>I remember when standard Undead attire was the high-necked red and black opera cape; the sort that Bela Lugosi made infamous in 1931 for his screen portrayal of Dracula which has lived on, keeping the opera cape industry afloat during the Halloween rush long after wearing a cape in public to anywhere but a costume party was considered socially acceptable.
Originally the bat-like opera cape was chosen for costume-effects purposes. The high black neck made it easier for the actor playing the vampire to disappear down a trap door. It’s fitting that the cape would be associated with Dracula, since Bram Stoker wrote the book intending it to be adapted into a play. He was Sir Henry Irving’s manager at the time and hoped that Irving would play the part of the vampire. Irving allegedly read the book and dismissed it, claiming that it would soon be forgotten. Well, it certainly hasn’t yet…nor has the cape, which resurfaces now and again, from the blatant black-and-red of the Hammer Films starring Christopher Lee:
…to the more subtle rendition worn by Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins in Dark Shadows:
That’s not to say that the vampire is confined to the good old black and red, or even the cape. In 1992, Eiko Ishioka famously clad Gary Oldman in a red dragon robe and a powder blue suit, among countless other stunning pieces featured in Bram Stoker’s Dracula:
In 1994, Sandy Powell went in a different direction with Tom Cruise as Lestat and combined historical with rock-hard glamor, including a swallowtail coat with spangled pineapples and a simple yet lovely violet ensemble to pop the trademark eyes and hair. The silk, velvet and sequins combined with candlelight makes for a combination nothing short of beautiful:
But there has been a sort of revolution in recent years. Around 1997 Joss Whedon introduced his far-famed television series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which featured among its characters a vampire named Angel. Unlike Dracula or Interview, this series took place in the modern day, thus necessitating that its characters, including any vampires expected to wander through teenage night club hot spots unnoticed, wear clothing from the 1990s…with perhaps a hint of justaucorps here and there to drive the point home. And so, at some point, the costume crew came up with this look for Angel, which is fairly standard throughout the series:
I’m sure that crew had no idea that they were laying down the standard for the modern-day teen vampire. Apparently that style would become the new black and red cape for the vampire who hangs around with high school students. We’ve moved to gelled-up hair and a rather plain ensemble. Gone are the glory days of the Scarlet Dragon Robe and the Spangled Pineapple Swallowtail. Behold, Edward Cullen:
To my (amateur) eye, these two outfits are…rather same-like, bland and not really comparable to those wistful days of yore. I was unaware that Angel and Edward were twins. I guess both of them shop at Banana Republic and H&M. Together. I get the impression from these photos that the designer for Twilight saw the renderings for Buffy, snatched them up, made a photocopy, and added a do-hickey to the collar of the coat. Other than that, the hairstyle, the outfit, even the face shape (before David Boreanaz beefed up) are very much the same. So I suppose this answers the enduring question, “Where did they rip this new teen sensation off from?” Was the designer too busy doing something else, thus leading him or her to forget that there was a design meeting in about twenty minutes and necessitating the use of the photocopy machine? Was there some sort of budget cut on the set, thus making it so that they had to raid the Buffy storage closet to create a wardrobe for this guy? Or is this simply the product of un-creativity and the need to avoid risk by sticking with the completely familiar? After all, the main fan-base of this movie was what…7 when Buffy ended? Why would they recognize any of this?
(For the record, I’m going with the uncreative, studio churn-out explanation.)
Even the future-set Daybreakers, a shout out to several landmark vampire flicks, managed to make their crowd interesting in a subtle way. There’s a hint of gentility and sleekness present without going so far as to actually flip up any collars or show any fangs.
Sure, the black-and-red is a bit overdone and corny at this stage in the game. However, before it is smothered completely by the underwhelming look, and before the vampire genre loses its visual trump card thanks to this Twilight drivel, I propose a toast to the Bela cape in the form of a cocktail dress.
Why yes, that would be pen and nail polish…no paints in the new apartment, yet.
Annabel Wilde 