Jenna Ortega’s gothic fashion has become almost as recognizable as her deadpan performance in Wednesday. Across premieres, awards shows and fashion events, the actor has turned dark glamour into a reliable red carpet theme, though she remains perfectly willing to interrupt all that black with lilac, cream or a substantial quantity of metal.
The result is a wardrobe that feels consistent without becoming predictable. That is useful when your public image involves supernatural mysteries, horror films and a character who regards color with deep suspicion.
How heavy was Ortega’s 2025 Emmy look?
At the 2025 Emmy Awards, Ortega wore a Givenchy top covered in multicolored jewels. It looked dramatic because it was dramatic, including for her collarbones: the piece weighed at least 30 pounds.
Her longtime stylist, Enrique Melendez, said Ortega accepted the challenge but later requested something slightly less punishing. Speaking on the Plus One podcast in September 2025, he recalled her saying, “Enrique, I love you. But can we please do something more practical next time?”
“That thing was digging into her poor collarbone,” Melendez added.
Practicality did not immediately win. One month later, the 23-year-old attended the Academy Museum Gala wearing a Grace Ling metallic breastplate shaped like a leaf. The sculptural top was paired with a column skirt, creating another armor-like silhouette soon after the Emmys.
Melendez, who has worked with Ortega since 2014, told Marie Claire that he worried the two outfits were too similar. Both featured rigid metallic tops and long skirts, which is apparently enough to keep a celebrity stylist awake at night.
“Even up to the night of the event, we worried it was too similar to the Emmys look,” he said in December 2025. Once Ortega stepped onto the carpet, however, he believed they had made the right choice.
Why does Ortega keep returning to gothic style?
Ortega’s darker wardrobe is not simply a promotional extension of Wednesday, although the series certainly gave it a very large stage. She has said the style reflects interests and qualities she had not previously felt able to show.
“I’ve always respected goth culture,” she told Vogue in 2023. “I’ve always had a darker sense of humor, but I never felt like I was able to express that. Now I feel like I can embrace those qualities in myself.”
That preference was clear at a New York City screening of Wednesday in August 2025, where she wore an all-black Ann Demeulemeester gown with leather panels running through the skirt. At the Golden Globes in January 2026, she continued the theme in a revealing Dilara Findikoglu gown finished with beaded fringe at the shoulders.
The designs vary, but several details recur: sheer fabrics, sculptural construction, distressed textures, leather and silhouettes that look elegant without becoming overly polished. Ortega and Melendez have built a visual identity around shadowy colors and unusual materials, then kept it flexible enough to avoid turning every appearance into a costume.
Does Jenna Ortega always wear black?
Despite the gothic reputation, Ortega does not limit herself to black. At the InStyle Imagemaker Awards in October 2025, the Winter Spring Summer or Fall actor wore a lilac Amiri gown with a maroon wool shawl. The softer color combination still carried the layered, slightly severe quality found in many of her darker looks.
She went lighter again at the Actor Awards in March 2026, choosing a cream Christian Cowan lace dress. The palette changed, but the intricate fabric and bold silhouette kept the outfit firmly within her established taste for clothes that do more than behave nicely in photographs.
Ortega explained that willingness to experiment in an April 2025 interview with Vogue. “I am in a great phase of exploration in my life right now,” she said. “I don’t want to feel married to any one thing. When you have the opportunity to play, why don’t you?”
That approach has allowed the Scream star to move between gothic gowns, jewel-covered tops, sculpted metal and pale lace without losing a clear point of view. The colors may shift, but restraint is rarely invited.
