American Horror Story: Asylum can be cited as the season that saw Ryan Murphy’s anthology series take a dramatic turn. The second season after the highly acclaimed Murder House, it had a lot riding on it as a successor and needed to deliver more scares, more compelling characters, and more plot twists. It not only gave audiences what they craved, it surpassed any expectations with its chilling setting, ensemble cast, and supernatural elements.
Asylum was allowed to really shine with its costumes because the season jumped around so often with its time periods. Some portions were in modern-day, while the majority took place in 1964 at the fictitious Briarcliff Asylum, but flashbacks depicted wartime Europe in the 40s. It gave costume designer Lou Eyrich plenty of room to work with, and she took inspiration from real historical figures, newspaper clippings of the time, medical journals, and magazines. Admit yourself to the ward, and read on for 10 hidden details from American Horror Story: Asylum.
DR. ARDEN’S COSTUME WAS BASED OFF THE ANGEL OF DEATH
Dr. Arden’s bedside manner will literally kill you in Asylum, as he uses your body for his own sadistic experiments. James Cromwell’s performance was based on a real person, Josefe Mengele, a physician stationed at Auschwitz interested in genetic research.
Mengele used concentration camps to explore his perverse interest in physical abnormalities, often conducting medical experiments on human subjects that left them horribly mutilated. It’s rumored he kept body parts as souvenirs and whistled merry tunes while selecting victims for the gas chambers. His nickname was the Angel of Death.
DR. THREDSON’S LOOK TOOK INSPIRATION FROM SERIAL KILLERS
Dr. Thredson (played by Zachary Quinto) had all the officious charm of a hospital bureaucrat and all the salacious desires of a medical monster. Like Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer, he appeared mild-mannered, his hair cut in a boyish fashion, his glasses giving a studious look.
Thredson’s true persona lay beneath the mask he wore and had a penchant for wearing the skin of others. When he assumed the identity of Bloody Face, he took on the identity of such serial killers as Ed Gein and Buffalo Bill. He used the faces of victims to hide his identity while committing heinous acts of violence.
GRACE’S LOOK COMES FROM LIZZIE BORDEN
Folklore aficionados and horror lovers will remember the tale of Lizzie Borden, who killed her parents with forty whacks from an axe in her home. While that was back in 1892, the historical figure inspired the look of Grace, who also killed her parents in a similar way.
One of the ways that Lou Eyrich made nods to Lizzie Borden with Grace was with her distinct hairstyle - it’s in “choppy” layers, unlike every other main female in the season. Since everyone wears the same uniform, the small details make each character stand out.
THE COSTUMES TOOK HOURS OF RESEARCH
Lou Eyrich, who’s been the costume designer for every season of American Horror Story, had to do more research for Asylum than Murder House as this season had exponentially more period costumes. Much of the series took place in 1964, with flashbacks to the 40s as well as the modern-day, and everywhere in between.
Though the days were long and Eyrich often didn’t know the costumes needed until a day before each episode was filmed, she appreciated being able to challenge herself and her team. Whether they needed to come up with the attire for the staff of a medical facility in the 60s, or a train full of German SS uniforms, they got the job done through watching old films, sifting through old photographs, and making mood boards.
PEPPER’S COSTUME WAS PARTIALLY REUSED IN FREAK SHOW
Though many members of the American Horror Story cast appear as different characters throughout several seasons, only a few specific characters do the same. One of them is Pepper, who appeared as a patient in Asylum and then as a free person in American Horror Story: Freak Show.
Freak Show takes place in the 50s, and Asylum takes place in the 60s, implying that being admitted to the medical facility was Pepper’s fate following the disbandment of the circus in Freak Show. To transform the actress, silicone prosthetics were used in both seasons, but she retained the same costume.
SOME COSTUMES CAME WITH HANGUPS
To play nymphomaniac amputee Shelly, Chloe Sevigny had to access an unscrupulous part of herself that enjoyed being the center of attention. She enjoyed wearing the period costumes as well as getting the meaty part. What was less fun was having to wear the prosthetic pieces that made her an amputee on camera.
She couldn’t take the prosthetics off between takes, so she couldn’t straighten her legs. To get around this, she used a wheelchair. Regardless of the discomfort, it was a more interesting part than poor Sevigny got in American Horror Story: Hotel. One actor was rumored to not be willing to shave his head, so he was summarily fired from the season.
ALMA AND KIT WALKER’S OUTFITS WERE BASED ON NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS
In the ’60s, the nation was gripped by the accounts of Betty and Barney Hill who swore that they had been abducted by aliens. The sad thing is that more people were concerned about them being an interracial couple than the fact that they may have been experimented on by extraterrestrials.
The characters of Alma and Kit were based on the Hills, their costumes inspired by the splashy media spread the pair made all over the country. Their alien abduction story was a big selling point, spawning a film and a book deal.
WILL THE REAL ANNE FRANK PLEASE STAND UP?
Did Anne Frank, the Jewish teenager who chronicled the atrocities of the Holocaust ever wind up in an asylum? According to American Horror Story, it was certainly possible. She may or may not be a delusion of a mental patient named Charlotte.
The real Anne Frank probably died at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, but Asylum makes some pretty solid claims to the contrary. Franka Potente said that just getting into the costume and being around the “insanity of the set” transformed her into a mental case.
TWO FOR ONE SPECIAL
When it came time to dress a young actor for the flashback sequences of Dr. Arden during WWII, Lou Eyrich sought out the obvious choice; John Cromwell, the son of the actor playing Dr. Arden himself. He would need a German officer’s uniform that would look smart during the black and white scenes on a train.
Not only does John Cromwell possess the towering height of his father and the same lithe build, but he also has enough of his facial features to create his distinct profile. When you watch the black and white scenes, you may have actually thought some sort of CGI was used to de-age James Cromwell rather than cast his younger doppelganger.
EVERY PATIENT NEEDED A UNIQUE COSTUME ELEMENT
Once admitted to the asylum, every patient tended to look the same. Their mandatory clothing while undergoing rigorous medical treatment was supposed to divorce them from their lives outside and the world they left behind. To give personality to each patient’s outfit, Lou Eyrich tailored each costume specifically.
For more amorous patients, their shirts would be allowed to drape suggestively over one shoulder. For more brazen patients, such as Grace, they’ll taper at the middle to draw attention to her figure. Whether they’re rolled up, down, or altered in some way, the point was to make each stand out.
