This week’s Fashion Inspired by Art features three famous and Halloween-relevant works of art. Keep reading for three outfits inspired by these spooky highlights in art history!

Table of Contents

Outfit 1: The Scream

Edvard Munch painted The Scream between 1893 and 1910 CE. This tempura-on-cardboard version of The Scream, one of four versions that Munch created, remains the most well-known. In response to an episode that he experienced, Munch meant to paint the sky as a bloodied red. As for the aghast figure in the foreground of the painting, art historians suggest that Munch based him/her off of a mummy. A bloody and mummy-inspired painting seems quite appropriate for Halloween!

Outfit details: Dress, Hat, Bag, Boots, Scarf, Lip product

To tie in the darker elements of the painting, try out almost-black lips. This amazing lip cream from NYX, appropriately named “Transylvania,” is an affordable vampy lip option. The dark blue hat is inspired by the blackened cerulean of the painting’s background waters.

To accessorize, add a bucket bag in brownish-red, a color akin to Munch’s portrayal of a blood-filled sky. Either go with a longer silver necklace like what the model in the photo is wearing – or channel the fiery blend of the painting’s sky with a warm-toned scarf.

Outfit 2: Death and Life

Gustav Klimt created this oil-on-canvas painting in 1910. Death and Life depicts an allegory of the grim reaper watching over a cluster of humans, seemingly serene in peaceful shades of bright pastel. The humans, representing all age groups, symbolize life. 

Many early celebrations of Halloween, in history, reference a festival of the dead. Skeleton motifs, themes of mortality, and noting the seasons otherwise turning for the darker dominate traditional understandings of Halloween.