Morticia was traditionally dressed in a form-fitting, black gown. Director Sonnenfeld wasn’t about to change her signature look, and outfitted Huston with a satin dress that, the actress revealed, wasn’t easy to move in. It incorporated a corset, which doesn’t exactly allow a performer to bend, sit, or move easily. What’s more, Huston was given a long black wig, outsize false eyelashes, and extra-long stick-on fingernails, all adding to Morticia’s vampire-like visage. 

To give her face a gaunt, skeletal look, Huston was also outfitted with, essentially, “face suspenders,” which adhered to her temples and were pulled back behind the back of her skull. Those changed the shape of her eyes slightly, and made her already notable cheekbones stand out. About the makeup, Huston said: 

“I’ve never really liked looking normal, and I’ve always liked a faintly bleached out look, so I was really happy about the way the cameraman lit me as Morticia. The makeup was very intense. I had stickers attached to my temples; rubber bands that met behind my head and then on top of that the wig, fake nails and eyelashes and the corset … individually they add up to something monumental.”

It was, however, difficult to move around in such an outfit. Luckily, Huston felt, that was a great way to inform the character. She continued:

“It was hard to move. There were certain things one could do with one’s hands but that was about it. Fortunately I wanted to keep Morticia very iconic and still. She’s not fractious at all. She’s very settled in her body language.”

One might note that Morticia isn’t a very active character. It seems that was by necessity.