While women like Betty wore dresses that flowed out from their waist lines and bubbled out over their shoulders, men’s dress style contracted. Collars were smaller, lapels narrowed, silhouettes shrank, belts thinned, and ties got skinny. The postwar man was streamlined.  Dennis Black, a storeowner for the men’s clothing line J. Press, believes that the demand for a smaller suit came from post-war exhaustion:

“When guys came back from World War II they were shattered. Their only thought was to get into college and get a career started. Their lives had been complicated enough by the war. And that simple, stable look… I mean, for years we lived off IBM and the FBI [employees], because that was the look. It’s the simplicity of it all.” 

Pete Campbell just wants simple fun, everybody!