The Perfect Cocktail: The Marriage of The Banana and Mad Men

Coming soon to a mall near you will be the sixties style fashions from AMC's popular hit series Mad Men. Emmy winning costume designer Jane Bryant teamed with the venerable retail chain to design a 65 item collection that includes everything from suits and dresses to men's hats and a leopard coat. I have always loved the tailored classics of the sixties and for those of us who love nostalgia, great lines and retro fashions, it's a closet godsend.

The collection sprung out of a friendship with Banana creative director Simon Keene and Bryant who clearly appreciate the intrinsic value of a good white shirt. And it's all here -- the two button men's suit, trench coats, high waisted skirts and leopard print pumps just to name a few. Items will range from 198.00 for a faux leopard coat to 450.00 for a men's suit. Information on the collection is  available on Facebook  and the AMC website and for those of you on Gilt Groupe, the fashions will also be offered here on Monday, July 25th for 36 hours beginning at noon - a full three weeks before the fashions hit the stores.

This is not the first time Mad Men mania has influenced styles -- Brooks Brothers designed a men's suit last year and Nailtini teamed with Bryant to come up with nail polish colors such as the Garden Party Collection below.

Throw on a cluster of pearls and leather gloves and you too can channel your inner Betty or Joan. Toss on a crisp white shirt and a trilby hat for a Sterling Cooper/Don Draper look when the collection hits stores August 10th.

Thankfully we have the Banana to remind us of all things Madison Avenue sixties as  Season Five series will not resume until 2012. Until then, get your fix with some Doris Day/Rock Hudson movies and Dean Martin television show reruns.

And speaking of Mad Men, stay tuned for my interview/Array Magazine cover story with the show's Bryan Batt (who played Salvatore Romano, closeted art director) and his upcoming design book big, Easy Style (Clarkson Potter, October, 2011). He is thoroughly charming, entertaining and very multi-talented and if you haven't read it, I highly recommend his first book/loving and hilarious tribute to his late mother, She Ain't Heavy, She's My Mother as well as his New Orleans store Hazelnut. I just hope the powers that be at Mad Men (are you listening Matt Weiner?) bring him back on the show next year. As Batt noted, "Well Matt says my character is not dead" which is always a good sign.

Photo Credits: Banana Republic, Clarkson Potter