No, this isn’t an article on stop-motion and Plasticine…
The London Film Festival was kicked off in style last week with the newest offering from Tim Burton – Frankenweenie. Cast and crew were in full monochrome attendance at the premiere, and amongst them were models dressed in a Burtonesque style.
Tim Burton’s characters, particularly the female ones, tend to be rather tall and spindly; they are pale-skinned, dark-haired and big eyed. The influence of German Expressionism (a highly stylized way of filmmaking) on Tim Burton’s films can be seen through the angular form of his characters. Generally wearing black and white, with the occasional dark red or purple, there are obvious gothic tendencies to their style.
The models that were dressed as if in a Burton film emphasized the clear vision that he has as a director and perhaps the unwitting influence he has on what real people wear. All the models wore black and white stripes, a Burton mainstay and a pattern that goths have taken into their wardrobe wholeheartedly. Recently, with the trend of “Luxe Goth” hitting the catwalk, this has become more popular along with cross and skull motifs. Apart from the stripes, they wore block monochrome with clean lines — they looked almost like they belonged in a cartoon, further emphasized by the big hypno-glasses they were wearing. All of them wore the goth staple of big, black pointy boots, finishing their outfits off in perfect alternative style.
The models’ hair was dark, of course, and referenced not only a Burton style but also Bride of Frankenstein. A couple of the models had white zigzags in their tall black hair like the bride herself.
The models showed off the instantly recognizable gothic style that Burton has to a tee in his films, but were the models there to bring his onscreen characters to life, to celebrate the influence of Burton on alternative style, or to polish up goths and make the style more palatable for wider society?
