Matthew Weiner's Mad Men Exhibition

Last week-end, at the Museum of Moving Image in Astoria, New York, has opened a new exhibition entirely dedicated to the series Mad Men.
I have read about this few weeks ago, basically at the same time I found out about a trip I should have taken for my job in New York City. Great... if only the exhibition wouldn't started the day after my return to Europe! Very sad at first, my only consolation was that I knew I will be back in town in April (and the exhibition is on until June 14!).
But, still, the idea that I was there and I couldn't see anything, was driving me nuts.
To the point that I had the nerve of asking anybody I knew even vaguely related to the museum if, by any chance, I could sneak a peak of the exhibition before it was opened to the public. 
Well, since fortune favors the adventurous, I have actually found somebody that knew somebody and there I was, the day before the official opening, walking through the still-to-be-finished exhibition about Mad Men with Tomoko Kawamoto, the Public Information Manager of the museum (Santa Subito! Thank you so much!!!).

The exhibition features some incredible things for any fan of the series (I'm telling you, if you love Mad Men, you should buy a ticket to New York NOW!). These are some of the the gems that are on display: more than 25 iconic costumes (!!!), hundreds of props, advertising art, video clips, and personal notes and research material from his creator. Not to mention original interviews with Weiner and an installation of elements from the “writers’ room” where he and his team crafted story ideas and scripts for the series and, last but not least, large-scale sets of Don Draper’s office and the Drapers Kitchen!!! Have a look...

The Writers Room 

The Drapers Kitchen in Ossining, NY 

Don Draper's SC&P Office on Madison Avenue

I was so excited by what I was looking at, that my head couldn't stop spinning.

When we arrived to the "Dress Section" I almost had an heart attack...

This was the section dedicated to Betty Draper dresses:

And this, I'm sure you'll recognize it at the very first sight, is the famous "Zou Bisou Bisou" dress weared by Megan at Don's birthday party:

And in case you don't remember:

For those lucky ones who live in NY or are passing by this week, on Friday March 20 Matthew Weiner will be in conversation at the Museum for an "Inside Mad Men" session:

Furthermore, from March 14 until April 26, the Museum is programming "Required Viewing: Mad Men’s Movie Influences", a ten-film series featuring movies (among others: The Apartment by Billy Wilder, Les Bonnes Femmes by Claude Chabrol, The Americanization of Emily by Arthur Hiller but also Blue Velvet by David Lynch) that inspired the series. 
On March 20, Weiner himself will introduce The Apartment!

These days in New York, it was just impossible to escape Mad Men. The advertisement for the last season (that is approaching) was everywhere: on the walls, at the entrance of the underground, even on buses...

And I don't know about you, but I am personally drinking my tea at the office with a mug by Sterling, Cooper & Partners, just to be the most Mad Men girl around:

To tell you the truth, while we were touring the exhibition, Tomoko told me that this will be a non-photo exhibition. Pictures - sadly enough for all the fans - will not be allowed (the decision has not been made by the Museum but by the Mad Men's production). The pictures I have published here are part of the material for the Press, except for a couple that I was allowed to put on line.
Thus said, when I found myself in the Drapers Kitchen, I couldn't resist, and I ask Tomoko to take a picture of me there... what can I tell you? I simply felt at home!

The series’ final seven episodes will air on AMC beginning Sunday, April 5.

The End of an era, apparently, but not of our love for this bunch of adorable Mad Men.
Long live the Old Fashioned!

I'd like to thank Jeff Levine at the Whitney Museum and Jennifer Essen and Philippa Polskin at Ruder Finn for introducing me to Tomoko and making my visit possible! 
Thank you guys!!!