From Béla Lugosi to Robert Pattinson, a little history of costume among vampires in the cinema – Reel

Sir Christopher Lee's career is truly mind-blowing. But if you are more particularly interested in English tailoring and sartorial style in general, you can immerse yourself in the slew of films horror film he shoots for Hammer ? From the late 50s with the always well dressed Peter Cushing.

You will see that we love to wear the Mac, the trench coat, the suit, the tweed, the tie or the cardigan . If you do Dracula's Nightmare ” which they filmed for example in 1958 under the direction of Terence Fisher is a classic of the genre. It is also in color, which allows you to appreciate the appearance of the color red:

His character takes up a certain number of inspirations already encountered by Béla Lugosi. A long black cape, a white shirt with cufflinks and a black suit set . We find a similar spirit in the following film, “ Dracula’s Mistresses ” in 1960.

The title is misleading: it is not about Dracula here but about a “young” vampire aristocrat, Count Meinster. So no Christopher Lee. But a vampire dressed in the same spirit:

However, it will be very difficult for him to steal the spotlight from Peter Cushing. Do you see him above in a very bad situation, in the straw but with a handsome Dracula, prince of darkness ? Nothing is less sure. But nothing has really changed either:

You see, the vampire played by Christopher Lee plays the sartorial austerity card . He is less talkative, less charming and more brutal than Béla Lugosi. He is also less inclined to use accessories. The proof is in the clothing, here on the right on the set of “ Dracula and the Women ” by Freddie Francis in 1968:

Elsewhere, other vampire stories emerge. A year earlier, Roman Polanski also had his own little story with “ Le Bal des Vampires ” in 1967. It is a parody film. Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate are dealing with a vampire of a different kind.

He has white hair and likes to wear jewelry and red dressing gowns . Despite everything, he also fits into the tradition of the black suit and the red and black cape. Note also that there are always cufflinks on shirts:

A cape, a black suit, cufflinks . Could this be the vampire's only clothing key? It's a recurring outfit. But fortunately it is not the only one.

In the meantime, if this cure for black color in clothing makes your head spin, take a little fresh air with Roman Polanski's outfit to discover in part above: brown boots, white pants, black belt, light blue shirt , burgundy blazer .

It's better ? Rest assured: style-wise, the tide is gradually turning for the vampire in cinema. On the other hand, remember that a vampire's life has nothing to do with ours.

Imagine for example this scene: Benoît is invited to give a speech on fashion at a vampire conference and concludes his speech with the now famous "life is too short to wear black" . What will happen ?! If the argument can be understood by ordinary mortals, let us remember that vampires have the privilege of eternal life.

The modern age and the emancipation of style

We could already sense a Flower Power vibe in Polanski’s “Le Bal des Vampires”. Christopher Lee's last two appearances as Dracula for Hammer go even further, placing the vampire in contemporary time . Fashion is no longer that of the 18th or 19th, not even that of pre-war times.

If the costume is still very present in daily life, the cuts are changing and young people are dressing differently: more colors, more casualness and less clothing also in a certain way. Because yes: morals are changing, and we now undress our bodies a little more easily, especially among women.

We find these stylistic changes in 1972 among the young people in “ Dracula 72 ” by Alan Gibson:

Or in a more insidious way in “ Dracula still lives in London ” by the same Alan Gibson. This is the last Hammer film with Christopher Lee in the role of Dracula, and as if he had understood the workings of the modern world, here he is now a business manager and in what looks like a more openly business suit:

In America too, times are changing. The movie theater discovers the blaxploitation wave with films like “ Shaft ”, already mentioned in Reel through Blacula, the black vampire ” by William Crain in 1972 is confronted with the same problems as Dracula: how to adapt in a world in complete upheaval?

Locked up since the 18th, with the style and clothes that go with it , he discovers the Los Angeles of the early 70s. The city and fashion are in turmoil, and as you can see in the photo below, the vampire will have to seriously think about renewing his wardrobe if he wants to survive:

In 2012, the character played by Johnny Depp in “ Dark Shadows ” by Tim Burton will be faced with the same problem. For the occasion, he invented a sort of sartorial crossover between the 1800s and the end of the 60s . The result is relatively unique:

We would have to wait until the 80s before we saw a vampire fully aware of the fashion of his time. The change is radical. You can forget about all the characters we've seen so far.

“ The Predators ” by Tony Scott in 1983 features a couple of modern vampires played by David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve. They must face a strange illness which causes all of Catherine Deneuve's companions to age prematurely.

For the wardrobe, we are a long way from the black suit dear to Béla Lugosi and Christopher Lee, and yet everything here is dressed, imbued with charm and elegance. For example, she wears a blue Yves Saint Laurent dress, he wears a cream double-breasted suit with a light blue shirt:

Elsewhere, you will still see David Bowie wearing a little black, for example here with hat, raincoat and probably suit ensemble. The tie is missing. But he wears some damn glasses:

Does this remind you of something ? Look instead at Dracula ” by Francis Ford Coppola in 1992.

Influential? It is one of the most common contemporary references when it comes to discussing the vampire in cinema. In the cast: Winona Ryder, Keanu Reeves, Anthony Hopkins or Tom Waits. The story is based on that published by Bram Stoker in 1897.

