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Red, White + Blue Bandanna Dress | The Mad Men Mid-Season Finale: 'Waterloo'

THE LOOK ~ This dress looks like a giant bandanna: red, white + blue. All-American. The look I went for here is: 'Made in the U.S.A.' This is sportswear. My hairstyle remains a nod to a Brit (Jean Shrimpton), but the cut of this dress is also very 1969 California girl; it's strikingly similar to what Bonnie wore on her shopping spree in S7E6. While the 1960's were heavily influenced by British and French pop culture juggernauts (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Mary Quant, Shrimpton, Twiggy, Bardot, etc.), the following decade was all about the Americans.

Red, White + Blue Dress
Klara Tavakoli Goesche

In the 1970's, where 'Mad Men' is heading fast, British bands channeled American country-western, and rhythm + blues; one British band decided to call themselves America. The Eagles soared. Karen Carpenter's voice filled the airwaves. Steve McQueen was the world's biggest movie star. Mary Tyler Moore, 'The Brady Bunch' and 'Charlie's Angels' took over television. Speaking of which, there were those natural blondes: Farrah Fawcett, Cheryl Tiegs, Christie Brinkley. Fresh-faced, tan, sporty. Their look was all the rage, and Halston was the king of fashion.

Yes, the transition from the 1960's to 1970's brought about a cultural shift towards all things sporty and American. But 'Mad Men' has always decidedly been about Americans. Megan, the Canadian, has been one of few exceptions –– and we might see much less of her when the show returns. The other notable foreigner was Lane Price, who worried about the status of his residency in the U.S. until he (sadly) let his British stiff-upper-lip mentality get the best of him. And since the mid-season finale aired over Memorial Day weekend, this red, white + blue bandanna dress also felt like a great fit for that American holiday. Especially because Vietnam continues to loom heavy in 1969. What else might this dress signify?

THE ANECDOTE ~ The 'Mad Men' mid-season finale, entitled 'Waterloo', notably features the moon landing –– a major coup for The United States. Apollo 11 landed on the moon on July 20, 1969. (My personal connection with this is substantial: my father was an aerospace engineer for NASA in the early-to-mid-1960's. His mission was helping to build the Apollo space shuttle.) Meanwhile, when thinking about this bandanna dress, I started to think about biker counterculture in 1969. We're sure to see or hear about Altamont when 'Mad Men' returns next year –– either peripherally, or directly. The Altamont Speedway Free Festival, which took place on December 6, 1969, came to symbolize the final nail in the casket of the peace-and-love movement of the late-1960's.

But let's take a closer look at July, 1969, where the mid-season finale left off: 'Easy Rider' was released on July 14, 1969, one week before the moon landing. Now it all makes sense! We know Ted Chaough goes to the movies, and it's very likely that he saw 'Easy Rider' the week it was released. Right before his big move of frightening clients while flying them in his plane. And what about his being adamant about wanting out of the advertising game altogether? Supposing someone like Ted had just seen 'Easy Rider': kindly, idealistic Ted would've identified with Peter Fonda's character, Wyatt, who was also called: Captain America. As in, the captaining of a plane. Just like Ted. Or the captain of a space shuttle on its way to the moon.

'Easy Rider' had a profound impact on men who longed for personal freedom, men who wanted to be cowboys riding away on their steel horses. While Ted's predicament could have been explored much more deeply, (there didn't seem to be adequate time to explore every vital character's life in the span of those seven episodes), he was undoubtedly displaying this particular type of longing before he reluctantly agreed to 'sell out' again. It wasn't directly referenced in 'Waterloo', but I strongly suspect Matthew Weiner and the 'Mad Men' writers were alluding to this counterculture mentality (one further catalyzed by the mainstream popularity of 'Easy Rider') via Ted Chaough's strange behavior.








