Lady Gaga has been a style icon since she Just Dance’d her way into the public eye in 2008, even though her costumes grew more and more outlandish with every turn.  For her role as The Countess in ‘American Horror Story: Hotel,’   a vampire queen of sorts, she’s packing away the meat dress and clunky props for old fashioned Hollywood glam, which is on display in the new ‘Entertainment Weekly.’

Show creator Ryan Murphy and Emmy Award-winning (for Season Three ‘Coven‘) costume designer Lou Eyrich collaborated on The Countess’ look which combines modern high fashion with classic couture.

“It’s really, really modern glamour, which we’ve never done,” said Murphy

But Eyrich added, “It definitely skews towards the ’30s and ’40s but then punch it up to be modern.”  Giving a hint as to what to expect, she added, “Black, red, and cream, are the main colors and then punches of brighter colors like the blues and greens.”

The Countess’ razor sharp glove which she uses to draw blood was designed by Michael Schmidt, an LA-based jewelry designer who has designed custom pieces for two of Gaga’s inspirations, Cher and Madonna.  Eyrich described Schmidt’s lethal design as “both rock & roll and old at the same time… The nails have diamonds on the edge to slice.”

Eyrich also said “One thing Ryan talked with me about is we wanted the audience to look at Gaga as an actor playing the Countess and completely separate from how her fans know her as Gaga.”

Check out the photos below and decide, is The Countess unique enough to stand separate from Lady Gaga the pop star?

Gaga herself shed a little light on her character and what it was like joining this hit ensemble.

As seen in the photo above, The Countess as turned three small children (described as triplets) into fellow blood-suckers and she is quite protective of them. Said Gaga, “They are the most important thing to her.  More than anything, I think she wants to identify in a very human way.”

Murphy seems quite chuffed to have landed the larger-than-life celebrity for the show, comparing her to “a silent film actress.”

And Gaga returned the sentiment, expressing love for the cast and the boundary-free structure of the show.

“I’ve felt it with only a few people in my career when you do something and you say, ‘I belong here, and I feel that way with the cast — I just feel like we somehow belong together whether I’m on the show or not.

“I’ve been sort of weeping silently on my own as we go through the day because I can feel my inner child just exploding with excitement at the lack of limitation.  There are no limits.”

‘American Horror Story: Hotel’ arrives on October 7th on FX.  This season also stars Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Wes Bentley, Matt Bomer, Chloë Sevigny, Denis O’Hare, Cheyenne Jackson, Evan Peters, Max Greenfield, Naomi Campbell and Finn Wittrock.

How long will you be staying?

Source: Entertainment Weekly