As compelling as the storylines and characters on “Mad Men” — which airs the second half of its final season beginning April 5 on AMC — are the show’s meticulously researched 1960s-era costumes. (In many instances, the outfits — Ginsberg’s stained shirt, Megan’s “Zou Bisou Bisou” dress — almost feel like characters themselves.) Now, a new exhibition opening March 14 at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, “Matthew Weiner’s Mad Men,” brings the show’s wardrobe, and the rest of its creative process, to life. More than 25 of the ensembles developed by the show’s costume designer, Janie Bryant, will appear alongside props, advertisements and other ephemera from the show’s production department, giving fans the chance to see such garments as Joan’s blood-stained dress from the lawn-mower episode and Sally’s first minidress up close. Bryant worked closely with the museum’s curators to assemble the collection, even going so far as to track down clothing that had since disappeared into Hollywood costume houses. “To see a costume in full action on screen and then see it standing still,” she says, “is a whole different kind of visual experience.”

Here, Bryant discusses the origin stories behind some of the outfits on view, as well as the mood boards she created for a few key characters, which also appear in the exhibition.

“Matthew Weiner’s Mad Men” runs March 14 through June 14 at the Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave., Astoria, movingimage.us.