The Lady is a Vamp

With Halloween around the corner, everyone is sinking their teeth into the latest Vampire craze to sweep planet fashion. Lace leggings and jet black jewels gilded the catwalks of Rodarte, Rick Owen and Roksanda Ilincic this season, with Brit designer Gareth Pugh producing an equally dramatic line at Paris Fashion Week.

Vampires are everywhere; from TV shows, to novels, to box office hits, our love for the undead has permeated culture as we know it. Twilight, the biggest cult film of the decade, made over $70 million in its opening weekend. And it was only a matter of time before the fashion world took a bite.

A hit with the more daringly dressed, Vampire Goth has reached the wardrobes of pop icons Lady Gaga (channeling a sexy and slightly scary vampire for OUT magazine) and Rihanna, who’s been rocking the vamp look with blood-red lips, bustiers and even arachnid jewellery. Proving that not everyone suits vampire chic, Peaches Geldof hit New York Fashion Week in a number of truly horrific ensembles, sporting recklessly ripped tights and a bizarre white face that radiated ‘ghoul’ rather than glamorous Goth.

To avoid looking like you’re in fancy dress, keep it classy with high collars, vintage pieces and lashings of embellishment. A standard-bearer of the trend is Rodarte, who shows us Vamp-Goth at its best with a collection of draped chiffon, glossy feathers, and fabulous patent stilettos for - of all seasons - happy-go-lucky spring. Prints were romantic yet mysterious, the pieces striking yet deliciously wearable; allowing us all to embrace the darker side of fashion.

"There are magazines that emphasize fashion to die for, the dark side - like ID's September issue: It was all vampy and gothic," explains fashion historian Valerie Steele. Curator of a new show at the Fashion Institute of Technology entitled "Gothic: Dark Glamour", Steele believes that the Transylvania moment has been returning, slowly, since the millennium flipped. "The vampy thing is immensely sexy, but it's always going to be a minority taste - most people are more into the sunshine kind of feeling," says Steele, chuckling. "But minority taste will emerge periodically in reaction to all that banal, let's-be-cheery stuff."

The vampire lifestyle, it turns out, is accessible to all, Twilight fan or no. To inject some vampiric sexiness into your wardrobe after Halloween’s been and gone, opt for glossy black and purple hues, and bag yourself some killer heels – for nothing says vamp like a pair of knee high stiletto boots. Wooden stake and garlic optional.