Pan Am

If you haven't seen Pan Am yet, I urge you to check it out. Described as 'Mad Men with wings', it's the hottest period drama series out at the moment. It follows the glamorous crew of the luxury airline around the world, with enough romance, drama and fashion thrown in to keep me hooked! Most interestingly, Nancy Hult Ganis, one of the show's executive producers was actually a Pan Am Stewardess from 1968 to 1976 and spent time with other ex-Stewardesses in order to ensure the women were acurately portrayed. It's fascinating to see the Stewardess' weigh-ins, and seeing passengers chain smoking on-board is as crazy as Don Draper driving his Cadillac with a Scotch - gotta love the 50s!

I'm absolutely loving the female characters, they're smart and sassy and frankly the focus on the women makes a refreshing change from watching sleazy Don Draper sleeping around New York in Mad Men. The storylines aren't all light and fluffy - sexism, communism and the FBI are all running themes. I'm only up to episode 4 (we're behind in the UK) but I can't wait to watch more! I usually ruin films and TV series for myself by looking up the plot online but I want to keep the suspense and enjoy it fully!

The costumes, sets and actors are all fantastic, and of course the makeup has caught my eye!

Here is my mini guide to the ladies of Pan Am so far...

Christina Ricci plays rebellious Maggie Ryan. She's the flight crew's 'Purser', aka Head Stewardess! She's not afraid to speak her mind and is definitely a modern woman. She knows how to order beer in 15 languages and has been grounded for not wearing her girdle in the past! Ricci is a fantastic actress as ever, and her character's ambition and feist comes through perfectly. I love that Pan Am's real life height requirement was 5ft4" so 5ft1" Ricci (the same height as me!) had to wear high heels throughout filming whilst her co-stars wore kitten heels.
Her makeup looks: flawless, glowy skin, peach shades on lips and cheeks, sheer greens and purples eyeshadows, all topped off with subtly lined eyes.

Trilingual Stewardess Kate Cameron is played by Kelli Garner. Kate is adventurous, competitive and joined Pan Am to escape her mother's scrutiny. Beautiful redhead Kate begins working for the CIA in episode one and takes on assignments around the world, something that the show's researchers found from ex-Pan Am employees 'used to go on all the time'!
Her makeup looks: flawless, glowy skin, coral lips and cheeks, sheer greens and creams on her lids and a thick black winged 60s liner.

The gorgeous Laura Cameron is played by Hollywood newcomer Margot Robbie (I can't believe she's only 21!). Laura is Kate's younger sister and after Kate helped her escape her wedding (love a good runaway bride!) she decides she wants to see the World and becomes a Pan Am stewardess too. When her first flight is with her sister Kate, sweet and innocent Laura struggles to please her sister who is carrying out secret CIA missions! She appears on the cover of Life Magazine two weeks after leaving Stewardess School and becomes a minor celebrity, sparking a jealousy in Kate, who always believed she couldn't measure up to her perfect little sister.
Her makeup looks: fresh, glowing flawless skin, flushed pink cheeks and lips, cream lids and that thick black 60s liner again!

Free-spirited Parisienne Stewardess Colette Valois is played by Karine Vanasse. She wears her heart on her sleeve and doesn't always make the best decisions with regards to men. Colette, a survivor of Nazi occupied France was orphaned during WW2, and whilst her exterior is strong she often puts others first and leaves herself vulnerable.
Her makeup looks: simple flawless skin with flushed cheeks and flicked out black liquid liner.

Former Stewardess and Purser Bridget Pierce is played by Annabelle Wallis (who you might recognise from The Tudors!). She was formerly one of the CIAs covert operatives but was deactivated and recommended Kate to be taken on. She was dating one of the Captains before she had to had to flee.
Her makeup look: flawless, glowy skin (sensing a theme here?), lightly flushed cheeks and lips with thick winged 60s liner.

So that's the girls! Fabulous aren't they?
Oh and here are the boys in case you were wondering about the eye candy:

On the left is Dean Lowrey (played by Mike Vogel), who was recently promoted to Captain. Handsome and charming, it's no wonder Bridget was dating him! As the youngest Captain in the fleet he faces a lot of skepticism, but he remains confident and ultimately his pride could be his downfall.

On the right we have Ted Vanderway (played by Michael Mosley) the crew's First Officer. He's a bit of a Playboy and enjoys being surrounded by beautiful women at Pan Am. Ted is an ex-United States test pilot who after a crash was honorably discharged.


If you fancy checking out Pan Am it's on BBC iPlayer now, and shows on BBC 2 on Saturdays at 10pm!