13 frightfully stylish on-screen moments
From Rosemary Woodhouse's pixie cut to Sookie Stackhouse's shift dresses, some of the fiercest and most influential looks have come from the scariest sources. To mark Halloween, Danny Sinopoli and Maggie Wrobel conjure up 13 frightfully stylish moments from the world of horror and suspense. Just remember: If the call is coming from inside the house, slip on your Manolos and run
Awfully glam Long before Big and Little Edie Beale pioneered (really) shabby chic, there was Baby Jane Hudson (played to the hilt by Bette Davis) in 1962’s Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? Sure, Davis’s demented former child star terrorizes her invalid sister (Joan Crawford) in the cool Gothic frighthouse they share, serving her dead rats for lunch. But she does so on silver platters! She also owns her look, wearing her makeup like face armour. I see the Olsen twins in the remake. – D.S.
Dream girl A decade before she landed on American Idol, Jennifer Lopez starred in The Cell, a so-so yet ultra stylish thriller about a child psychologist who uses experimental therapy to enter the mind of a serial killer. As she navigates the murderer’s phantasmagoric dreamscape, her character dons everything from a skintight catsuit to a creepy-glam metal mask. Surprisingly, Gaultier did not do the costumes. – M.W.
Right look, wrong number She may be a Cover Girl now, but Drew Barrymore was the quintessential girl next door in the opening scenes of 1996’s Scream, which saw her thick, cream-coloured V-neck sweater get messed up indeed. Her famous golden bob – both sexy and demure – only heightened her damsel-in-distress appeal. Why did she have to answer that gigantic cordless phone? – M.W.
A devil-may-care do It’s the film that spawned a thousand haircuts. Halfway through 1968’s Rosemary’s Baby, Mia Farrow’s title mummy trades her bangs for a pixie style, popularizing a look that other starlets, from Winona Ryder to Michelle Williams, would adopt. We’re not sure if the Devil made her do it. – M.W.
What lies beneath Sultry embezzler Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) may have a lot to answer for in 1960’s Psycho, but fashion crimes aren’t on the list. She especially rocks her striking period lingerie, including silky slip skirts and far-out bullet bras. In a sly Hitchcock move, Crane wears a white bra at the start of the film and a black one after she steals the money from her office, reflecting her criminal lapse and impending date with a shower. – M.W.
Fred’s not dead The striped sweater. An ever-present fedora. Dull-metal accessories. Yes, disfigured dream stalker Freddy Krueger from 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street was the original millennial hipster. These days, he might be selling neon nail polish at Urban Outfitters instead of slicing teenagers to ribbons. His skin, of course, would need some attention. – M.W.
Leather stalking Of all the makeup and costuming triumphs in Michael Jackson’s 1982 video for Thriller, the most enduring may be M.J.’s date-night outfit pairing red jeans with a structured black-and-red leather bomber jacket. Both Chris Brown and Kanye West are apparent fans of the monochromatic ensemble: Each has been spotted in similar looks, although without those scary yellow contacts. – M.W.
Goth is in the details Her other, um, assets notwithstanding, vampy TV and film personality Elvira (Cassandra Peterson) clearly knows her way around a makeup brush. Her sharply lined cat eyes and flawless red lips speak volumes about the taste and adeptness of the post-punk/pre-Goth Mistress of the Dark. That said, we won’t be emulating that extreme lady-mullet any time soon. – M.W.
Jailhouse chic His disdain for “cheap shoes” is legendary. He knows his wine. Even a mask and straightjacket can’t dim his personality. But you know what cements Hannibal Lecter’s status as a 1990s style icon? The way he gives even basic prison whites a certain je ne sais quoi. – D.S.
Bloody sexy Good writing, acting and staging aside, one of the greatest accomplishments of the current HBO vampire hit True Blood is its ability to make trailer trash alluring. Whether she’s clad in a clingy gingham shift dress or a basic tee and cutoffs, Sookie Stackhouse has it all over that mopey Bella from Twilight. - D.S.
Cape fear Not many dudes can pull off a cape, but Bela Lagosi as Transylvania’s most famous undead citizen threw one on in 1931 and made it his own. Prior to that, Nosferatu was running around in rags. And until those True Blood and Twilight whippersnappers came on the scene, every bloodsucker worth his plasma sported one. – D.S.
A killer apartment Why is it that so many cinema psychopaths, from Leopold and Loeb to Hannibal Lecter to American Psycho’s Patrick Bateman, have such impeccable taste in decor? In Bateman’s case, much of the butchery that Bret Easton Ellis described so vividly in his novel and director Mary Harron reconstructs in the film adaptation takes place in a Manhattan aerie to die for ¬– literally. His cleaning bills, though, must be murder. – D.S.
Grace under pressure It rightly takes a gruesome murder to distract Jimmy Stewart’s wheelchair-bound photographer from the vision that is Grace Kelly in 1954’s Rear Window. But as gorgeous as Kelly looks, she also sounds delightful. In one memorable scene, her socialite character sports a charm bracelet that tinkles and jingles as she moves around his Greenwich Village apartment, signaling her desire to command his attention. In the end, she gets it. – D.S.