Remember the fashion from Interview with a Vampire? The visually sweeping 1994 American gothic horror vampire film based on Anne Rice’s iconic novels is the kind of film that stays with you for hours after you finish watching it; the kind of movie that haunts your collectively consciousness forever. The enigmatic, romantic, and at times, strangely humorous and emotional film is worth a watch even if you don’t like vampire content, but even more so, because the fashion from Interview with a Vampire is incredible evocative.
Costume designer Sandy Powell is responsible for the spellbinding fashion we see in Interview with a Vampire. Part of what makes the outfits so incredible in this film is the opulence–the so-lush-you-can-almost-feel-them-through-the-screen fabrics, the rich jewel tones, the sensorial embroidery, ascots and ruffles of it all! “Interview with a Vampire travels through time so I got the opportunity to dress Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in many different looks but the costumes are pretty much accurate for the 18th century period,” she told Marie Claire UK.
And don’t forget Brad Pitt’s luscious hair–credit to the hair designer of the film, but a spectacular detail that was ever as effective as the clothing itself. The hair and makeup process reportedly took over three hours per day, with the makeup team hand-painting dreamlike veins onto the actors faces.
Perhaps most memorable in the film is the striking blue gown Claudia (Kirsten Dunst) wore. Powell created the miniature 1870s evening gown for the character to wear after she killed Lestat, who dressed her as a childlike, dainty porcelain doll. After she got rid of him, her other father let her dress in a more adult aesthetic (after all, in the film, she’s a 70-ish-year-old vampire stuck in the body of a child). The gown represents her true inner self and is done in the style of 1920s Parisian fashions of the time.
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