They ate.
Listen — if you’re going to be soaked in blood, please make sure it goes with your outfit.
Lee and Maren from Bones & All (2022)
It certainly helps the aesthetic vision of this film that both main characters are played by people who otherwise belong in modeling campaigns. Director Luca Guadagnino has been commended for his decision to dye Mike Faist’s hair blond for his role in Challengers. It seems to me Guadagnino has an eye for hair — as I’d argue the raggedy mullet that Timothée Chalamet sports in Bones & All, with the grown-out hot pink curls, is an equally inspired choice. Lee (Chalamet) and Maren (Taylor Russell) both have wardrobes that strike you as authentic and individualistic. They look just like teenage runaways in their familiar denims, off-white jersey tops, flannel button-ups, and oversized canvas coats. Pale pinks and soft florals lend these two cannibals an innocent touch. Maren’s brown lace-up boots and Lee’s cowboy hat are the perfect leather details. Everything feels worn-in and precious — like these are really the only few clothes they carry with them, on their lonely adventure through the American Midwest. 8.0
Hannibal Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
When we first see Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) in The Silence of the Lambs, he’s wearing something, to put it in a kind way, bland. If you put a Lucy & Yak logo on his forest-green jumpsuit you wouldn't be able to escape it in your local coffee shop. But after Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) walks past all the depraved and sick criminals that line the hallway before Lecter, his appearance seems instead unsettlingly clean and put-together. Lecter spends most of the film in these clinical get-ups. His white T-shirt and white trouser combination strikes me as incredibly chic and well-fitted, but the bright orange jumpsuit the FBI put him in for his transfer is egregious. I can only imagine he’d agree with me — if he could fully express himself through his iconic plastic and metal muzzle. Of course, you can’t talk about things Hannibal Lecter wears without mentioning his most iconic accessory. I wonder if there were any moisturizing properties to his unconventional face mask. During the ending scene of the film, Lecter is wearing a quite dashing oatmeal-coloured linen suit, with both matching shirt and tie. He pops a straw-coloured fedora on his head — sometimes a man just wants to wear a hat. All in all, not too bad for a guy who was behind bars almost the whole runtime. 6.9
Jennifer Check from Jennifer’s Body (2009)
She eats boys and looks good doing it. Jennifer (Megan Fox) has not one but two iconic oft-replicated looks; one is her iconic Baby Gap heart zip-up hoodie, and the other is her blood-soaked bridal-esque prom dress. I’d argue that Jennifer’s purple-and-yellow cheerleading uniform and her concert outfit — with the denim mini skirt and cropped puffer jacket — should also receive some attention. Jennifer’s outfits serve more as a juxtaposition to her gorey ways — the perfect girl-next-door drenched in blood. It’s not until her prom outfit that Jennifer starts looking like something more supernatural and ghostly, yet there’s something tragic about it still. The idea of Jennifer once having planned to wear her pretty white dress to Prom and now attending being turned into something she did not wish to be and cannot control is surprisingly tragic, for an anti-hero whose last words are: “My tit”. Big silver hoops, pink lipgloss, a heart locket, and a flip-up phone make this cannibal a teenage dream. 7.7
Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Love the detail of his graphic tie. The apron is understandably a practical decision, though I feel a lost opportunity for some colour blocking. Would love it if we could see some of the whimsy of the tie injected into other areas of Leatherface’s outfit. Perhaps a patterned shirt, a la Lisa Says Gah. And although I won’t judge the whole wearing-someone-else’s-face-on-your-face thing he has going on, I think a quick brush through the hair would do some wonders for the overall impression. 5.5
The Girls from Yellowjackets (2021)
For some reason, in my mind, the girls from Yellowjackets and The Last Dinner Party are the same people. I don’t know why, exactly, but it implies something quite sinister regarding this last dinner party they are having. For (spoiler alert!) eating their friend Jackie, the stranded girls in Yellowjackets imagine themselves as having dressed up in white ceremonial garb for a Grecian feast. This is, of course, not what they actually look like when devouring their friend (and team captain) in the raw wilderness. This delusion strikes me as profoundly relatable. Who hasn’t had a sip of wine with closed eyes to pretend they are on holiday in a French wine district? I like the gold details and draping on their robes, and I like that all the girls are wearing different iterations of a similar outfit — no embarrassing, accidental matching in my Greek banquet fantasy. Their flowing hair and gold-leaf accessories add to the regal antiquity feel. And while the outfits strike me as slightly costume-y, I guess this can be forgiven as after all, well, it is a fantasy. 6.5 🌀
Olivia Linnea Rogers is a Norwegian-British writer, fringe enthusiast, film watcher, and poet, if you're lucky. Based in London. She can obviously be found online on Instagram (@olivialinnearogers) and Twitter (@olivialinrogers).