What went into recreating the 1960's for the Mad Men Casting Call

"I entered this contest as a fan who loves Mad Men, not for my big Hollywood break. Just a chance to have the shows producers look at my photo and
maybe get to visit the set would be amazing!" ~Drena Bathemess


My entry photo to the AMC Mad Men Casting Call
http://madmencastingcall.amctv.com/browse/detail/PKC7TV

As many of you already know, back in July, I entered the AMC Mad Men Casting Call Contest sponsored by Banana Republic. As I have stated before, my fiance and I are huge fans of the series, Mad Men, going as far as to planning a "Mad Men themed" wedding for next year! I am a stay at home mom, sometimes blogger/home decorator/photographer/collector of all things shabby & vintage.

The premise of the contest was to submit an original photo showcasing your best Mad Men inspired style. After your photo was submitted, contestants would rely on popular vote to get their photo into the top 20 (10 men, 10 women) where from there, your photo would be judged (60% style, 40% originality) by show creator Matthew Weiner. The Grand Prize: a walk-on role to the show Mad Men and $1000 Banana Republic Gift Card, not to mention bragging rights!

I spent a couple of weeks trying to come up with an original theme, costume and setting for my photograph that would best showcase the series ideals. Mad Men is set in the early 1960's and is one of the most authentic, detail oriented shows I have ever seen, so it took quite a bit of creative energy and work. I thought I would share the journey below.

Gathering my props for the "shopping" themed photo,
on the "set" aka. our dining room.

Staging the scene...
Notice my costume on the table (lower left corner)

After much careful consideration, I decided on a "shopping" theme. In 1964, in New York City (where the show is set), there was a boom in designer clothes being made available to the general public, including Chanel, Yves St Laurent and other European designers. I decided that if I had been in New York in the 1960's, I would have been shopping because the fashion of the time was so amazing. Ladies of all social and economic backgrounds were always so put together with hats & gloves. The Park Ave set were vying for the latest fashion trends and single gals were searching for independence. Mad Men is a show set around the advertising industry, and the retail market represents a huge portion of this. Magazines, television & movies told women what they should be wearing and where they should be shopping.

Getting ready to shoot. "Have I forgotten anything?"

We moved furniture around in our Central Florida apartment dining room, to recreate a 1960's Manhattan pad. The mirror and plaques hanging on the wall are flea market finds from my personal collection, as is the chandelier. I tried to stick with gold and pastel colors all of which were popular in that time.
All of the shopping bags and boxes were researched to make sure that they were authentic to 1960's New York City. I was careful not to include full names, so as not to infringe on copyrights, but there is no mistaking the iconic Tiffany blue bag, deep red Cartier or that Chanel black box. The Salvatore Ferragamo shoes in the picture are a recreation of the "Audrey" shoe that Ferragamo personally designed for Audrey Hepburn in the late 50's/early 60's. There are also some Liberty of London boxes (a nod to the British Invasion of the 1960's) and a bottle of Creed perfume can be seen peaking out of a bag.

My "character" starts to emerge...is she a Park Ave wife, mistress or
a modern, single women of the 1960's?

My outfit was based on a mix of Jackie Kennedy and the popular Chanel suit, collected from thrift stores and online vendors. I love the several step dressing & how put together women use to be. The hat was my grandmothers and had a touch of the modern vibe (love the shape & soft angora) that was beginning to emerge in 1964, as well as the gloves (a must!). All of the jewelery is vintage. (multi-strand pearl necklace, clip on pearl earrings, rhinestone brooch) Some was from my personal collection and some borrowed from a friend who sells vintage jewelery (KatcherrFancy, Wall of Jewels & Etsy). I did my own hair and make-up (BareEscentuals.com & Chanel) per 1960's standard. And yes, there is also the quintessential cigarette, which was lit and burning (I quit smoking a year ago, but it was a necessary evil) and a classic martini in a chilled glass.

It is all about the details, from the cigarette & cocktail,
to the fashion, boxes & bags from the era.

Photography is a hobby of mine, but I would be unable to shoot these pictures. So, my fiance's help was enlisted to take the pictures. Jon was very patient, shooting both posed and candid shots on our Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T90. We would pause and I would look at what we had and make necessary adjustments to light, make-up and angles. We were listening to Mad Men tag radio on Lastfm, to set the mood and had a great time together, creating something that we are very proud of. After we were done taking pictures, I loaded them on to the computer and began sorting through. We picked our favorites and I edited where needed, playing with the exposure & color to give the photo a vintage feel. I showed our favorites to some of my family before it was decided that we would use the picture above. I thought I would include the runner-up below. I can only wonder if the results would be different if we had used that one...

