Cautionary Women

When Anne Rice released Queen of the Damned, the third in the Vampire Chronicles, in 1988, no one would have thought that a real music star would portray the titular character in a movie adaptation. After all, it was Lestat, the antihero of the novel, who dabbled in a music career, not Akasha, the progenitor of all vampires in the Anne Rice universe.  But Aaliyah, in her last starring role, really made the character her own. As Akasha, the R&B star was, ahem, "At Her Best," comporting herself like a regal serpent, her movements blurring the boundaries between movie and music video.  Anne truly left earth with one of the most bloody brilliant creations to grace fiction. Now that it's that time of the year, let's pay respect to the mother of all vampires, Queen Akasha of Kemet.  Akasha headdress Akasha's crowning glory doesn't require precious stones from primordial Egypt at all. Just be your bad crafty self.  Here's the paper plate route: This one invol...

Krysten Ritter trades superhero Jessica Jones for supervillain Natacha in Netflix's Nightbooks Krysten Ritter's costumes in Netflix's 2021 Halloween smash "Nightbooks" were, no pun intended, eye candy. In this modern stab at a well-known fairytale, most of the costume changes are the "Jessica Jones" alum's sweet burden to bear. Her character Natacha is, in her words, a "goth Barbie" who switches up her outfits almost as often as the hero Alex tells scary stories.  Let's see how you can steal children her look:  Natacha costume Image via List23 If a witch has gone punk rock, that's Natacha for you. This sorceress knows which outfits are the most spellbinding, and viewers would agree that her pearl cage neckpiece is one of the most bewitching yet. She paired this with pink platform boots that would shame the Spice Girls. For this outfit, simply pair a black long-sleeve dress with this pearl body chain bra .  You might not know this ...

Image via plotchickens To see dozens of Jobu Tupakis, you need not jump around the multiverse. Just go to your local Halloween party this year.  It's the "Everything Everywhere All at Once" effect. The movie has really secured its legacy by becoming the highest-grossing movie for A24, the company behind "Moonlight" and "Hereditary."  But for a movie predicated on so much world-building through fashion, the Michelle Yeoh starrer surprisingly spent less than you think on costumes. As the movie's rock-star costume designer Shirley Kurata told Soho House , the budget for the movie was "probably the cost of one Marvel costume." The multiplicity of the multiverse really comes alive in the person of Jobu Tupaki, played by Stephanie Hsu who felt at home in the Gotham-like fashion sensibilities of the villainess. Hsu flits from alter ego to alter ego in wardrobe changes that include a white Elvis-like jumpsuit; a teddy-bear-sleeved Jeremy Scott ja...