"Fashion is more usually a gentle progression of revisited ideas."

--British fashion designer Bruce Oldfield

It was a time of full skirts, curve-hugging dresses, narrow suits and fabulous fedoras.

It is the time of "Mad Men," AMC's highly stylized hit series set in the early 1960s world of Madison Avenue that begins its second season Sunday.

The ensemble drama centers around ad exec Don Draper, played by the devastatingly handsome Jon Hamm, and the men and women who work and often play at the fictitious Sterling Cooper advertising agency.

Clothes may or may not make the man, but on "Mad Men" they definitely help bring to life the time of three-martini lunches, engraved cigarette cases and people who dressed well even to retrieve the paper from the front lawn.

"It's a very elegant period," said the show's costume designer, Janie Bryant. "I think people respond so well to this period because it's such a period of classic American style."

Bryant, who won an Emmy for her work on HBO's "Deadwood," received one of "Mad Men's" 16 Emmy nominations last week. She said she was excited to join another period show, one that became hugely popular not only for its story line, but also for its fashions.

Winner of two Golden Globes, "Mad Men" has reignited interest in that classic fashion era, influencing a number of fall collections including those of designers Michael Kors and Peter Som.

While the program for Kors' Fashion Week showing doesn't mention "Mad Men," the connection was not lost on Women's Wear Daily, which noted "Whether the looks were influenced by 'Mad Men,' had an up-to-the-minute cool austerity or were just right for the red carpet, looking feminine, polished and even 'done' is definitely back."

Som was more direct in citing the show's influence on his collection. "I'm playing with 'Mad Men,' " he told the Post-Gazette in an interview earlier this year. "I love the late '50s and '60s refinement."

In June, Bloomingdale's flagship store in New York City unveiled a "Mad Men"-themed window display and clothing from the Theory designer line inspired by the series. "Mad Men" shops are also in 13 other Bloomingdale stores.

There's a lot that goes into achieving that look for the show, Bryant said.

Before shooting began, she explored each of the main characters with show creator and producer Matthew Weiner.

"We had a lot of discussions about who these people were, where they came from and what their story was going to be for the season," she said.

Then Bryant began researching the period, using the Internet, her library, L.A. costume shops, magazines and books.

One episode can require a massive amount of costumes. For example, in episode two, there were 75 costumes just for the handful of principal characters; that didn't include the hundreds of costumes that had to be assembled for the background players.

"The past is very fast, and the volume is very big," Bryant said. "I'll have things made in my tailor shop, and we rent a lot of pieces and we buy a lot of pieces."

Each character gets his own palette, a collage board that includes sketches, fabric swatches, and photos from magazines or books, that give insight into the character.

For example, the board for head secretary Joan, played by Christina Hendricks, includes a couple of pages from costume design icon Edith Head's book on how to dress.

Details are very important.

"That's how people are transported into that period," Bryant said. [For example], Joan wears a pen on a chain. That's such an old-fashioned accessory. It really says something about her character."

Joan, whose curves are reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe's, provides the show's va-va-voom.

"I think she's a woman who knows what she's got," Bryant said. "She knows what her assets are. She knows what her talents are so in that knowledge I think that she dresses accordingly."

Bryant said she loves designing for Hendricks. "She has an amazing figure. It's so hourglass and feminine and beautiful."

Betty Draper, portrayed by January Jones, brings the cool, blond elegance of Grace Kelly. For her, Bryant developed a palette that includes a lot of dusty blues.

"I do incorporate some brighter colors but in season one, her character felt quite somber and distant and cool to me," Bryant said. "For season two it's a little bit different."

Of course, anyone who has seen season one knows that secretary-turned-junior-copywriter, Peggy Olson, played by Elisabeth Moss, provided a real fashion challenge for Bryant as the season progressed.

"She has more of a buttoned-up kind of style," Bryant said. "She comes from Queens. It's a little more old-fashioned."

By the end of the season, the Peggy character had put on a lot of weight, and it was Bryant's job to make it look real. "There's a lot of nuances to getting those butt pads right," she said.

Draper, a man with a hidden past, has a more sedate palette that includes single-breasted suits, mostly in shades of gray.

"I keep him very kind of monotone and sort of simple," Bryant said. "I never saw his character as being a flashy guy, and I think it helps to tell that story of him being mysterious."

In contrast, Draper's boss, Roger Sterling, played by actor John Slattery, represents an older generation.

"I have a lot of three-piece suits for him and a lot of double-breasted suits," Bryant said.

She also adds a bit of color -- blues and golds -- and more accessories.

"I also like that he has a little bit of flash. He's the boss, he's successful," she said.

Then there's conniving upstart Pete Campbell, played by Vincent Kartheiser.

"I see him as Frank Sinatra in a way, so he has that Pete Campbell blue, and I also have incorporated some of the blue green and accents of silver."

Ring-a-ding-ding!