The runner-up photo that we nearly used. Although cute & sassy,
we were worried it looked like I was giving the finger.

There is less than two weeks left in the competition and it has been crazy to say the least. My photo has been featured on Banana Republics facebook page, several blogs and the local paper. I have created a voting event on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=141259545892458&ref=ts and bombarded friends and family with email and postings on facebook & twitter. Not to mention reaching out to fellow fans of Mad Men on fan websites & boards. After awhile, you start to feel a bit like a used car salesman, only this is self promotion! I have met wonderful people through the contest, other Mad Men fans and fellow contestants. There has been a cheating scandal, with several contestants using voting software to increase their votes (they have since been eliminated and the voting period was extended through September 17th) and the frustration of watching less inspired photo's (headshots or inaccurate period/details) blow by me in votes. I entered this contest as a fan who loves Mad Men, not for my big Hollywood break. Just a chance to have the shows producers look at my photo and maybe get to visit the set would be amazing! The bragging rights alone would be worth it!
In the end, all I can do is remain optimistic, continue soliciting votes and hope my friends and family are still speaking to me when the contest ends. Overall, this has been a great experience, especially having other fans of the show express admiration for my photo, calling it accurate and detailed. Mad Men Season 4 is on every Sunday night through mid-October on AMC. If you get a chance check out the show and stop by the contest website, votes greatly appreciated!

http://madmencastingcall.amctv.com/browse/detail/PKC7TV

ps. My dear friend, Ron Fox, also entered the contest. He has a great photo worth checking out!http://madmencastingcall.amctv.com/browse/detail/PC457N

Thank you for your continued support!!

AMC's Mad Men Casting Call ~ I need your votes!!

http://madmencastingcall.amctv.com/browse/detail/PKC7TV

So, my fiance and I absolutely love the AMC drama, Mad Men. Set in 1960's New York around the lives of Madison Avenues advertising industry! The attention to detail on Mad Men is amazing featuring some of the greatest set's, costumes and props you will find in any period set piece on television or film. The story lines are rich and intricate and never dull! Season 4 starts tomorrow, July 25th on AMC but you can rent/buy Season's 1-3 on Netflix or iTunes, to name a few.
AMC in partnership with Banana Republic is sponsoring a Mad Men Casting Call. Fans were asked to get creative and show off their Mad Men style! The 20 pictures with the most votes will move on to the finals and be judged by the creator of Mad Men, Matthew Weiner. The winner will get a walk on role to Mad Men and 2 semi-finalists will win gift certificates to Banana Republic. My fiance and I spent an afternoon playing around with the camera (and me digging through my closet!!) to create our vision of 1960's decadence and glamour!!
If you have stumbled upon my page, to which I am dusting the cobwebs off, I would love your support! Click on the link above and give us your vote!! Thank you so much and stay tuned for lots more over the coming weeks!!
~ Drena

