In the “Friday the 13th” prequel series “Crystal Lake,” Pamela Voorhees is far from the frumpy lunch lady introduced in the original slasher film. Played by Linda Cardellini, the new, younger Pamela is reimagined as a MILF with bangs and a vengeance. “The tone of our series is more ’70s psychological thriller than these wonderfully campy early ’80s late ’70s horror films,” costume designer Cristina Spiridakis tells The Set Set. “Our version of Pamela has a life; she's a person that exists in this town. It ends up that she's a psychopath, but that's irrelevant,” Spiridakis jokes. 

Having grown up on slasher films in the ‘80s, it was important that Spiridakis illustrated that the show was made and costumed by real fans of the original franchise. Her most daunting task was recreating Voorhees’ iconic grey sweater as worn by Betsy Palmer in the original film. Since its inception, the sweater has garnered a cult following of its own, even depicted as a collectable emblem in the follow-up video game. “I really felt that [the sweater] had to be somewhere in the first episode,” Spriridakis says. When revisiting the original look, Spriridakis noticed that the turtleneck styled underneath was a product of cold weather conditions, rather than a design choice, so she made the executive decision to forgo it. 

“Going along with our idea of a more attractive version of Pam was using a late ’60s silhouette for the sweater, and then adapting the knit pattern to make sure that we got the most important elements [of the original],” Spiridakis says. The sweater was custom designed and built by the New York-based knitwear designer Maria Ficalora, who produced a fitted, heather grey cable knit with a ribbed neck and hem that was then replicated to create the 20 or so duplicates needed to withstand all of the blood that comes with shooting a horror project. 

Spiridakis found that the easiest way to create a visual distinction between Pamela and the rest of the townspeople in Crystal Lake was through color. While local journalist Briana struts around in a bright orange mini skirt and campy psychedelic blouses, Pamela sticks to much more understated color schemes and patterns. “We kept [Pam’s] colors very deep, jewel-toned, and foresty,” Spiridakis says. “Everybody else was in the picnic palette, and she just doesn't fit.” Ironically, Pamela’s “hiding in plain sight” approach to daily dressing has an opposite effect when paired against a quintessentially ’70s fashion scene. “In her attempt to not stand out, she stands out,” Spiridakis says.

Pamela’s color juxtaposition is most heightened against her friend Rita (Joy Soprano), whose costumes were inspired by Rhoda Morgenstern in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” spinoff “Rhoda.” Like Rhoda, Rita wears patterned silk headscarves and funky floral sets. “To Crystal Lake, Rita is as crazy as it gets,” Spiridakis says. The designer pulled Rita’s pieces from the Manhattan Vintage Show and costume warehouses around the U.S. “Joy Soprano walks into ’70s clothes like nothing you've ever seen in your life,” Spiridakis says.

While “Crystal Lake” is more grounded in realism than caricature, Spiridakis still implemented classic horror kitsch into select costumes. For Trudy, a diner waitress (played by Bernadette Quigley), Spiridakis looked into sourcing the least fashionable garments possible. “[Quigley’s] fitting was amazing because I handed her the ugliest 1970s orthopedic shoe you've ever seen in your life and the grossest stockings, and Bernadette put the shoes on and goes, Well, these are Trudy's shoes,” Spiridakis says. “You constantly have to come back to the tone and the colors and the world that we're creating, but also remember that to a certain degree there's comedy in the way people die,” Spiridakis explains. For Valerie’s fast food uniform, Spiridakis amped up the kitsch with clad pants and polyester, heightening the humor of the “undignified” circumstances surrounding her murder. The costume was inspired by vintage Whataburger uniforms, down to the custom, plaid-rimmed hat.