such hats were either coordinated with the fabric of the ensemble, or covered in beads, buds, or feathers, becoming the last hold out for fans of dressing up.

Mad Men has certainly raised hat aficionados’ awareness of the possibilities out there, and will also possibly  expand the hat vocabulary for the ordinary (wo)man, helping to cover a few more naked heads.

Looking to the runways, Michael Kors, in his latest Spring Summer 2009 collection, takes the fashion initiative and creates his own world of 1960’s thoroughbred sleekness. With his particular brand of glamour/casual chic, the silhouettes he favours lend themselves to fans of clean-cut. Men take note–hats play their part. Be it porkpie or stingy brim, coconut palm or beaver felt, the Brylcreem -groomed head can sport a hat that could compete with the dishiest of dames in the room.

Season three of the Mad Men admen’s adventures, and those of their female cohorts, can only get better, and hopefully, there will be many more hats to inspire us in episodes to come.

Top image courtesy of Amctv.com