Shabby Chic with Rachel Ashwell

A picture with my decorating/lifestyle idol, Rachel Ashwell

Yesterday, I drove down to the Vero Beach Book Center, with my mum, for a book signing with Rachel Ashwell. For those of you that don't know, Rachel Ashwell is the founder of Shabby Chic, an interior design and lifestyle revolving around flea markets and English cottage living. Best known for over stuffed, white denim slip covered sofas and pale pastel accessories, Rachel has produced six books, a television series and affordable version of her line, Simply Shabby Chic at Target. More recently in the news, her company was forced to shut the doors of all the stores and file bankruptcy, much to the dismay of fans everywhere. Lucky for us, Rachel has recently re-opened two of the stores (with a third planned for London) in Santa Monica, CA and New York city under the name of Shabby Chic Couture. According to Rachel, the new stores will focus more on the art of Shabby Chic and less on the commercial. In other words, back to the roots of what made Shabby Chic what it is. The one of a kind, flea market find or a table, hand crafted by artisans. And, yes, there will still be those wonderful sofa's.
The book signing was very informal and relaxed. Rachel talked about her latest book "Shabby Chic Interiors" and the collapse and rebuilding of her company and brand. She took questions from the eager, enthusiastic audience, made up of fans and fellow antique/flea market aficionados. Rachel took time afterwards to talk to all of her guests and posed for pictures willingly. I think tea and biscuits were the only thing missing from the afternoon, which was truly an enjoyable affair.
I have been a devoted fan of Shabby Chic since my aunt took me into the old New York shop location and I sat on a beautiful, over stuffed sofa. Having grown up in a family where flea marketing was a weekend ritual, I could appreciate a design based on making somebody else's discarded items your new treasures. Of course, when I was growing up, I didn't dare say that most of our things came from flea markets. The 80's were all about new, shiny, plastic goods and we were still over two decades away from the reclaim, reuse and recycle movement going mainstream. Shabby Chic, in my eyes, would later be the marriage of yuppie meets hippie, less is more style of today.
Years ago, as a newlywed, Shabby Chic was about the only design that fit my budget. But, by then, I was hooked. The English side of my upbringing craved the dusty treasures full of story and history. I later loved that all of my furniture had a storied past, painstakingly collected and restored. Every ding, knick or mark my things have acquired over the years, from moves or at the little hands of my son, have only increased their beauty. My bed, with all of the feathers, pillows, blankets and duvets has earned the nickname "The Marshmallow" and is a favorite spot for the family to cuddle and watch movies. My home life feels a little more elegant and richer, eating on floral printed china, using cut crystal glassware and having chandeliers twinkling everyday and not just on special occasions. Little touches that make my house a home, and inviting enough for even the sternest guest to feel comfortable falling asleep on my couch. Rachel's "Shabby" ideal melded seamlessly with my flea market upbringing and only further encouraged my creativity.
As the Shabby Chic brand continues it's rebirth and growth, changing ever so subtly as it has matured over the past twenty years, I look forward to continuing my own Shabby Chic quests. Working for Rachel's company would be a dream come true, as I can't imagine a job I am better suited for and more devoted to. Through the good and the bad, the ups and the downs; there is no place like home. Thank you, Rachel Ashwell for your continued inspiration.

For more information and links to Rachel's Blog: www.shabbychic.com

Shop- Part Deux

My post below about the beautiful champagne gift set from Piper-Heidseick and Christian Louboutin really got me thinking last night as I read about the Official Launch of Le Rituel on facebook and twitter.
Drinking champagne out of a crystal stiletto and not just any stiletto, the coveted, red soled Louboutin. Talk about glorious excess! You can practically hear Edith Piaf singing some classic French song in the background, as I imagine sweeping around my home, slipper of bubbly in hand... Of course, the $500.00 price tag is a little harder to swallow, especially in the current economic climate when many families, like my own, are tightening their belts and going without a lot of those little extras we grew accustomed to in previous years. Sometimes, it is hard to remind ones self that things are tight when you are still using the expensive jar of La Mer that was purchased when the going was still good. Becoming a single mom and then starting a new, young relationship came with it's own price tag and sacrifice. But as I looked, read and drooled over the picture below, I found that it represented a lot more to me than just another extravagance. It reminded me of being a child before a birthday or Christmas, when no gift on your wish list seems out of reach. The naive bliss that if you wish just hard enough, that perfect present may very well appear. Wanting something not out of necessity or practicality, but simply because it is very pretty.
Now as I sit, balancing bank statements and paying off debt, I can't help but feel a little silly for wanting something for myself that will serve no purpose in my day to day life as a housewife and mom, except maybe to make me tipsy midweek, celebrating nothing in particular. Make me forget, for just a couple of hours, the many simple pleasures in my life, replaced by fantasy, whimsy and yes, probably Edith Piaf playing loudly.
Dreaming is a beautiful thing, pushing us through those harder days with the small promise of rewards, big or small. The luxury of that reward could be a bubble bath in candle light, listening to romantic jazz or drinking very nice champagne from a glass slipper like a modern day Cinderella. Most likely it will be the bubble bath, but it is still so nice to dream. I remember reading somewhere a quote that said "Anyone who lives within their means, lacks imagination." Hmmm, my imagination will be running rampant as I picture the Le Rituel set in my display case, but I will stay within my means, for now. I guess, after all, it is the thought that really does count.

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Drool Worthy Champagne & Flute Gift Set

PIPER-HEIDSIECK LE RITUEL BY CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN - OFFICIAL LAUNCH

Time:8:00AM Monday, October 19th

Location:VERY LIMITED QUANTITY AVAILABLE IN THE US

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As a fan of all things "Breakfast at Tiffany's", I can't believe I didn't find or hear about this sooner. The China Glaze shade is called "For Audrey" I have 2 bottles on the way from ebay! Reminds me of a shade I wore many years ago on a trip to the UK.

Holly Golightly: You know those days when you get the mean reds?
Paul Varjak: The mean reds, you mean like the blues?
Holly Golightly: No. The blues are because you're getting fat and maybe it's been raining too long, you're just sad that's all. The mean reds are horrible. Suddenly you're afraid and you don't know what you're afraid of. Do you ever get that feeling?

