Last updated: July 10, 2026·🔄 Guide reviewed and refreshed ahead of Halloween 2026.· By Ozan Bayraktar

Halloween Costume Guide

Viago Halloween Costume Guide

He waited three centuries for one woman and still finds time to organize the chore wheel.
Taika Waititi Curly Hair Comedy Suit Vampire Victorian Era
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Quick Answer: Viago’s Halloween costume is a prim Victorian vampire look built on the red waistcoat and puffy white shirt, not on gore.
  • Red Victorian Waistcoat (essential)
  • White Medieval Shirt (essential)
  • Vintage Vest Chain
  • 3 Pairs Vampire Teeth
  • White Classic-Fit Pants

Viago is one of four vampire flatmates in the 2014 mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows, and the fussiest one by a wide margin, more concerned with the chore rotation than with terrorizing Wellington. He also spent centuries chasing a woman who married someone else while his coffin sat lost in the mail. The red waistcoat and puffy white shirt are what set him apart from his rougher-dressed roommates, since Viago is the only one who looks like he irons anything. The film holds a 96 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes (Wikipedia) and later spun off a full FX series, so most people who’ve seen either version will clock this one fast.

Items Total8 Items
DifficultyModerate
VibePrim Victorian Vampire, Secretly Sweet
Cost$90-$200

Viago Halloween Costume Items

Viago from What We Do in the Shadows Halloween costume infographic showing red Victorian waistcoat, white shirt, and vampire teeth

Viago Costume Items

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Viago What We Do in the Shadows Victorian Vampire
  • 1 Short Curly Brown WigSkip this if your own hair is already short, dark, and a bit wavy. If not, go for a neat, groomed curl, not a wild one, Viago is tidy even about his hair.
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  • 2 Red Victorian Waistcoat (essential)The single piece that sets Viago apart from his roommates. Deep red, fitted, and formal, this is what separates him from the generic cloaked vampire. A cheap, baggy waistcoat undercuts the whole look, since the fit is what reads as aristocratic instead of costume-store.
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  • 3 White Medieval Shirt (essential)Loose sleeves, some volume at the cuffs. Paired with the waistcoat, this is the combination that reads as Viago rather than a generic period vampire. Too plain a shirt and the outfit loses its formality.
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  • 4 3 Pairs Vampire TeethBuy more than one pair. They’re small, easy to lose at a party, and talking clearly with them in takes practice, so a spare set saves the night if the first one goes missing or snaps.
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  • 5 Stage BloodOptional, and it stains, so only use it if you’re willing to reapply and don’t mind the mess on a white shirt. Viago is tidy enough that a small, deliberate touch works better than a full mouth of it.
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  • 6 White Classic-Fit PantsCheck your closet first, plain white dress pants are the goal.
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  • 7 Vintage Vest ChainDrapes across the waistcoat front. Small detail, but it’s the kind of thing that pushes the look from thrown-together to actually dressed.
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  • 8 Black Dress ShoesCheck your closet, any plain black dress shoe passes.
    See on Amazon
Viago from What We Do in the Shadows cosplay costume with red Victorian waistcoat and vest chain

How to Style the Viago Halloween Costume

The waistcoat is what people notice first, and it needs to sit fitted rather than boxy, or the whole formal-vampire idea collapses into a costume-shop pirate. Without the vest chain and the shirt’s puffed sleeves, the outfit reads as “guy in a red vest” instead of a 17th-century dandy who’s had 379 years to perfect his wardrobe. At a loud party, an overdone coat of stage blood can push the look toward generic slasher-vampire, which undercuts the entire point of playing the tidiest, most mannered vampire in the house.

Viago once spent eighteen months in a shipping crate because his familiar mailed him to New Zealand instead of walking him there, and he still came out the other side polite about it. He organizes chore schedules for housemates who actively hunt humans for food. He presides over a formal banishment trial and uses the moment to argue for mercy instead of punishment. That contradiction, gentle bureaucrat living with actual monsters, is the whole joke.

Practice talking before the party, not during it

Vampire teeth change how your mouth moves, and slurred small talk breaks the character faster than any costume detail fixes it. Ten minutes of talking normally with them in beforehand saves you from sounding drunk before you’ve had a drink.

Keep a small kit for the waistcoat, not just yourself

Fitted waistcoats show every spill and stain immediately, more than a baggy shirt would. A stain pen or a spare button in your pocket covers the two most likely problems without needing to leave the party.

Viago Group Halloween Costume Ideas

Couples Idea

Viago & Katherine

Strong pairing built on the actual emotional center of the film, but the funnier version leans into the age gap rather than smoothing it over. Viago waits centuries for a woman who shows up gray-haired and using a cane before he turns her back into someone his own undead age, and a couple willing to play that beat gets more out of it than one that skips straight to matching vampire looks.

