Five Most Stylish Halloween Costumes From Film and Television

 2021 has been a great year for Halloween costumes in film and TV. Squid Games, Pennywise from 'It', Money Heist and Tiger King all provided great, easily recognisable characters that wore outfits that were easy to reproduce and have fun with.  

But Halloween doesn't have to be all brightly coloured jumpsuits, Joker costumes and Scream masks.  There's plenty of stylish inspiration to be had from television and horror films. Here are my top 5 ever best dressed characters from TV and film's horror vaults.

5 Carrie

Carrie, just before her soaking

Stephen King's 'Carrie' is 70s horror classic. Clothing in the film is used to highlight Carrie's transformation from repressed, chaste schoolgirl to a sexually awakened young woman. From the first scene, we know that Carrie isn’t like other girls. While they do PE class in tight shirts and shorts pulled up high, she’s hiding in the back in frumpy, unfitted clothes, her long hair covering her face. While her classmates wear flares, peasant blouses, make-up and the big blowout hair of the day, Carrie’s high school clothes consist of dowdy woollen cardigans, long dresses and white knee socks. This total plainness is what makes her prom transformation so remarkable: with the help of a friendly teacher, she’s put on make-up, curled her hair and is even showing a little cleavage in her infamous pale pink silk dress. 

Throughout the film, Carrie’s clothing is childlike – it’s deliberately unfashionable and unflattering, designed to keep her as innocent as possible and give her prom transformation maximum impact. For her mother, clothes and emerging womanhood are intimately tied to sinfulness – “Take off that dress, we’ll burn it together and pray for forgiveness,” she demands as she sizes up her daughter as she’s about to go to the dance, saying she can see Carrie’s “dirty pillows” (her breasts). The most important line in this scene? “I might’ve known it would be red,” her mother says of the gown, despite the fact it’s actually a shade of palest pink.  The pink of the gown makes a perfect backdrop for the river of blood running down it, combining allusions of female sexuality with the horror of death. Carrie’s mother believes in a particularly violent and bloody form of Christian evangelicism and she has raised Carrie to believe that her own body, her own desires are sinful and dangerous. As the film shows – Mrs White’s words will have an eerie resonance come the end of the night, when pranking teens pour pigs’ blood all over her daughter (and are promptly slaughtered by Carrie's telekinetic powers in a red-hued scene). 

What to wear: Carrie's look is so iconic and so easy to emulate - a pale pink slip dress, long straight strawberry blond wig, glittering crown and masses of fake blood. And maybe a bucket for a handbag???

4 American Horror Story, The Countess Elizabeth

Lady Gaga as Countess Elizabeth, AHS

There are so many iconic looks one could take from American Horror Story: Coco St. Pierre Vanderbilt, Ramona Royale, Hypodermic Sally. Perhaps she's the most obvious, but Lady Gaga's 'The Countess', is easily the clear winner in the fashion stakes. The Countess is a 112 year old vampire and owner of Hotel Cortez.

 Lady Gaga herself shares that she and Costume Designer Lou Eyrich worked "really closely together" on The Countess' fashion, with designers who previously worked with Gaga sending in pieces in the hopes of them making the production. However, the final costume choices came down to "AHS" creator and showrunner Ryan Murphy, who looked through "hundreds and hundreds" of outfits pitched to him by both Eyrich and Gaga's teams and then handpicked a staggering "50 to a hundred gowns from each batch,". Lady Gaga also loaned the show some gorgeous Versace pieces from her personal collection. 

On her character's sartorial choices, Gaga shares, "The Countess is an extremely complicated character. Lou and I spent time looking at the clothes, reading the script, and talking about how I feel about the character. Because fashion is such an important part of my life, it's hard for me to put clothes on for no reason."

The team's meticulous efforts certainly paid off, with The Countess' looks being one of the highlights of the show.

One of The Countess' principal murder weapons is an article of clothing -- a terrifying-looking crystal encrusted glove that she uses to slit the throats of her victims.  'The Countess' killing glove'. The elaborate piece was the result of three months of planning and collaboration between Eyrich and jewellery designer Michael Schmidt.

In creating The Countess' look, Murphy instructed Eyrich to draw inspiration from old Hollywood glamour, but give it a modern twist. "It's always a challenge when he gives me those broad strokes, but at the same time I knew exactly what he was talking about," says Eyrich. Ultimately, MGM costume designer Adrian and artist Daphne Guinness became touchstones for The Countess' elegant style, with accessories helping the looks span across the character's century-plus lifespan.

