Answer in brief
Ortega herself says the Wednesday role changed her taste in clothes. The everyday version keeps a dark monochrome base, one hard accent and a contrast of two textures, while period tailoring and elaborate lace-up boots stay on stage.
How the Wednesday Role Changed Ortega's Taste — In Her Own Words to InStyle
Jenna Ortega has confirmed it herself: playing Wednesday Addams on Netflix's “Wednesday” affected her own taste in clothes. In a March 2023 InStyle interview, she said, “Wednesday has changed my taste so much,” and added that she finds it “hard to get away from her, at least in fashion” (editorial translation). This isn't a story about a costume built for one episode — it's a personal admission: the role's dark, pared-down aesthetic stayed with the actress off set as well. In the same interview, she adds that she used to listen too closely to other people's opinions about what she should wear and had long wanted to dress this way regardless — describing the shift as permission she gave herself, not only as an effect of the role.
It's worth not confusing three separate things here. First, the character's on-screen costume, which has nothing to do with everyday clothing. Second, the stylist's work at public events: Enrique Melendez has worked with Ortega since she was 14, and according to Vogue he remained her stylist at least through January 2026. Third, what the actress calls her personal taste in interviews. The rest of this piece treats these three layers separately, using specific, documented looks from 2023–2026 — not the “Wednesday” costume.
The New York “Wednesday” Season 2 Fan Screening: Leather, Satin and Lace-Up Boots
On the evening of Tuesday, August 5, 2025, at the “Wednesday” season two fan screening at the Paris Theater in New York, Ortega wore a black evening look. Vogue describes it as a lightweight slip dress with cascading leather ruffles and a very low-cut back. Harper's Bazaar, covering the same evening, calls the outfit an Ann Demeulemeester Fall 2025 dress with a cowl neckline — satin with diagonal leather stripes “like bat wings” — but doesn't describe the back. Harper's Bazaar explicitly calls the outfit a tribute to the title character, meaning the fashion press itself reads it as an extension of her on-screen image rather than a random everyday choice.
The outlets describe the footwear differently. Vogue names the boots as Miista's “Shana” style: patent leather, lacing above the knee, a square toe and a wedge sole. Harper's Bazaar calls the same pair knee-high Miista boots with silver eyelets and a wedge, without naming the style. Both outlets single out the footwear as the evening's key detail: Harper's Bazaar calls it attention-stealing, Vogue calls it a departure from a classic red-carpet look.
A Willy Chavarria Suit and Two Elena Velez Looks on the Same Promo Day
Earlier that same day, before the evening screening, Ortega appeared in a Willy Chavarria Spring 2026 skirt suit with a wide-brimmed hat and Christian Louboutin shoes; Vogue describes it as a modern take on Christian Dior's New Look era (editorial translation) — a nod to the feminine 1950s silhouette, not a strict masculine suit. Separately, Harper's Bazaar records two Elena Velez looks from the same day: a nude corset dress with a distressed-fabric effect, and a two-piece look — a sheer, gathered brown maxi skirt with a mustard, off-the-shoulder ruffled top, finished with a Hammitt suede bag.
Three looks in one day aren't a single formula but a spread within one theme: from a Dior-inspired feminine silhouette to a sheer skirt and a structured corset dress. Vogue notes that footwear and accessories are a constant focus in Ortega and Melendez's collaboration.
A Blazer, a Striped Vest and a Plaid Top: Three More Restrained Looks Outside the “Wednesday” Press Tour
The three looks below often read as “more everyday” than the press tour, but they come from different occasions. The blazer is from the 2024 Venice Film Festival, where Ortega was promoting “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” not “Wednesday”; sources don't say who chose that look. The vest and the plaid top belong to the 2025 promotion for “Wednesday” season two: Vogue says the vest decision was a joint one (see below), while sources don't specify who handled the wardrobe for the plaid top.
At the 81st Venice Film Festival on August 28, 2024, during the “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” premiere days, Ortega wore a wine-burgundy blazer with a deep neckline and a sculptural, rigid metal choker necklace — the only accessory at her throat. Of the looks examined here, this one comes closest to everyday clothing: an ordinary blazer, one hard accent, no historical tailoring.
