I can totally see Trudy Campbell at Woodstock.
At Roger Sterling’s Kentucky Derby soiree in the third episode of “Mad Men” Mrs. Pete Campbell stole the show with her hat, her manners and her fantastic Roaring Twenties dance moves. The butter churning steps were just to die for. (Alison Brie, who plays Trudy, said the couple has been practicing for about a month.)
Their joie de vivre was charming. (I immediately wanted to find an Arthur Murray Dance Studio and sign up for dance lessons.) Tea dancing was a part of the core curriculum for society kids like Pete and Trudy, but still, can’t you just see them practicing at home?
The character of Trudy may have started life as a shrill, spoiled Upper East Side Princess (and actually, what’s not to love about that? It works for our beloved Gossip Girl’s Blair Waldorf.) but she’s evolved a little bit into a charming, stylish and confident corporate wife.
Of all the women on “Mad Men,” Trudy is the only one who seems genuinely happy with her husband and her life. (She is having problems getting pregnant, but this is a TV drama and nobody can have everything.)
While Peggy, Joan and Betty are struggling to fit into pre-conceived 1960’s gender roles, Trudy is already in charge of her destiny. She did not save herself for marriage. She pushes Pete to buy their chic Upper East Side apartment. She’s the one with the power to hit up an old beau and persuade him to publish Pete’s short story. She’s quick to adopt the latest styles and trends and has innate understanding of what it takes to be a corporate wife. She has a thing for hats. (It’s a mystery why AMC doesn’t give us more pix from Trudy’s amazing gallery of hats. They are simply wonderful.)
It’s easy to see Trudy in 1967 in a cute little mini-skirt with white go-go boots and a Marlo Thomas “That Girl” flip hairstyle, making Pete take her to see the Beatles at Shea Stadium or farther a long in the 1970 campaigning for the Equal Rights Amendment. Trudy’s wealth and privilege gives her the freedom to have fun and take charge and if Pete doesn’t like it, well he’ll just have to get over it — and that’s just another thing that makes us love Trudy even more.
Void for Vagueness 