Costume in Dracula

Censorship shaped content, studios such as Universal were trying to satisfy the commercial imperatives of the studio while having some cultural commentary. The term "Dream Factory" describes Hollywood's capacity to create fantastical worlds that use lavish spectacle to pull viewers away from their harsh realities (Young). The alternative and imaginative world created by the horror and fantasy films of the Depression era offered viewers an escape from reality. The set design, makeup, and costume developed the narrative and produced dreamscapes. Ellie Slee states that, “it was escapism that would make Dracula [...]Universal’s most successful film of 1931”(Slee 33). Due to widespread concerns surrounding sexuality, which was a serious threat during the Depression, audiences in the 1930s were searching for an escape. By taking advantage of this anxiety, horror within film controlled the audience (Slee 33). These fears were taken from the original texts and encompassed within the film adaptations. "The books that were immortalized on-screen – Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818) and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897), for example – [...] is where these societal fears originally surfaced. (Slee 34) Yet, aesthetics serve a crucial role in the development of a narrative while concurrently enriching characters with depth within film. The costumes on display serve to both distinguish the various characters' identities and the transformations that occur.

(“Bela Lugosi as Dracula”)

The use of costume in Tod Browning’s 1930 adaptation of Dracula highlights how aesthetics can further enrich characters with depth.“Lugosi’s Count was an elegant, seductive foreign aristocrat instead of Stoker’s repulsive and physically very distinctive-looking vampire”( Saarenvesi 23). When an actor adopts an iconic role such as Dracula the audience has difficulty separating the character from his public persona, “therefore stars usually become known for the roles with which the audience finds it easy to identify ”(Hakola 79).

(Wadsworth)

The distinctive and encapsulating makeup highlighting his pale face and dark hair makes his character more inseparable. The acting simultaneously works with the make- up in a manner which leaves an unnerving impression on the audience with Lugosi’s intense gaze and monstrous nature. Lugosi’s sharp tailored suit encompasses his aristocratic nature yet we are aware of the underlying constructed monster that represents broader themes of corruption and disorder. “Tod Browning’s 1931 production is undoubtedly the most famous in the litany of Dracula adaptations, and its star, Bela Lugosi, the most memorable and influential of Dracula personages” (Wishingrad 53). Lugosi’s portrayal elevated his publicity as an actor and ultimately transformed him into a star. There is constriction within this stardom as Lugosi was unavoidably typecasted similar to Boris Karloff, “on the one hand they became stars because they fitted these monster role expectations and on the other hand the generic expectations moulded their stardom enormously” (Hakola 79).

(Movieclips)