The Fashion File: Advice, Tips, and Inspiration from the Costume Designer of Mad Men Hardcover

The styles are everywhere in the stores. Man Men fashion has swept the retail industry. This author is the driving force behind the look and the details. Fascinating information on the author's research, methodology, collaboration with the show's creators, and work with the cast. Who knew that the cast is always wearing the correct 1960's-era foundation garments all the time so that they feel and move about properly? Fashion hints on how to dress and accessorize apply to everyone - wonderful, upbeat, fun advice. This lady knows and loves her subject so much, she's managed to make us look back to Jackie and Audrey for inspiration.Wonderful illustrations and photos, great writing. A terrific read for fashion buffs. A must read for Mad Men buffs.

I've been a fan of Mad Men since episode one. I love seeing the world as it was around the time I was born, when my parents were in their thirties. The tone of the show is largely due to Ms. Bryant's talents.I've always been a fan of classic & vintage inspired clothes and jewelry & when you add in the wonderful acting & writing on the show, what more could you want!As a curvy girl, Joan is my hero & watching her has given me more confidence when I dress.Janie's book is full of good info above & beyond the normal fashion books. My favorite piece of advice in the book is to stand up straight, shoulders back & "be an exclamation point, not a comma". That's the best fashion advice of all time- If I find myself slumping, those words straighten me up & I instantly feel better.

I read this book cover to cover, and I feel like I picked up some good tips while having a lot of fun. I also realized that I have been wearing the wrong bra size and am very grateful that someone finally broke it down to me how to measure for the right fit. I have already replaced all my old bras and they look and feel a hundred times better.Also, the illustrations are pretty and the lay out of the book is pleasing. I wish there were a few Joan sized drawings and not just stick girls, but that was really the only thing I didn't like about this book.

If you love mad men and you love fashion then this is for you. Its written by the stylist for Mad Men- so you get some info on mad men but also on her personal style. The author really walks you through how to evolve your own personal style. A great read or coffee table book.

So much fun to read- if you love fashion and Mad Men or the Mad Men era of fashion, then this is the right book for you. A different take on expression yourself through your clothes, while also being very educational on the basics of how to dress your body type!

I went through the book and then felt somewhat like the other reviewer that this book was written mostly for someone else. If you are the type of person that wakes up in the morning and don't know who you are until you put on a particular look, then this book is probably for you. To me, and maybe I missed something here, but to me, this book seems like it is written for someone who lives their life from the outside in. That is to say, they do not know who they are until they establish a certain look through their wardrobe that they select in order to know who they are.Personally, if I were having someone design clothes for me, I would hire someone who could know about me and what my lifestyle was so they could design a wardrobe around who I was - not fit me into a wardrobe to define who I am for the day. I think the book has some merits already mentioned by some of the other reviewers, but I think this book lacks some of the variation and detail I would have expected. Such as what type of colors and designs around the neckline, shoulderline, waste line, hip line, and so on. I think this is what many women have questions about and many women seek a fashion statement that is mostly their own. While the book brushes the surface of these topics and the body types (straight, apple, pear, hour glass) and so on, it does not give a further examination of the subject and is more about frills and thrills than it is about practical wardrobing. I feel it is written on a level for juveniles and teens or early twenties. Not enough goes into practical work, play, dinner, entertaining, etc., the types of wardrobing that can be dressed up or down. Exploration of color is not even investigated nearly enough.Now, the thing that makes this book worth while are the beautful illustrations by Robert Best. Robert Best is the Barbie fashion designer and he is also the illustrator that does the Barbie Calendars every year. His beautiful illustrations are more than just fluty garnishes in the book, they make the book's image and shape and statement. The creativity in the fashions are absolutely surpurb and for me, make the book worthwhile, even though all the figures he created are pencil thin and dreamlike without a basis of reality in their form. Even the illustration of "Joan" from Mad Men is devoid of her full curves, thus evaporating the opportunity to go beyond the stereo typical Barbie figure. The illustrations are indeed beautiful and dreamlike models that look like our beloved Barbie - now what fashion saavy woman doesn't like Barbie? There is a small credit statement to Robert's work in the back of the book and a credit statement on the inside front page but I think it could have been far more prominant in the book for the amount of incredible illustration work he did which is almost on every page. His work makes the tone and character of the book. Sorry he didn't get the notariety he was due for all the work he did. His illustrations are magnificant and give character and a great image of the book.The messege of this book seems to be to break out of your current styles and have some fun with your wardrobe. It has lots of ideas to get people outside of their current mold (such as wearing lavish hats and lacy high heeled shoes) but not enough information to cover practical everyday wear for work, for executives, for recreation, for dining, etc. Robert Best creates the imagination while the author creates the inspiration to break out of the mold and try something provocative, frivilous, and daring.The repeating idea in the book is that you don't know who you are until you put on that special wardrobe so you can be "somebody" special that you want to be for that day. So I missed the point of the book I guess. I was looking for a book that could put the fashion around me, a style that could express a bit of who I am, not prop me up into the fashion clothes for the day to define myself. This is where the rub kept occuring for me. Many of the suggestions are overstated and full of glam. Great to look at but hardly practical. I did learn a few things and although I wouldn't take the same approach as the book, I did get some ideas which I can certainly use as a basic idea to tweak towards my own objectives. Since the author's experience is dressing up actors and actresses for their shooting, I can understand completely her approach. But for the rest of society, it is a bit brief and not very practical. Great if you are still searching out who you are and need a fashion statement to get you out of a wardrobe funk. It seems to me that the premise is to awaken your inspiration and get out there and do something different.That being said, the book is beautiful and fun, very girly, and great conversation book to have on the coffee table or nearby for those girly guests at tea time or to add to a collection of fashion illustration books. Robert Best's illustrations and interviews with the actresses make it worth it for me.

Wow. This book exceeded my expectations! A beautifully bound hard covered book with glossy pages. Most of the illustrations are sketched to portray Janie's styling ideas from costume design, right through to throwing an outfit together at home. She gives advice on what to look for when shopping, and is an avid vintage collector. I also enjoyed reading how she defines a character by costume, color and style. Janie encourages the reader to explore fashion ideas and perhaps reach outside their own comfort zone, trying new looks by mixing different styles. This book is a must have for Mad Men fans that admire those great 60's looks, and fashion in general.

I thought this book would be more about the ideas behind the show's costumes. It's really a primer for how Janie Bryant thinks of fashion in general - especially from her Southern upbringing's point of view.There are some really good tips, though. The section on men's dressing was very informative and useful.Get it if you want a book about what Ms. Bryant's fashion knowledge and perspective, but not if you're looking for more insight into the Mad Men series designs.