Viago Katherine

Duo Idea

Viago & Deacon

Strong flatmate pairing with a real dynamic behind it, Viago’s fussy-landlord energy against Deacon’s slacker-rebel routine is an easy visual gag even for people who’ve only seen a clip. The contrast in tailoring alone, buttoned-up waistcoat next to open leather vest, does most of the work.

Viago Deacon

Group Idea: What We Do in the Shadows Flatmates (2014 Film)

Viago, Deacon, Petyr, Nick & Jackie

Excellent ensemble, since this is the actual household from the 2014 film with real visual range built in, Viago’s prim tailoring, Deacon’s rocker leather, Petyr’s Nosferatu-style monster design, plus Nick as the fledgling vampire and Jackie as the exhausted human familiar holding the whole operation together. Anyone who’s seen the film places this instantly, and it still reads as a coherent theme to anyone who hasn’t.

Viago Deacon Petyr Nick Jackie

Group Idea: Iconic Romantic and Dapper Victorian Era Characters

Viago, Count Dracula, Lestat de Lioncourt & Jareth the Goblin King

Excellent lineup of theatrical eccentrics who all read on sight. Dracula brings the classic gothic cape, Lestat brings glam-rock excess, Jareth brings fantasy-Bowie tailoring, and Viago’s prim Victorian dandy fits right in without looking like the odd one out. This one works at almost any party, since each character is recognizable on its own.

Viago Count Dracula Lestat de Lioncourt Jareth the Goblin King
Viago from What We Do in the Shadows Halloween costume styled with waistcoat and vest chain

Viago Halloween Costume DIY Tips

Building the Look

This costume leans more formal than most on the site, so a couple of pieces are worth buying new rather than thrifting.

  • Waistcoat: buy this one. Thrifted waistcoats rarely come in the right fit or color, and the fit is the whole point.
  • Shirt: thrift stores sometimes carry puffy-sleeve or pirate-style shirts around Halloween. Worth checking before buying new.
  • White pants: check your closet, plain white dress pants work.
  • Vest chain: cheap and easy to find, buy it.
  • Teeth: buy the multi-pack. You will lose or break at least one pair.
  • Stage blood: skip it entirely if you’d rather not deal with stains. It’s not required to sell the character.
  • Wig: buy this only if your hair doesn’t already fit. Otherwise skip it and save the money.

Playing Viago at the Party

Viago’s whole comedy is being genuinely nice while everyone around him is a monster. Play the manners, not the menace.

  • Offer to tidy up. Comment on the state of someone’s kitchen counter. This is deeply in character.
  • If someone mentions their age, ask politely what year they were born, then do visible mental math.
  • His line about Blade, “Yeah, but vampires love Wesley Snipes,” works well if anyone asks about your costume choice.
  • Stay calm even when things get chaotic around you. Viago’s whole appeal is refusing to match everyone else’s energy.

Viago Halloween Costume: FAQ

Layer the white medieval shirt under the red Victorian waistcoat, add white pants and black dress shoes, then finish with the vest chain and vampire teeth. Add stage blood only if you want a messier, just-fed look, and the wig only if your own hair isn’t already close to Viago’s.

Yes. The 2014 film holds a 96 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and spun off a six-season FX series, and Taika Waititi’s profile has only grown since playing him. Viago specifically stands out as the most visually distinct of the four original vampires, which keeps him a recognizable pick.

On reuniting with an elderly Katherine: “Some people freak out a bit about the age difference. They think, what’s this 96-year-old lady doing with a guy four times her age?” On why he can’t dress as Blade for the ball: “Yeah, but vampires love Wesley Snipes.” And on the household’s wardrobe: “Some of our clothes are from victims. You might bite someone and then you think, ooh, those are some nice pants.”

Taika Waititi, who also co-wrote and co-directed the 2014 film with Jemaine Clement (IMDb). He based Viago’s fussy, gentle manner partly on his own mother.

He had his familiar Phillip ship him overseas in a coffin to follow Katherine, but Phillip botched the postage and the trip took eighteen months instead of a few weeks. By the time Viago arrived, she had already married someone else.

Rarely, and only when there’s no other option. He’s the household’s mediator by nature, and even when he presides over Nick’s banishment trial, he’s the one arguing for mercy instead of punishment.

No. Viago belongs to the original 2014 New Zealand film and its Wellington household, not the FX series set in Staten Island. The two do connect later on, since Viago becomes a Vampiric Council member who ends up recruiting the show’s vampires to leadership roles.

What went wrong when Viago tried to travel to New Zealand to find Katherine?

What does Viago say when Deacon tells him he can’t dress as Blade for the Unholy Masquerade?

What role does Viago later take on within the Vampiric Council?