Guillermo del Toro has a frightfully fashion forward exhibit at LACMA

By Staci Layne Wilson @StaciWilson

Writer-director Guillermo del Toro is obsessed with ghouls, ghosts, creeps and creatures. But they are nothing if not well-dressed monsters. Just take a look at his cinematic opuses, which include period pieces like Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth and Crimson Peak. Even the vampires on his TV series “The Strain” are decadently dressed to the fangs.

The Los Angeles Country Museum recently debuted an incredible exhibit for, by, and about Guillermo del Toro – from his private collection of paintings, dark Disney fairytale animation cells, statues, insects, comic books, H.R. Giger gadgets, and, of course, props and costumes from his films.

“At Home With Monsters” opened to great fanfare in the first weekend of August, and it will run through late November before it moves on to haunt horror fans and ghoul geeks in Minneapolis at the Institute of Art and Toronto’s Art Gallery of Ontario.

I could write reams on everything in the extensive display, which is housed in LACMA’s Art of the Americas building, but today I’m all about the threads.

One of the first things you see, in the section devoted to childhood, is young Ofelia from Pan’s Labyrinth. The little girl in the blue coat from Pacific Rim stands nearby.

 Move on, and you’ll see a mysterious mourner shrouded in black lace.

In another room is the famous trench coat worn by Ron Perlman in Hellboys I and II.

The pièce de résistance is the large section devoted to the gorgeous Victorian dresses worn by Mia Wasikowska and Jessica Chastain in his latest cinematic stunner, Crimson Peak. Costumer Kate Hawley’s ornate, hand-sewn gothic gowns are a delight to see up close in all their lacy, velvet glory. There is also a life-sized oil painting from the film by Daniel Horne, which shows a period riding habit in delightful detail.

Guillermo del Toro — At Home With Monsters

Where: Los Angeles County Museum of Art

When: Aug. 1 to Nov. 27

Admission: $25 for adults, seniors and students; children and members are free.

Info: (323) 857-6010, lacma.org