Shop, Live, Love - Kindle application for iPhone

I love to read books. I think since I learned how to read, I have devoured more than I could even count. Many nights of my childhood were spent under the covers with a flashlight, till all hours, as I rushed to find out what happened next in a story. The more books I read, the faster my ability to consume them. My dad would laugh at me and say, "Finished all ready?" as I begged to go back to the store and blow my allowance on more. Laura Ingalls, Beverly Cleary, Judy Blume, Sweet Valley High.
As I got older, my selections moved from paperbacks to the exciting new release, hardback book. Stephen King, Jean Auel, Anne Rice, Jackie Collins. I watched the "Coming Soon" list in the mall bookstores like a hawk. My favorite Christmas present when I was 14 was the new Jean Auel book, "Plains of Passage", in hardback. I think I finished it well before New Years Eve. Of course, it was around this time I learned the disappointment of spending so much money on a brand new book, only to finish it in a matter of hours. Don't even get me started on the price of college text books and required reading lists. I began signing up for bookstore membership and rewards programs to help offset some of the cost. I organized my must read list, begrudgingly putting some of the books off until they were released in paperback. I found friends with common reading interests and we swapped books, saving more money in our little reading community. In the end, there was nothing quite like curling up with a new book. Sometimes for sheer pleasure on a rainy day with a cup of tea and sometimes late at night, as a welcome distraction from stress and grief. (Harry Potter and friends kept me company in the weeks following my husband death.) Books were more than just words and stories in binding. They were friends, companions and guides to far off places. Of course there was the other downside besides price point. Books take up a lot of space and when you move as many times as I do, well, lets just say, they are not easy to cart around the world.
I remember when the idea of electronic or E-books started popping up on the Internet. It reminded me of the library or second hand bookstore. Limited selection and rarely new releases. I couldn't possibly imagine staring at a screen for long periods of time, being chained to my computer. Soon, came the portable reading devices and the Kindle. Now I have to admit, I love gadgets! I was always scooping up the latest cell phone (I had to get the first cell phone with a camera!) or iPod (music at my finger tips!) I relished audiobooks stored on my iPod for long road trips, replacing expensive and sizable books on CD. The release of the iPhone was met with huge excitement. Cell phone, camera, iPod, Internet in the palm of my hand! I was giddy with every new update and new application that made my life easier and more organized.
But, back to books. I began to face the price dilemma again. Money was tight and suddenly, buying new release hardbacks that I would read before the charge was even posted to my account seemed like a luxury I would have to put off. Even with my Barnes & Noble membership and coupon of the week, I was having a hard time justifying my addiction to reading. One afternoon, I was "window shopping" on Amazon, checking on the books that were "Coming Soon" and there it was, right under the list price. Kindle edition. I had read about the Kindle but didn't really know the details. A version of the book 1/3 of the price? A $26.00 new release for $9.99? I had to know more. Then, I saw the price of the kindle. Hmmm, could I offset the price by reasoning how much I would save on books? Did I really want another gadget to cart around and remember to charge? I began searching for answers and then I found it. There was a Kindle application for iPhone and better yet, it was a free application. There had to be a catch.
I downloaded the application and purchased my first ebook, "Twenties Girl" by Sophie Kinsella, guilty pleasure reading. I wondered, would it eat up my iPhone battery or take up too much memory? Would staring at the screen drive my eyes insane? You can imagine my excitement when it didn't do any of the above mentioned. It was easy, convenient and I could read anywhere! I always have my phone with me, thus I had my new book with me too. I read in the car line to pick my son up from school, in the kitchen while the oven preheated, in bed, in the dark while my fiance slept soundly next to me. It kept track of what page I was on (no more dog ears and bookmarks) and fit in my pocket. Best of all, I had saved enough money on that book to purchase another one, "The Last Symbol" by Dan Brown, released today. I can't stop raving about this. I am a dedicated iPhone fan (I still have my original 1st generation) and this only reaffirmed my affection for my favorite gadget! I almost felt guilty as I watched my best friend loading her carry-on with books and magazines for a long flight, knowing that I could do the same thing and not break my back or the bank. I would have to say that even if I didn't have an iPhone or iTouch, I would most likely have purchased a Kindle. The savings on new and popular titles is better than any rewards or membership program the bookstores have offered me. Now I can buy everything from the latest fictional novel to self help book to chick lit and not feel guilty when I finish it in record time (I read the complete Twilight series in a weekend). I love reading. I love books. I look forward to less dusty, cluttered bookshelves and thumbs black with printer ink. Off to start my new book.
♥♥♥♥♥ Five Hearts to the Kindle Application