"If it's a modern dress, we'll do vintage jewellery from a costume house, like old rhinestone necklaces and bracelets," Eyrich says. "And then if it's a vintage dress, we'll put new fresh jewellery and big clunky rings and a cool Alaia boot to update it and make it more modern."

What to wear: The Countess look requires you to go old Hollywood Glamour - perfect platinum blond bouffanted hair,   a bold shoulder padded dress with a fantastic diamante brooch, and of course, those murder gloves.

3 Midsommar

The creepy commune of 'Midsommar'.

Sometimes it's not the obviously creepy Freddy Krueger horror outfits that are the most frightening, but the innocent, slightly off-kilter, 'wholesomeness gone wrong' looks that inspire the biggest scares. Think of the creepy twin sisters in Stephen King's 'The Shining. Intrinsically, nothing scary about twins in blue smock dresses and buckle shoes.  Similarly, the Swedish peasant dresses of Midsommar are not scary in themselves. Rather it is the notion of innocence corrupted that gives the film it's fright factor. The commune that the main characters go to in 'Midsommar' at first glance seems so lovely and joyful. Similarly, the clothes that the creepy members of the community wear are beyond beautiful. As Vogue magazine points out, 'They're so good, it's scary'. 

Midsommar is the story of a couple who travel to Sweden to visit their friend's rural hometown for its fabled midsummer festival, but what begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult.

At first glance, this “commune” seems so lovely, so joyful, is what gives the film its scare factor. The realness is there, even if it’s masked by freaky, made-up Scandi folklore. It’s also in the costumes, because the clothes that the creepy members of this community wear on camera are more beautiful than both the way that Midsommar is filmed and its bucolic landscape. In a nutshell: They’re so good, it’s scary. The crisp white embroidered cotton frocks on both the women and the men are based on classic Swedish Midsommar costume.

Costume Designer, Andrea Flesch explains: Overall, "Ari(the director)'s  vision was to have the Hårga community all dressed in white, both men and women, and wearing floral garland crowns — a symbol of rebirth and fertility — which is traditionally worn in Sweden during midsummer celebration," explains Flesch, about the starting point of the nine rituals. 

"We added a new color with each ceremony: blue for the Ättestupan ceremony, green with the little boy's pine dress for the Lake ceremony and red for the animal sacrifice," explains Flesch. The primary hues of red, blue and yellow all speak back to traditional Swedish folk clothing. "The colors culminate in the Maypole dance ceremony. The girls dancing around the tree wear various colors: red, green, blue, yellow. The colors became even more intense in the final scene as the Hårga wear their most festive attire for the celebration of their May Queen."

The concept for the flower-covered, full-body May Queen dress was made of 10,000 fake flowers Flesch explained that the constrictive nature of the dress made it difficult for actress Frances Pugh to move. The actress' s physical torment at the end was genuine 'This was good because she really couldn't move either way in it. But that was the goal.'

What to wear: Pretty peasant dress in white and red, or covering yourself in fake flowers. You decide.

2 Young Frankenstein Madeline Kahn 

Madeline Kahn in Young Frankenstein

Madeline Kahn's Bride of Frankenstein deserves an honourary mention as one of the great comic Halloween movie costumes. It's all in the hair and make up (after she marries the monster and transforms her hairstyle to that of the female monster in 'The Bride of Frankenstein'. That fabulous two tone flaming red  and white streaked frizzy wig, which inspired Magenta's style years later in the Rocky Horror Picture show (and probably Cruella de Ville and Daphne Guinness while we're at it) is probably one of the greatest hairstyles ever committed to the silver screen. The outfit - a white ankle length 1930s nightgown  and matching dressing gown is equally glamorous and flamboyant.

What to wear: It's all in the hair.

1 Rosemary, Rosemary's Baby

Rosemary, Rosemary's Baby

The psychological horror film, directed by Roman Polanski, follows Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow), a pregnant lady living on New York's Upper West Side who believes her husband has pledged to deliver her unborn child to their super-creepy neighbours for a peculiar ritual sacrifice in a weird Faustian deal to bolster his ailing acting career. Despite her stomach aches, strange vitamin beverages, and terrible nightmares, Rosemary maintains her sartorial flair throughout the movie. Her style is authentically 1960s, with everything from Peter Pan collars and Breton caps to stylish leather satchels and patterned shift dresses. 

The mix of bold colours and timeless designs deem Mia Farrow's character, Rosemary Woodhouse, a style icon. 

Baby blues, pastel yellows Peter Pan collars and Mary Janes, Rosemary's style is classic and feminine with voluminous shapes. What makes Rosemary's clothing so iconic is its girly without being fussy or complicated. 

