Care for some fang-tastic fashion?

A brooding expression, smooth pale skin and dark clothes — sounds familiar? Well, spare a thought to the recent trend of vampire films that seem to have caught the fancy of all. In fact, look around and see how they’ve moved beyond the silver screen to the streets now. And yes, there’d be a rare woman who can resist the aura of the very vampirish, Edward Cullen aka Robert Pattinson.

Always impeccably dressed, the vampire look is no more a mystery. Timeless, comprising mostly of classic suits, plain sweaters, solid shirts and straight-cut jeans, the colour pallette is almost always very sober, with a lot of greys, deep reds, dark blues, browns and, of course, black.

“Red and black are colours that are very vampirish,” informs fashion designer Abhishek Dutta. In fact, a lot of international fashion houses have quite a range of edgy menswear that have been used in the Vampire Diaries series too. “I’d classify the vampire look as very elegant, passionate and seductive — not just based on the looks, but also on the way one presents themselves,” Abhishek states.

Fashion designer Paresh Lamba, who is also caught up with the vampire rage, says, “The Twilight series is responsible for fanning the fire. In fact, personally, I’m inspired by Dracula right now and this inspiration can be seen in my latest collection, which has a lot of upright and pointed collars.” And the best thing about the vampire trend is that it is not restricted to just Westernwear. “I have also used stiff lapels on sherwanis on a number of occasions,” he adds.

Even Abhishek vows by the stand-up collar look, that originated from the man himself — Count Dracula. “The high collar, pointed shoes, long jackets and the tapered look are all synonymous with the vampire style and has been quite an inspiration for many a fashion enthusiast,” he offers. What makes it even better is that the lengthy warm coats most often seen on vampires make for great winterwear too.

Moving on to accessories, the Salvatore brothers have always been seen sporting their family crest ring, but apart from that, the lesser the accessories, the better. Even the hairdo plays a crucial role when it comes to resembling Edward Cullen and his oh-so-famous long, dirty spikes and sideburns. “Getting the complete look right is as important as wearing the right clothes — and that’s why the gelled hairdo gives one an appearance of a Goth,” says Paresh.

It’s definitely no everyday fashion, hence your best bet would be designerwear. As Abhishek suggests, “Designers like Narendra Kumar Ahmed have exclusive collections based on the vampire look. In fact, even I’ve worked on the same look for a particular season.” But not to fret, there are more reasonable options too. “Commercial Street in Bangalore or even a Fashion Street in Mumbai are the ideal places to get a mix-n-match of clothes for the vampire look,” says model Arry Dabas, who seems to be quite drawn in by the look and sports a similar hairdo too.

While vampire fashion is no longer restricted to Halloween parties, Arry adds, “The year end is a great time for fun themed parties, where one can walk in dressed like a vampire.” So, while there’s plenty of options to take this look a notch higher, irrespective of your supernatural ability, get going and embrace the evil in you.