The Blazing Style of Chandra, Dressed to Kill

Vampire wedding fashion takes centerstage in Innistrad: Crimson Vow, and we're treated to some amazing art that gives new meaning to the term "killer outfit." An obvious showstopper at most any wedding is the bride's gown, and with Olivia Voldaren as the bride, the dress is more than a showstopper; it's a heart-stopper.

A dark vision among the drifting blood petals in the air, her bloodless and hungry form is framed in silver and royal purple, trimmed with white silk organza, encircled in a billowing crimson cloud of her victims' screaming, clutching souls. Tens across the board.

But at this wedding, it's not just the bride who has dressed to impress. Chandra came to slay.

The visual designs of both the wedding and the heroes who arrive to reclaim the Moonsilver Key were carefully planned and work on more than a surface visual level. Doug Beyer, the narrative creative director, was also there to see the design process.

"Visually the entire set piece of Voldaren Estate was set to feel cold with a cool color palette," said Doug. This sets up a great visual tension when Chandra shows up in her searing red, orange, and gold dress that is absolute fire.

"The color palette of Chandra's outfit we kept very much in line with her original costuming," said Doug. "Red fabrics with gold and copper metals and trim. One little fun nod here is the translucent fabrics both on her arms and back of dress. These were thought to almost represent some smoke as she heats up the room. Everything about this dress was inspired by her power suite. You can even see just a hint of that smoke faintly emanating behind her."

Senior Art Director Cynthia Sheppard and artist Ekaterina Burmak headed up the borderless artwork on Chandra, Dressed to Kill. Among the cold undeath of Olivia's opulent wedding and its dressed-to-the-teeth guests, Chandra is literally the life of the party, but certainly not someone on the guest list.

"We wanted to keep her hot-headed, fight-first logic," said Doug, describing Chandra's arrival at the wedding. She has no love for Olivia Voldaren, and showing up at the self-proclaimed Lord of Innistrad's exclusive affair in a dress that utterly flouts the dress code and pulls focus from the bride, well, that's so totally Chandra.

"It seemed only logical that she would use her pyromancy to help accentuate the silhouette of her outfit and naturally draw attention to herself by doing so. The cuts of her dress were also kept elegant but aggressive. Again, not losing that 'I'll mess you up vibe' that Chandra is so good at. We also kept her regulator over her right shoulder but slimmed it down to fit more of the elegance of the festivities, but it's still there in case she needs it.

"Spoiler, she does."

Not every detail was planned in this wedding, said Doug. "One last thing I absolutely love about this piece is the intertwining of the burning embers from Chandra's dress and the blood petals trailing down from the estate's rafters. That wasn't anything that we wrote in, just some lovely work by the artist to help add in some dynamic movement to this piece. Just stunning."

This is an event that promises to light up the eternal night of Innistrad!