Out of all the numerous slasher films throughout horror history, Freddy Kreuger undoubtedly has one of the most distinctive appearances. From the colorful wardrobe and unique weapon to his badly burned skin, there's no mistaking Freddy. However, the character nearly looked drastically different in the first film.
Both the iconic wardrobe and the burn makeup went through various permutations throughout the preproduction phase of "A Nightmare on Elm Street." In addition to the alternate hats that the folks at New Line Cinema made Englund try out, the rest of his outfit was nearly different too. Wes Craven had the striped sweater in mind right away, but they almost went with a sleeveless sweater vest instead, which would have completely changed up the character's whole vibe. It's also worth noting that the sleeves Freddy ended up with in the first movie do not have stripes, whereas every other "A Nightmare on Elm Street" movie added stripes to the sleeves along with the torso.
The effects team tried out many different versions of Freddy's burn makeup, some more gruesome and some less gruesome than what wound up on screen. The final makeup design took four-and-a-half hours to apply to Englund each day, but it could have been even more complicated. In "Welcome to Prime Time," Englund said, "I know Bob Shaye had always wanted Freddy to look more melted." He explained that they tried a version of the makeup with dangling bits of flesh that might have looked a little more realistic, but also looked a little silly when he moved around.
