Theda Bara and her style: The vamp’s influence on fashion (1915–25)

In January, 1915 Theda Bara slinked onto movie screens; her femme fatale character became known as the vampire or ‘vamp’. Typecast from the start with a lethal sexuality, Bara emerged a star almost immediately, but she was also the object of parody. Our essay is based on sources previously untapped with regard to Theda Bara’s style, including Women’s Wear Daily, and the archives of designers including Lucile (Lady Duff Gordon).

Fashion designers, merchandisers and publicists exploited the fictional character and the woman who played her to convey an identity of uber-chic through clinging skirts, deep necklines, drop waists and other features that became known as ‘vamp’ or ‘Theda Bara’ styles. As top designers co-opted the vamp, they transformed her outré costumes into tasteful, though still sultry, party frocks, and as some dressed Bara herself, they conventionalized her, too.

Throughout the United States women of nearly every age group and social class incorporated the vamp into their fashion vernacular. Theda Bara became both style motif and slang. And as many women referenced and re-enacted the star in their own wardrobes, they acknowledged the gender norms the vamp ­defied, but also, functionally, nudged those ideological boundaries.