Andrea Hansen, aka Pretty Macabre, is a designer of runway and costume horror couture, and has long been an integral part of An October Evening, an annual event with film, fashion, dance and music. See her designs featured this year as well as other art and performance on Oct. 20 and 21 at 7 p.m. For tickets and more information, visit facebook.com/anoctoberevening.
Special thanks to the the Salt Lake Masonic Temple for hosting the SLUG Style shoot, as well as the upcoming An October Evening,in their beautiful and historic building.
Every month, SLUG Stylefeatures distinct and unique members of the community and asks them why they do what they do. Exploring more than just clothing, SLUG Style is an attempt to feature the people who give Salt Lake City flavor through personality and panache.
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“I’m definitely mostly inspired by the horror genre, so I definitely use a lot of darker elements,” says Andrea Hansen. “I am very inspired by film. I also am really interested in a lot of time period stuff. I love Victorian, Baroque, that type of costuming and older techniques of sewing. I’m really inspired by Alexander McQueen, as a more modern designer.” Photo: @clancycoop. Model: Nikie Gerber. Hair and makeup: Heather Shelton. Photo: @clancycoop
“I love a lot of the ’80s-horror, classic characters. I’m very inspired by Hell Raiser and Freddy Krueger,” says Hansen. “I also like taking male characters and creating them into females because I have a lot more room to play with the design and different elements of things, and it’s kind of fun to do a gender-role reverse. I love doing that.” Model: Nikie Gerber. Hair and makeup: Heather Shelton. Photo: @clancycoop
On how she got her start, Hansen says, “When I was in high school, I danced and I used to try to make my own dance costumes, and I was always wanting to dress up and add to the clothing I already had. Then, right out of high school, I went to school for fashion design, and I thought I was going to do more ready-wear fashion stuff. Everything I designed ended up being really costume-y, and my teachers were always like, ‘No one is going to wear this. It’s too much. You’ve got to tone it down.'” Model: Nikie Gerber. Hair and makeup: Heather Shelton. Photo: @clancycoop
“I should’ve gone into more of a costuming background, but when I moved back to Salt Lake, because of Halloween and stuff, I just ended up making costumes for people, and I started dancing and doing all these performances,” says Hansen. “Through that, I would make myself costuming and people would see it and then we’d get creative and start creating from there. Then it just grew and grew.” Model: Nikie Gerber. Hair and makeup: Heather Shelton. Photo: @clancycoop
About her role in the upcoming An October Evening, Hansen says, “ I love collaborating with people, and so every year, I usually do a finale piece with a local special effects makeup artist, Chris Richard Hanson, so we usually do bigger prosthetics, and actually like creature-based for the finale piece. My friend Chaunsey Hildebrandt is always the model for that, and she’ll be doing it again this year. I love collaborating with people because you can give someone your idea, and then things start to come and it makes an amazing, magnificent thing in the end. I love being able to do that.” Model: Nikie Gerber. Hair and makeup: Heather Shelton. Photo: @clancycoop
“I used to do a lot more cheesy, kind of messy things, and I’ve definitely cleaned it up a bit,” says Hansen. “I like more precision with my sewing, and I definitely like a lot more of the detail and beaded, kind of hand-sewing work that goes into it. I think I’ve upped it a little bit on a higher notch of fancy.“ Model: Nikie Gerber. Hair and makeup: Heather Shelton. Photo: @clancycoop
“An October Evening always really inspires me,” says Hansen. “This year, our theme is ghosts and demons and paranormal-type stuff, and so I’ve been really excited about playing with shadows and layers and … depths that will grow through the costuming. That’s kind of something new that I’ve never done. I’ve never played with silhouettes within a gown or different shapes and things like that.” Model: Nikie Gerber. Hair and makeup: Heather Shelton. Photo: @clancycoop
“Usually I’m styling and dressing others,” says Hansen. “I do fire-eating and bellydancing. I can do stilt walking and hammock, so depending on different events, I have been hired to do those things to perform, but a lot of times, it’s me usually providing the costumes for other performers and such.” Model: Nikie Gerber. Hair and makeup: Heather Shelton. Photo: @clancycoop
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