Gothic describes the dark, romantic aesthetic of shadows, Victoriana and beautiful gloom that defines much of Jenna Ortega’s screen identity, from Wednesday to Beetlejuice. Her October 2026 appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers traced that aesthetic to its source: a childhood of devoted Halloween costuming, including a spray-painted styrofoam rock, a recreation of Björk’s swan dress and the Invisible Man. Gothic, in Ortega’s case, is not a styling choice imposed by fame but a taste formed early.
(Colleen Sturtevant / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0))
Mentioned in: Swan Dresses and Invisible Men: A Brief History of Jenna Ortega’s Delightfully Weird Halloween Costumes