A VINTAGE HALLOWEEN

This Halloween we delved into the archive to interpret some of our favourite horror movies with distinctive iconography, with the hope to reference these films with garments only. Horror films quickly gain cult status, and this is in part through the clothes donned by the characters.

 

An American Werewolf in London
(1981) Dir: John Landis

David and Jack are seen at the top of movie wandering through the Yorkshire Moors in backpacks and feather down jackets, a jacket made to protect them from the cold, but not from what is lurking under the glow of the full moon. We’ve interpreted David’s bright red one – one that made him an easy target in the dark moors – with this Mountain Equipment jacket. The standoffish punters come to save David, ‘hunting’ the wolf in wax and tweed, which we’ve depicted in the back of the frame.

 

The Shining
(1980) Dir: Stanley Kubrik

A distinguishing part of The Shining is it’s colour palette, of autumnal and muted tones. At the beginning of the film, Jack is pictured only wearing green, and after he dreams of murdering his wife and son, he wears his iconic red jacket. This jacket mimics the red on the key to Room 237, the scrawl in lipstick spelling out ‘Redrum’, and of course the blood seen flooding of the lift doors – it also ensures he sticks out against the white snow that isolates them in the hotel.

For Danny we referenced his baby blue ‘Apollo 11’ graphic knit with this blue cardigan depicting little planes. Wendy wore many outfits throughout the film, often dungarees, but we loved this Mexican tourist jacket – perhaps suggesting she was dreaming of being anywhere but this cold hotel in the Rocky mountains.

 

Alien
(1979) Dir: Ridley Scott

We wanted to reference a scary sci-fi, and of course, it had to be Ridley Scott’s Alien. Our archive is filled with military jackets and flight suits, such as the RAF ventile one pictured front and centre, which would have been used as inspiration for the costume departments, and of course we referenced Harry Dean Stanton’s iconic aloha shirt.

The alien costume – which in the movies was worn by 26-year old Bolaji Badejo, who stood tall at 6’10” – is corporeal and skeletal. The symmetrical tubes that line our incredible British Military flight suit also feels anatomical, and perfectly references the extra-terrestrial appearance of sci-fi characters.