Recently, I’ve found myself looking out for Mad Men, the hit television series about a New York advertising agency in the 1960s. Alerted to the show by the likes of India Knight and Liberty London Girl on Twitter, I’ve become an intermittent fan (though I’m useless at remembering when it’s on). I’m fascinated – not only by the storylines, but with the sets and the social mores. This morning, reading an e-mail from my 80-something uncle, the reason suddenly dawned on me. It’s like stepping back into my early childhood. The fabric, the figures, the hairstyles and the shoes are all visible in the snapshots my uncle is archiving for “the cousins.”
Mum and her sisters were gorgeous as well as glamorous – their brother, my father and my uncle as handsome as Don Draper. With their exotic background and innate stylishness they set an impossibly high standard for their offspring to aspire to – although maybe it’s just we live in a different era. We can’t be bothered with the lipstick and heels for a trip to the park, but we’d never match up to their standards anyway. Sitting at my desk, make-up-less and and in jeans, with my hair scraped back off my face, I can’t help feeling a little sorry at the passing of those days. Still, thanks to my uncle* we can be whizzed back in time.
*These pictures remain my uncle’s intellectual property and copyright.
- My aunt and uncle
Sandra Kessell 
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