Francis Ford Coppola imprints his taste for color, chiaroscuro and baroque. You can discover it even in the very stylized outfits of the prince of darkness played by Gary Oldman. In his castle, we discover an old man wearing a white tunic and a gigantic red cape with gold embroidery and kimono inspiration :

It is certainly a collector's item, although probably unportable outdoors. Deeply romantic, this Dracula is also the most luxuriously dressed of all . The costumes in the film are particularly elaborate.

They are signed by the Japanese Eiko Ishioka and they no longer have much to do with what we have seen of the vampire's usual formal and very Victorian wardrobe.

Coppola's Dracula is a vampire with resolutely unique outfits, at the crossroads of painting (Klimt for example) and the different clothing cultures of the East and the West. Look for example here at the style, outfits and embroidery:

But what we perhaps remember most in Francis Ford Coppola's "Dracula" is perhaps Gary Oldman's outdoor outfit, undoubtedly the most sartorial of all:

Everything is there: the costume, the cane, the top hat, the little details here and there without forgetting the very characteristic blue tinted glasses. Here we have a real Interview with the Vampire ” by Neil Jordan in 1994. A slightly crazy casting and magnificent costumes, like here:

Obviously, no one dresses like that anymore these days. But there is still a way to take inspiration from a few little things here and there. Are you looking for a fall blazer and a more formal outfit ? Look for example here, in this photo capturing Kirsten Dunst and Brad Pitt:

Not bad is not it ? You can replace the shirt and possibly the scarf with something a little more modern. But you get the idea. More contemporary, the costume which is revealed at the opening of the film: it is a very classic ensemble, a little austere, with white shirt and dark tie.

It's less attractive than the previous outfit, rather dull, but it's also more versatile. This is precisely the path that some of the following vampires will take, moving towards relaxation, soft tailoring and even casual .

All except perhaps Eddie Murphy in Wes Craven's “ A Vampire in Brooklyn ” in 1995: he has certainly replaced the tie or the bow tie for the scarf, but his outfit always has something a little aristocratic, even when he parachuted into hip-hop culture and the New York suburbs.

The contemporary wardrobe

Can we still talk about the supernatural about “ The Addiction ” by Abel Ferrara in 1995? The film draws a parallel between vampirism, drugs and religion. It brought together Lili Taylor, Christopher Walken and several actors who would later make the heyday of the series “The Sopranos”.

We follow the journey of a philosophy student who is quickly bitten by a woman. Once again, black plays the leading role, but on its soft tailoring side. Lili Taylor offers an almost rock'n'roll style and Christopher Walken a beautiful marriage of dress and nonchalance:

The suit is still there, but it is worn cool, without a tie . This is a phenomenon that you have been seeing for several years: formalism is no longer popular and sneakers are gaining ground day after day. We're not there yet at Christopher Walken.

On the other hand, the vampire enters the casual universe with the “ Twilight ” saga. It swept across the world in 2008 and told in five chapters the love story of a young adolescent girl with a vampire. It was the birth of two future movie stars: Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. We can of course prefer the first with Olivier Assayas or the second with David Cronenberg and Claire Denis.

However, “Twilight” in a way marks the beginning of a new stylistic era for the vampire in cinema. He is in tune with his times. You will therefore not find masses of costumes here, or worn in a very ceremonial way, or rather casual like here:

Less adolescent, more arty: the vampires of American filmmaker Jim Jarmusch in “ Only Lovers Left Alive ” in 2013. They live between Detroit and Tangier. When you think of these two cities, you might think of the Stooges, the MC5, the Rolling Stones and the musicians of Jajouka, not to mention the poets of the Beat Generation. It's a film with a certain Dead Man in another genre.

There are many references to take from the vampires played by Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston and John Hurt. They are vampires, artists and antique dealers all at the same time. That is to say, they are the memory and conscience of the world, which does not prevent them from being depressed and/or dressing like dark rock stars:

The main couple reinvents the vampire's wardrobe using recent and old clothes. For him it will be, for example, dark shirts and pants that play with grain and material, boots, a blazer or a leather jacket .

For her, it will be ankle boots, fitted pants, scarves, light tops and a leather jacket . But the story goes further than today's fashion. We also find much older tunics, of oriental inspiration, decorated with stones and embroidery. Take a look at this magnificent piece for example:

This is one of the particularities of Jim Jarmusch's vampires: they have long since entered into a more virtuous cycle of fashion. In this regard, we can all take an example from the character played by John Hurt:

He's the most dressed up of the bunch: a gray-beige blazer, black glasses, an orange Twilight shirt" or even Tilda Swinton with a rock attitude in "Only Lovers Left Alive".

But we could also cite Kim Ok-vin in Park Chan-wook's “ Thirst, This Is My Blood ” in 2009, a modern vampire film that takes place not in Transylvania but in Korea. The vampire in the film is a priest. He has a concubine, who will become a vampire and suddenly take a new pleasure in dressing. Look for example here, in a blue dress and sandals:

Does this mean that we are particularly passionate about clothing once we become a vampire? ! To meditate. Meanwhile, in the history of cinema, female vampires are represented glamorous, seductive, with large necklines and ever sexier dresses. We think, for example, of Ingrid Pitt, in “ The Vampire Lovers ” by Roy Ward Baker in 1970, here in a pretty green dress with sixties connotations :

But cinema is full of many other models, more openly feminist, from the very beginning. Take a look, for example, at gothic icon Theda Bara. She plays with veils, transparent clothing, jewelry and other more macabre things . Now forgotten, it can still be seen in the few cinema archives that have not been destroyed, such as “ Kiss Me, Stupid ” by Frank Powell in 1915: