History Main / FrozenFashionSense

* In ''Film/WeAreTheNight'', Charlotte and Nora, who were a 1920s silent movie actress and a 1990s party girl, respectively, before they were turned, wear clothing and hairstyles matching those eras. However, this is averted with Louise, who is over 200 years old but wears modern fashions.

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/QueenOfTheDamned https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/queen_of_the_damned.jpg]]]]

* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': When the French vampire Lestat de Lioncourt arrives in New Orleans, his outfit is noticeably out-of-date compared to the American men's fashion of 1910, like he's still stuck in the previous century. Louis de Pointe du Lac (a [[SharpDressedMan snazzy dresser]]) later helps him to update his wardrobe.

So, VampiresAreRich, VampiresOwnNightClubs and VampiresAreSexGods.

This trope is becoming less and less popular for live-action features, since it's all but impossible to put a vampire in tights and a doublet in TheCity and take the character seriously. Or to avoid the FridgeLogic this trope entails, as period costume would presumably wear out after a few decades' use, and similar replacements would get increasingly hard to come by. Conversely, you almost never find a vampire wearing clothes from the 10-20-years-ago low point of the PopularityPolynomial that are considered dated but not yet retro.

* In ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'', Alucard preferred the Victorian era, most likely. Just with gaudy red and modern Gothic design. We do see him [[BadassInANiceSuit rocking a business suit]] at least once, though, and [[BadassLongcoat his red coat]] is pretty snazzy, too. His outfit when he was [[GenderBender a little girl]] during the 40's was also quite contemporary (for the time). He's also seen in what can only be called a BDSM leather outfit and [[spoiler:14th century plate armour when he's at Level Zero (or in other words: How he appeared as UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler)]].
* Mr. Shido from ''Anime/{{Nightwalker}}'' prefers Edwardian era clothing despite operating in the modern world.

* Throughout his early publication history, immortal caveman ''ComicBook/VandalSavage'' consistently dressed like an eighteenth century Englishman even though he was in the modern day.

* Though the 2001 film ''[[Film/TheBreed2001 The Breed]]'' is set in a dystopia TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, many characters dress in stereotypical 50s detective noir get-ups. (Though to be fair, this is not limited solely to the vampires.)
* Clara & Eleanor from ''Film/{{Byzantium}}'' dress in clothes that appear to be from the late 70s, early 80s. This may have been the last time they had money to purchase clothes.

* Averted in ''Film/TheLairOfTheWhiteWorm''. Lady Marsh is very fashionable and chic.
* Played with in the 1980s comedy ''Film/OnceBitten''. The Countess and her Dragon have a modern fashion sense, since the Countess needs fresh virgin blood every year to maintain her youth and beauty. So they are often out-and-about. But, many of the Countess's lesser vampires are stay-at-homes who still dress in their period appropriate attire (we see one wearing a Civil War-era uniform).
* As the page quote suggests, many vampires in the film ''Film/QueenOfTheDamned'' are wearing outfits that look like the Society for Creative Anachronism's best efforts, from the bizarre pseudo-belly dancer chic Pandora dons in the background to Akasha's interpretation of prehistoric Egyptian royalty's clothing. It partly makes sense with some of them, as a deleted scene shows them being woken up from who-knows-how-long slumber by Lestat's song. Like everything else in the movie, this doesn't match the book. This is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by Lestat (who is dressed as a rock-star) when he sees Marius wearing the same red velvet outfit as he did centuries ago, when he asks him how he managed to slip unnoticed through the past several decades wearing that.

* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' most of the Red Court of vampires dress in contemporary clothing, although they do have ancient {{Mayincatec}} outfits for ceremonial occasions. The White Court frequently dresses in the height of fashion, or at least what will be the height of fashion in a month, but appear particularly fond of catsuits. The Black Court isn't well represented, but the sole prominent member seen, Mavra, does tend towards ancient styles of dress. Seeing as she's also unmistakably a walking corpse, and can become invisible, there's not much point in keeping up to date. At one point Harry notices that her centuries out of date clothing is machine-made, so presumably she just likes the style.

* The ''Literature/KittyNorville'' series has vampires who go either route. Some dress contemporary, some dress affected to their timeframe. One dresses like an old time cowboy.

* This trope made a brief appearance on ''Buffy'''s spinoff, ''Series/{{Angel}}'', when an obnoxious, Creator/RatPack-era vampire from Las Vegas arrives in town for a museum heist.

* Similarly to their [[Film/WhatWeDoInTheShadows film]] counterparts, the main vampires in ''Series/WhatWeDoInTheShadows2019'' mostly wear the clothes from the time and place they became vampires. They also tend to wear very elaborate and fancy outfits an aristocrat may wear. Colin Robinson's fashion sense is also trapped out of time, with his milquetoast 50s-esque office worker attire.

* In ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'', this trope is in effect in Elysiums (places where vampires can gather and socialize). When they are, well, [[TheMasquerade masquerading]], they are pretty keen about not standing out. The physical appearance of vampires in V:tM is unchanging from the time they turned. This includes hairstyles -- their hair will not grow, but it also cannot be cut, nor can it be dyed. Tough luck if you had one of the more epic examples of EightiesHair when turned... Well, technically you ''can'' get a haircut and dye your hair and such. It's just that by the next night they will have restored to the situation they were in before anyway. This in itself comes in handy to cover your tracks, since nobody will assume that that guy over there with a full beard and long hair is very same person as the skinhead who wrecked your store yesterday. There's mention in one book of a hunter taking his apprentice into a bar and asking her to find the vampire. She pointed to the guy in 1800s attire. She was right.

* The higher ranking "New Shadows" faction in the game ''VideoGame/ChampionsOnline'' tend to dress in eighteenth-century clothes. The mooks dress in torn rags, and the Big Bad of the faction wears armor similar to, but sufficiently different from, the armor worn by Vlad Dracul during the back story of ''Film/BramStokersDracula''. And still wears it in a modern day New Orlea... err, Vibora Bay, that is.

* Although deriding the idea that vampires have an inate fashion sense, ''Literature/TheRhesusChart'' by Creator/CharlesStross does point out the difficulty that older vampires (who out of necessity are isolated from society, as well as being occult sorcerers more interested in research than interaction) have of fitting in with society as it changes around them (not just fashions but also the English language has changed over the past century). One vampire gets round this by training TheRenfield from every generation to act as his surrogate.

* Though the 2001 film ''Film/TheBreed2001'' is set in a dystopia TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, many characters dress in stereotypical 50s detective noir get-ups. (Though to be fair, this is not limited solely to the vampires.)

* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' most of the Red Court of vampires dress in contemporary clothing, although they do have ancient {{Mayincatec}} outfits for ceremonial occasions. The White Court frequently dresses in the height of fashion, or at least what will be the height of fashion in a month, but appear particularly fond of catsuits. The Black Court isn't well represented, but the sole prominent member seen, Mavra, does tend towards ancient styles of dress. Seeing as she's also unmistakably a walking corpse, and can become invisible, there's not much point in keeping up to date. At one point Harry notices that her centuries out of date clothing is machine made, so presumably she just likes the style.

** Mentioned in the first episode, where Buffy spots a vampire by his Seventies wardrobe and then dropped afterward for all but a very few vampires like Dracula and The Prince of Lies. A lot of the low level vampires tend to just wear the sort of clothes you grab off the rack - or, of course, take off people you kill.

** According to the pilot commentary, the original idea was the vampires eternally wear the clothes of the era they died in. This idea was swiftly dropped with the introduction of vampires centuries-old who pass for yuppies. The reason given in the commentary was that after seeing it in the pilot the creators realized it was stupid.

* Similarly to their [[Film/WhatWeDoInTheShadows film]] counterparts, the main vampires in ''Series/WhatWeDoInTheShadows'' mostly wear the clothes from the time and place they became vampires. Colin Robinson's fashion sense is also trapped out of time, with his milquetoast 50s-esque office worker attire.

* Though the 2001 film ''Film/TheBreed'' is set in a dystopia TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, many characters dress in stereotypical 50s detective noir get-ups. (Though to be fair, this is not limited solely to the vampires.)

* Mr. Shido from ''Nightwalker'' prefers Edwardian era clothing despite operating in the modern world.
* In ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'', Alucard preferred the Victorian era, most likely. Just with gaudy red and modern Gothic design. We do see him [[BadassInANiceSuit rocking a business suit]] at least once, though, and [[BadassLongcoat his red coat]] is pretty snazzy, too. His outfit when he was [[GenderBender a little girl]] during the 40's was also quite contemporary (for the time). He's also seen in what can only be called a BDSM leather outfit and [[spoiler:14th century plate armour when he's at Level Zero (or in other words: How he appeared as UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler)]].

* ''ComicBook/{{Preacher}}'': Subverted by Cassidy (who goes with casual wear, originally being a poor Irishman in the early 20th century) and Eccarius, who dresses up as a ClassicalMovieVampire despite vampires being completely different in the Preacher verse, being unable to transform or enthrall victims (and don't even need human blood to survive). Cassidy calls him out on his behavior.

* As the page quote suggests, many vampires in the film ''Film/QueenOfTheDamned'' are wearing outfits that look like the Society for Creative Anachronism's best efforts, from the bizarre pseudo-belly dancer chic Pandora dons in the background to Akasha's interpretation of prehistoric Egyptian royalty's clothing. It partly makes sense with some of them, as a deleted scene shows them being woken up from who-knows-how-long slumber by Lestat's song. Like everything else in the movie, this doesn't match the book. This is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by Lestat (who is dressed as a rock-star) when he sees Marius wearing the same red velvet outfit as he did centuries ago, when he asks him how he managed to slip unnoticed through the past several decades wearing that.
* Played with in the 1980s comedy ''Film/OnceBitten''. The Countess and her Dragon have a modern fashion sense, since the Countess needs fresh virgin blood every year to maintain her youth and beauty. So they are often out-and-about. But, many of the Countess's lesser vampires are stay-at-homes who still dress in their period appropriate attire (we see one wearing a Civil War-era uniform).

* The 1990 film ''Film/SundownTheVampireInRetreat'' takes this to an almost ridiculous extreme, where every vampire in the town is wearing clothes from when they were human, ranging from the villain Jefferson's Mayflower getup to the Old West hats and long coats sported by about a third of the cast.

* Clara & Eleanor from ''Film/{{Byzantium}}'' dress in clothes that appear to be from the late 70s, early 80s. This may have been the last time they had money to purchase clothes.

* In ''Film/TheFearlessVampireKillers'', Count von Krolock throws a [[VampireDance Midnight Ball]] for the previous generations of vampires from the castle. They attend in tattered finery from a variety of time periods ranging from the Middle Ages to the Regency.

* ''Literature/NightfallSeries'': Some vampires wear clothes from their human times. Most combine styles from all times and places they have experienced.

* The Literature/KittyNorville series has vampires who go either route. Some dress contemporary, some dress affected to their timeframe. One dresses like an old time cowboy.
* ''Literature/TheHollows'' has vampires who mainly dress contemporary rather than anachronistically.
* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' most of the Red Court of vampires dress in contemporary clothing, although they do have ancient {{Mayincatec}} outfits for ceremonial occasions. The White Court frequently dresses in the height of fashion, or at least what will be the height of fashion in a month, but appear particularly fond of catsuits. The Black Court isn't well represented, but the sole prominent member seen, Mavra, does tend towards ancient styles of dress. Seeing as she's also unmistakably a walking corpse, and can become invisible, there's not much point in keeping up to date. At one point Harry notices that her centuries out of date clothing is machine made, so presumably she just likes the style.
* Justified in ''Literature/TheVampireChronicles'', where Lestat explains that if vampires don't wear the clothing from the time period in which they were mortal, then they like to wear clothing that resembles such apparel; it's explained (in so many words) as psychologically comforting for the vampire. Lestat also claims that it's an excellent way to gauge a vampire's age; given that this is very much a StrongerWithAge world, it can help give another vampire a way to gauge the danger (i.e, if a vampire consistently wears clothing appropriate for Colonial or Elizabethan times or earlier, it's time to ''run'').

* Averted in, of all vampire novels, ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'', where the eponymous Count's attempts to prepare himself for his move to England explicitly include acquiring clothes in the latest fashionable English style he can get his hands on in order to blend in better.
* Although deriding the idea that vampires have an inate fashion sense, ''Literature/TheRhesusChart'' by Creator/CharlesStross does point out the difficulty that older vampires (who out of necessity are isolated from society, as well as being occult sorcerers more interested in research than interaction) have of fitting in with society as it changes around them (not just fashions but also the English language has changed over the past century). One vampire gets round this by training TheRenfield from every generation to act as his surrogate.

* This trope made a brief appearance on ''Buffy'''s spinoff, ''Series/{{Angel}}'', when an obnoxious, Creator/RatPack-era vampire from Las Vegas arrives in town for a museum heist.

* ''Series/BeingHumanUS'' has the vampire Elders who prefer to live among the Amish and dress as the Amish do. However, the Elders are 1000+ years old so for them that is already modern clothing.

* Though the 2001 film ''The Breed'' is set in a dystopia TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, many characters dress in stereotypical 50s detective noir get-ups. (Though to be fair, this is not limited solely to the vampires.)
* The 1990 film ''Sundown: The Vampire In Retreat'' takes this to an almost ridiculous extreme, where every vampire in the town is wearing clothes from when they were human, ranging from the villain Jefferson's Mayflower getup to the Old West hats and long coats sported by about a third of the cast.