Farrow's fragile portrayal as Rosemary is flawless, and as the film's momentum mounts, the atmosphere becomes increasingly oppressive as Rosemary's options dwindle. 

Rosemary is shown as a sweet and innocent young woman who maintains her innocence in the face of adversity. Her style effectively reflects this. 

Throughout the film, Rosemary wears short babydoll-style dresses, which enhance her already young appearance. Her dresses are composed of light pastel hues, mainly blue and yellow, which were not only prominent fashion colours at the time, but also popular colours for newborn baby boys clothes at the time.   

 One great aspect about the film, fashion-wise, is that it spans all four seasons, which means it's packed with '60s styles that are appropriate throughout the year.  Rosemary's winter ensembles are particularly timeless. 

When Ira Levin wrote the novel Rosemary's Baby in 1967, he had no idea the influence it would have on the world of fashion. A truly frightening thriller that explores the occult and gender stereotypes of the age, Roman Polanski transformed it into a film in 1968 — and his subsequent sartorial success has impacted designers ranging from Miuccia Prada to Marc Jacobs. Rather than succumb to the gothic, witchy look prevalent in so many horror films, he enlisted costume designer Anthea Sylbert to, as she stated, put viewers at their ease, thus making the impact of the storytelling more frightening. 

""Roman said to me, 'Let's make 'em think we're doing a Doris Day movie," Sylbert remembered in Designing Movies: Portrait of a Hollywood Artist. "He wanted everything to look ordinary. People are put at ease by ordinary, and in fact, are put at ease by garish. He didn't want anything in the film to seem sinister. " Thus, protagonist Mia Farrow was dressed in sweet 1960s garb, while her villainous neighbours wore gaudy decorations, and the result was undeniably spectacular. 

Costume designer Anthea Sylbert created Mia's clothes herself – presumably easier than repurchasing three-year-old cutting-edge couture – to evocatively portray this revolutionary fashion era. Rosemary's hemlines purposefully rise throughout the film, paralleling her futile attempts to express her independence from the witch coven that surrounds her. 

When we first meet Rosemary, she is dressed in a white shift dress and carrying a matching quilted bag as she visits the apartment she and her husband would eventually move into. She embodies girlish charm, doe-eyed and naive. Throughout the film's first act, she maintains clothing in subdued pastels - light blue coupled with white (the Virgin Mary's colours) becomes an especially recognisable combination. Later in the film, right before she is raped and pregnant with the devil's offspring, she wears an oversized crimson trousersuit that engulfs her fragile body. The colour is a marked contrast from her previous selections — and its significance is difficult to overlook. 

The Devil red hue alludes to Mia's imminent demonic encounter, but the loose fit emphasises her delicate, body and innocence. The shoes are a more sophisticated nighttime version of Mia's omnipresent ballet pumps, which she wears in practically every scene. 

This costume is reminiscent of something Ossie Clark might have designed. It incorporates several of his characteristic motifs, including a deep v-neck, bell sleeves, waist layering, and extensive use of chiffon; it is fashioned in a light, gracefully feminine manner. The sleek, no-waist tailoring also has a Mary Quant feel to it, since it is a typical aspect of her signature front-zipped shift dresses. 

When a pregnant Rosemary gets home, she proudly displays her new pixie cut to her husband, declaring it "Vidal Sassoon. Very in." . He later tells her, "If you want the truth, honey, that was the worst mistake you ever made" – her attempt to reclaim control over a body that is slipping further and further out of her control (not only due to her pregnancy, but also due to her evil obstetrician and the assortment of "herbal" concoctions her neighbour is pressuring her into drinking) is abruptly condemned. 

When Rosemary's buddy Hutch dies mysteriously, she attends his funeral dressed in what can only be regarded as the finest mourning suit ever. In a monochrome cross-hatched babydoll with billowing chiffon sleeves and a Peter Pan neckline. This is her last moment of innocence before she realises the horrible fate about to befall her. The innocence of the style contrasting with the foreboding of the black . 

Rosemary's Baby (1968) is the ideal fashion film set in the mid-1960s. John Cassavetes, her co-star, also wears some fantastic outfits, including vibrant turtlenecks, sports coats, and even a groovy blue Penguin polo shirt. Unsurprisingly, Mia owns all the nicest outfits — and the chiffon trouser suit in brilliant blood red is one of my favourites.

What to wear: Rosemary in her baby blue nightie, Vidal Sasson strawberry blond pixie crop and a (fake) kitchen knife.