Beauty Is Pain For Lady Gaga On ‘American Horror Story: Hotel’

While Lady Gaga is a singer, she is probably just as well known for her fashion sense. Her meat dress for the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards was probably her most out-there fashion statements, but over the years Lady Gaga has worn many outrageous items of clothing.

Now, as she joins the cast of FX’s American Horror Story: Hotel, all eyes are on the clothes being worn by Lady Gaga’s character, the Countess. Her character was described by Entertainment Weekly as “a glamorous socialite who attends art openings and fashion shows and maintains her looks not from a steady diet of kale but from imbibing human blood.” Although AHS creator Ryan Murphy likes to describe the Countesses affliction as an ancient blood virus, “It’s really a form of hemophilia, in a way,” he told EW. Although her thirst for blood seems to work as the Countess is now around 100 years old. As well as the Countesses’ blood fetish, she also has an insatiable appetite for sex. And that is what fans got in the premiere episode of American Horror Story: Hotel, a foursome that involved plenty of sex and blood.

But it is the costumes that Lady Gaga wears in AHS Hotel that are truly stunning. From the red coat she wore before hunting for her human prey in Episode 1 to the silver glove that appeared in the American Horror Story: Hotel promo, the clothes Lady Gaga dons for her character are amazing. And it is something she has a hand in selecting as Lady Gaga told E! News recently.

“I go in with my script and I’m like, ‘OK, where are we? We’re getting ready to go out hunting. OK, I definitely need my hunting glove, and I definitely would wear my hair up because I don’t want to get blood in my hair.’There’s a whole process of things.'”

But for the award-winning costume designer on AHS Hotel, Lou Eyrich, it was a little nerve-wracking at first when it was announced Lady Gaga would be joining the cast, he told Zap2It.

“The news didn’t really sink in [at first]… but then when I got back to L.A. and we started doing research and prepping, it hit me. Lady Gaga is iconic, and she’s got amazing taste, and she works with an incredible design team. I tried not to let it freak me out because I’d heard wonderful things about her.”

But while Lady Gaga is willing to don any outfit given to her, it seems the price of these outfits is sometimes more than expected. The meat dress she wore in protest to the MTV awards weighed in at 40 pounds. The red jacket she donned for Episode 1 of AHS Hotel weighed in the vicinity of that. Yet, Lady Gaga takes it all in her stride, never complaining about the weight of her costumes. Her manager, Bobby Campbell, once told Lady Gaga that she’s like a contortionist. “You just stand there for hours in pain those outfits and you have no clue when you’re on stage and you get off and it just all hits you,” he told Lady Gaga once. And she agrees entirely with him. But, as she points out to E! News, that’s just what she does, liking her fashion sense to her “art.”

As well as the stunning clothes Lady Gaga wears on AHS Hotel, there are a few hidden facts that AHS fans might find interesting about the clothes Lady Gaga wears.

• Lady Gaga’s red hunting cape weighed in between 35 to 50 pounds. There were two corsets and a full body chain that Lady Gaga said was not very comfortable to wear. She also accompanied the jacket with seven-inch boots, according to another article by E! News.

• The glove Lady Gaga wears in AHS Hotel is made from Swarovski crystals and was designed by Michael Schmidt. According to MTV, the inspiration for this glove was based on a glove designed by artist/heiress Daphne Guinness and jewelry designer Shaun Leane. This glove featured chain mail and diamonds. This glove was not designed as a murder weapon; the aim was to show the “hard protection of armor with the elegance of an evening glove.”
• The hot pink evening dress Lady Gaga wears features silver snakes. These snakes originally came from a belt but were removed and used for decoration instead.
• According to Lou Eyrich, fans of AHS Coven will recognize a few of the hats being used in this season’s AHS as Eyrich likes to recycle pieces from show to show.
• According to E! News, AHS fans will need to keep an eye on what Lady Gaga wears — in particular, a pair of green beetle pins. These pins are actually made from real beetles!

American Horror Story: Hotel, starring Lady Gaga, returns to FX for Episode 2 (entitled “Chutes and Ladders”) on Wednesday, October 14, 2015.

What is your favorite Countess outfit so far in American Horror Story: Hotel? What is your favorite Lady Gaga costume? Let us know by commenting below!

[Image credits: FX]