The Mad Men cover parade began last week with Jessica Paré on Stylist and as we’re now only a month away (!) from the season premiere, the profile pieces are rolling in. This one comes courtesy of New York magazine and I’m so happy with who they declare is the star of Mad Men. Of course Mad Men is the Don Draper show, but it’s also become just as much about Peggy Olson and so much of this has to do with Elisabeth Moss’ performance.
As with Jessica Paré’s recent cover story, she doesn’t look a whole lot like the character she portrays on Mad Men – this is a bigger deviation than Paré’s Stylist wardrobe. The dungarees/nothing else combination is not necessarily what I would expect from an editorial of this kind – there is an alternate cover with Moss wearing nothing but a towel standing on top of a drinks trolley – and it’s playing on the impish quality that we witnessed when Moss turned hero, flipping off mani cam at the Golden Globes.
The shorter hair is serving Moss well and she looks really great; while I’m not totally wild about the styling, it’s definitely a departure. In fact this feels like something that someone lacking in imagination would give to Lena Dunham (she’s semi-naked, right) and it works because it’s not necessarily expected from the actress who plays Peggy Olson. To steal a line from Steve Carell in Crazy, Stupid, Love it is also the perfect combination of sexy and cute.
Willa Paskin’s profile is fantastic and it’s this description of why Peggy is so important that stands out “TV has many ambitious women, but Peggy stands out among them for navigating a working world—with glass ceilings, boys’ clubs, and take-me-seriously work clothes—that feels, despite its period detail, remarkably contemporary.” Peggy is the one character I really care about on this show; the one I want to see get a win when the whole thing wraps up.
One element of these kinds of interviews is finding that point where the subject is ‘just like us’ and of course this can come across as manufactured, with Moss it doesn’t feel contrived. She mentions her love of celebrity gossip, even though she has experienced it herself “I enjoy a little gossip. I like looking at photos of celebrities going to Starbucks.”
Another observation that made me smile comes courtesy of the moment where we find out Moss is wearing (“a loud fluorescent-pink-and-green zip-up hoodie over a short-sleeved peasant blouse, jeans with holes in the knees, and flip-flops”) as Moss tells Paskin “That’s my favorite part of articles. I always want to know what they’re wearing. I want to know what Amy Adams wears to lunch.” Count me in.
To read the full interview head here.
TV Ate My Wardrobe 