Shortly before November 10, 2025, at the “Wednesday For Your Consideration” event, Ortega wore, according to Vogue, a striped Ann Demeulemeester Fall 2025 vest with wide, floor-length trousers, layered over a gray waffle-knit long-sleeve top. Vogue reports that Ortega and Melendez decided together to bring back the vest-and-long-sleeve combination, and Vogue itself compares it to a “going-out vest” look from 2007. A silver cross on a thin chain is visible at her neck. Neither the vest nor the cross requires a costume — both are ready-made references for an everyday wardrobe.
In an interview for season two of “Wednesday” (a clip published August 31, 2025), Ortega wore a fitted top in a fine gray plaid with a large, dramatic collar and a front zipper.
What in These Looks Is the Stylist's Call, and What Ortega Calls Her Own Taste
It isn't possible to cleanly separate stylist work from personal taste for each specific 2025 item: outlets place the emphasis differently. Harper's Bazaar writes that a stylist chose the Miista boots to go with the dress, while Vogue calls it “her shoe choice,” though Vogue also notes elsewhere that footwear and accessories are a constant focus of Ortega and Melendez's collaboration — so the discrepancy between the outlets isn't as sharp as it first appears. The stylist describes the general direction himself: in a June 2023 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Melendez says that he and Ortega moved away from the formula once used to dress young Disney actresses — feminine, flirty, ruffled — and that, in his words, it became clear over time that she herself increasingly preferred pared-down looks (editorial translation). Ortega herself describes their collaboration to InStyle as “telepathic”: “he knows what's too much for me and what's just right” (editorial translation) — meaning she herself calls the calibration of how much gothic influence to use a joint decision, not the stylist's alone.
Ortega's personal admission to InStyle concerns an overall shift in taste, not the choice of any single outfit — so this piece uses it only in relation to the broader aesthetic, not as an explanation for why she wore these specific boots or that specific necklace.
Four Details That Transfer to Everyday Clothes Without the Costume
Comparing the press tour's most dramatic looks with the Venice blazer, the striped vest and the plaid top shows which elements survive the move into everyday clothing and which belong strictly to the stage and the premiere.
What transfers: a dark or muted monochrome base instead of bright colors and prints — the blazer, vest and plaid top Ortega wears outside evening premieres are exactly that. A contrast of two textures within one look transfers too — leather and satin on the press tour, the vest's fine stripe against the waffle knit's texture at the November event. One accent accessory instead of a full set transfers — a rigid necklace, a cross on a chain, an oversized collar. A large collar or neckline detail as the single “dramatic” cut element transfers — the blazer's deep neckline, the plaid top's notched collar, the evening dress's cowl neck.
What doesn't transfer: historical or theatrical tailoring — the Elena Velez corset dress and gathered skirt, the Willy Chavarria skirt suit — these are choices built for a shoot and a premiere. The Miista boots don't transfer as a complete pair: it's precisely the above-the-knee lacing and patent leather that make them striking in photos and impractical for an ordinary day; what transfers is the device itself — the contrast between glossy footwear and lacing, but on boots of ordinary height.
Three Combinations of Ordinary Pieces in This Mood
What follows isn't a retelling of what Ortega actually wears day to day, but the editorial team's own recommendation built on the analysis above, with the exception of the last example, which is drawn from a documented public look.
First combination: a solid-color, dark or muted knit (a turtleneck or crew neck) plus one metal accent at the neck — a chain with a small pendant, not a statement piece.
Second combination: a blazer or coat with a deep neckline plus one rigid accent accessory at the throat — not a thin chain, but a solid choker necklace, as in the Venice photo. A simple base tank works underneath the blazer, and the blazer and bottoms can be almost anything as long as the proportion of “deep neckline plus one hard accent” holds.
Third combination: a fitted top with a large collar (plaid, denim or a solid fabric) with no extra jewelry — the collar itself is the accent here, echoing the effect of the plaid top from the August 2025 photo. Leather details (a bag, a belt, shoes) can be added as a single piece rather than assembled into a full leather set like on the press tour.
The closest thing to a ready-made everyday reference is the look Ortega wore to a Netflix event in New York on November 11, 2025 (per Vogue): a charcoal-gray wool coat with wide lapels, fitted at the waist, a gray turtleneck, cuffed dark jeans, black leather gloves and black platform shoes on an extremely high sole. It isn't a gothic look in the strict sense, and it isn't an off-duty appearance either, but it shows that a dark monochrome base with one or two accents instead of a full set of jewelry works for the same actress at a less theatrical event too.
