Twilight

MODELS LANEY ZINN, CARSON FRAIR, JOSH WANG

ART DIRECTOR TAHOE MACK PHOTOGRAPHED BY CHASE EMERY WRITTEN BY MICA DELGADO DESIGNER ELLIE NICOLL

The idealization of romance versus the lived experience.

As long as I can remember, Y2K fashion as a whole was defined by blinged out outfits, luxurious athleisure (I’m still looking for a Juicy Couture track suit) and lots of bright colors and iconic patterns. Across many platforms, especially TikTok, I’ve found I’m not alone in buying into the bold, glitter glam aesthetic stereotypes of Y2K. All over my “for you” page I see Gen-Z creators creating content featuring “Y2K Outfits” or “Y2K Fashion Inspo”. Many of these videos have a lot in common, showcasing iconic fashions like the Juicy Couture track suit, Ed Hardy’s bedazzled graphic tees, and Paris Hiltonesque miniskirt fits.

What about the opposite side of Y2K fashion? Moody, modern Victorian aesthetics, layered silhouettes, and iconic staples like Chuck Taylor Converse. While this may not be the side of Y2K brought to popularity in social media, this doesn’t mean it lacks its own claim to fame. One of the best unintentional icons of the Y2K time era, the Twilight franchise shows off a range of staple looks and trends while simultaneously using them to the characters’ advantage to highlight their dynamics throughout the films.

Moody protagonist Bella Swan is the perfect example of the realm of layers & practicality when it comes to fashion. A lot of the same trends of the time that Bella followed in the series are coming back into fashion now; a quick google search of “bella swan fashion” generates millions of results describing how to dress like her or deriving inspiration from her outfits. Bella’s outfit of layered tops and low rise jeans from her introduction scene screams both Y2K in general, but also a great indication of her outfits to follow throughout the rest of the series. Throughout the series, Bella dons lots of similar staples like flannels, layered tee shirts, and casual classics like Converse. Bella’s style gives her an earthy, girl-next-door type of vibe throughout the course of the franchise. Bella Swan’s character was one of the first massively popular portrayals of a strong, interesting, beautifully perceived character who wasn’t being dressed to the early 2000’s stereotype of the carefully coordinated, ultra femme main character. Bella Swan proved to a generation of young women & femmes that practicality and comfort can coexist with beauty and strength.

Edward Cullen, Bella’s main love interest, reflects a very outwardly formal appearance in line with his broody, mysterious character. We see at least a touch of Edward’s style is very clean cut; he wears a lot of chinos and straight, super dark jeans. Though he’s supposed to be blending in with early 2000’s high schooler students, he frequently dons button up shirts and the same grey peacoat.

Though the Cullen’s all have their own distinct styles, they all convey a similar sort of formality and timelessness. The signature blue hue of the film accentuates the pale skin of the vampire clan and attributes even more to their cool, almost aloof image above the more humanly characters of Twilight. Their entire aesthetic image, while coming across as fairly modern, is all directly related to their identity of being a vampire. In a lot of ways, it also serves as a major contrast to other characters in the movie.

The disconnect between Bella’s down to earth, practical exterior with Edward’s classy, almost clinically clean look is more than just fashion deep. The juxtaposition of their very different fashion tastes only highlights the underlying deep differences between their separate identities of vampire and human. The Cullens as a whole have a similar aesthetic relationship with other characters in the film, such as the werewolf pack. Pack members like Jacob Black wear a lot of well worn, practical clothing. Their style lines up well with their rugged, werewolf image and similar to Bella gives them a slightly more secular feeling. This difference really highlights the juxtaposition of the wild werewolf and the almost supernatural vampire.

Many qualities of the movie’s aesthetic as a whole lend to highlighting the differences between these characters, but the setting of the film enhances all of the characters as a whole. Forks, Washington, where most of the Twilight film series was shot, is located on the Olympic peninsula of Washington. Many people from outside of the state have no clue that the Olympic peninsula is home to the Hoh rainforest, one of the largest temperate rainforests in the U.S. This explains much of the dense fog and old growth forest that plays backdrop for much of Twilight. Not only are the woods of Twilight pretty to look at, but adds an extra air of mystery on top of all of the supernatural already present in the film. The Cullens blend right into the foggy forests, and they serve as the main dwelling grounds for the wolf pack. Bella and her Arizona roots at first stick out like a cold, sore thumb but as we see her fall more in love with Edward, we see her grow into the land around her as well.

Without ever realizing it, the intentional choices about the fashion and environment of the Twilight movies enhanced our perception of them so masterfully that the movie is still wildly relevant over a decade after the release of the first film. The trend cycle has begun to bring back many of the early 2000’s trends, but some of the aspects of Twilight never left. Anyone still have their Team Edward or Team Jacob shirt? If not, you’re in luck as many online retailers still offer versions of the shirt, even if it may be a little bit of an ironic sense (hello camp fashion!). Whether you’re Team Edward or Team Jacob, everyone within the reach of the Twilight franchise can agree on one thing: the movies wouldn’t be nearly as iconographic without the masterful use of fashion and aesthetics to highlight the many complex dynamics of Twilight.