Why didn't Don Draper follow hair and facial hair styles that trended in mid/late 60s?

Why didn't Don Draper follow hair and facial hair styles that trended in mid/late 60s? - Woman in White T-shirt

The TV series Mad Men plot starts in 1960, where we can see that hairstyle is mostly short, greased, combed, flat and facial hair style is freshly shaven.

Matthew Weiner seems to have worked close to mid/late 60s reality and trends for his characters and we can notice most of them adopting various trends that were growing popular back then. For facial hair: big beards, whiskers, moustache... For hair: ungreased, uncombed, mid-long.

However, Donald Draper stays always the same and keeps his hair flat, greased and combed. I think that this is meaningful for the character development.



Best Answer

I would say a large symbolic part of this is the fact that Don in many ways represents a version of the American male that was pushed away by the counter culture of the 1960s. In this way Don reflects the order of things in the patriarchal American 50s and the clash between those norms and the social changes of the decade portrayed in the show. This also is seen throughout Don's story arc where he often rejects change and when he accepts it finds the new order of things hard to reconcile with his own identity.

This is also a significant part of the overarching plot of Mad Men as it deals with an idealized version of the American dream. In part showing this ideal version of America as something false through the shows depictions of sexism, alcohol abuse and racism, and in part by showing how this vision in many ways deteriorated through cultural change in the 1960s.




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What did Don Draper use in his hair?

Don's hair gel isn't accurate to what was used in the time period. According to Gloria Ponce, former head of the Mad Men hair department, Don's on-set hair at the beginning of the series was styled with a combination of Redken hair gel and TRI Professional Haircare spray.

What hair product was used in Mad Men?

Gloria Ponce uses American Crew hair products on the Mad Men set. Her go to product for all the male actors is American Crew Pomade. The pomade gives you the same hold and shine as Brylcreem, but it isn't as greasy. She'll also use American Crew Firm Hold Styling Gel when the hair really needs to stay in place.

What did Don Draper do?

His true name is Richard "Dick" Whitman. He stole the identity of a dead officer during the Korean War.



Why Didn't You Stop Me?




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