Red-Carpet Gothic Isn't Meant to Be Copied Literally
Ortega spoke about fans who dressed in black the morning after an episode with joy, not disapproval, in a February 2023 Hypebae interview. In her words, what moves her most is seeing little girls who aren't naturally goth waking up the next morning with braids, in the only black T-shirt they could find at home, and in black lipstick — she says that brings her “so much joy,” and calls playing a part in that “an honor” for her (editorial translation). This isn't a boundary between the character's costume and fans' everyday imitation of it — she explicitly calls it an honor, not a reason for restraint.
The “don't copy it literally” argument in this piece isn't built on that quote, but on other things Ortega has said: even while preparing one of the most theatrical looks of her career — the veiled Versace dress for the show's premiere — she and Melendez discussed in advance “how to make it gothic without overdoing it, without trying too hard to be obvious” (editorial translation). If that line gets drawn even for a showstopping evening look, it applies even more to everyday clothing: one accent and restraint, not a full character costume.
Fashion outlets describe the outfit from the 2023 SAG Awards ceremony differently. Vogue calls it an archival Fall 1994 Versace dress: a deep V-neck with an asymmetric line and a high front slit; the original shoulder strap was removed for Ortega's version. Harper's Bazaar describes the same outfit as a one-shoulder black leather dress with a sweetheart neckline, a cinched waist and a thigh-high slit, paired with graphic white eyeliner. This piece doesn't resolve that discrepancy into a single version — both are given with their source. Both outlets agree on Jimmy Choo platform shoes, and Vogue specifies a necklace from Tiffany & Co.'s Schlumberger collection. Either way, a thigh-high slit and leather across the whole silhouette are a red-carpet decision, not an item from the recommendations list above. Vogue's phrase about “bleached brows and smudged, 'undone' glam” (editorial translation) is part of its description of her overall 2025 style in a year-end list, not an assessment of that one shoot — what's worth carrying into an ordinary day is the structure of the look (base plus accent), not a specific red-carpet makeup look.
Practical checklist
- Pick one dark or monochrome piece as your base instead of bright colors and prints.
- Add only one accent accessory — a chain, a choker necklace or an oversized collar — instead of a full set of jewelry.
- Combine two different textures in one look (knit and metal, leather and satin, denim and cotton).
- Skip historical or theatrical tailoring — corsets, trains, layered draping — and keep the silhouette simple.
- If you want lace-up boots, choose an ankle or mid-calf height rather than above the knee, and limit yourself to one leather detail in the look.
Questions and answers
Is This Wednesday's Official Look or Ortega's Own Style?
Both, in different proportions. Harper's Bazaar explicitly calls the press tour's evening dress a tribute to the title character, while Vogue describes the whole promo cycle as an extension of the on-screen look into several dramatic variations. The more restrained looks — the Venice Film Festival blazer (promoting a different film), the striped vest and the plaid top — read as further from a direct nod to the role, though Vogue reports that Ortega and Melendez worked on the vest together. Sources don't describe any of the looks examined here as personal style with no connection to the role at all.
Is Black Mandatory for This Effect?
No. In the looks examined here, the base isn't always black — for example, the wine-burgundy blazer at the 2024 Venice Film Festival, or the gray striped vest with a gray waffle-knit top at the November 2025 event. The general principle is a dark or muted monochrome palette, not necessarily black.
Who Chooses Ortega's Red-Carpet Outfits — Her or the Stylist?
Per a 2023 Hollywood Reporter interview, the style direction is a joint effort between the actress and stylist Enrique Melendez, who has worked with her since she was 14; Ortega herself describes their collaboration as “telepathic.” On specific details, outlets place emphasis differently — for example, Harper's Bazaar and Vogue describe who chose the Miista boots on the 2025 press tour in different terms, though Vogue also stresses that footwear and accessories are a constant part of Ortega and Melendez's collaboration.
Can This Style Work Outside Halloween Season?
Yes. In an August 2025 Vogue interview, Ortega said she's currently in an “exploratory phase” in life and doesn't want to “feel tied down to one thing” (editorial translation); per Vogue's account, no character, Wednesday included, has shaped her own beauty look. In January 2026, Vogue writes that she's “not quite ready to fully let go of the gothic aesthetic” (editorial translation). These elements transfer into everyday clothing not because it's an obligatory lifestyle, but because a dark palette and a single accent work physically outside the stage — as in the look she wore to the Netflix event in November 2025.