Skip to main content

How to cosplay Queen Nehelenia from Sailor Moon

From the Netflix film Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal

Sailor Moon Eternal (劇場版「美少女戦士セーラームーンEternalエターナル) is the first movie in the beloved Toei Animation franchise to be shown theatrically since 1995. A continuation of the Sailor Moon Crystal series, the two-part movie premiered in Japanese theaters in January and February 2021, followed by the worldwide release on Netflix in June. 

Fans would know that Queen Nehelenia has been trapped in a mirror longer than they have waited for a new Sailor Moon movie. The 2021 film reflects the manga version of Nehelenia more faithfully than the 90s anime TV series, which made her out to be a vain Grimhilde figure more than the Maleficent-like being depicted in the comics. 

The new Sailor Moon film might have rebooted Nehelenia's backstory, but she remains the icy, evil queen fans worldwide have come to fear (and adore) since Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon SuperS cast its moonshine 26 years ago. 

Here's how you can moonlight as Nehelenia for the night.

Nehelenia bio and appearance 

Nehelenia is the mirror image of Queen Serenity, the dark side of the moon to her light. Sailor Moon creator Naoko Takeuchi mined extensively from old mythologies to create the characters. Queen Serenity and Princess Serenity are inspired by the Greek moon goddess Selene while Nehelenia is based, mostly in name, on the Germanic-Celtic deity Nehalennia.

Serenity and Nehelenia as two sides of a coin

In ancient Greece, Selene, Artemis (not the cat) and Hecate are worshipped as the Triple Goddess: mother, maiden and crone. You could say Nehelenia is the hag to Queen Serenity and Princess Serenity's mom and daughter. It's probably no coincidence that Nehelenia wields witchy powers not unlike Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft. 

Highlighting the duality of the moon, both Nehelenia and Serenity favor an empire-waist dress that drapes down to the floor—Nehelenia's gown is just strapless and less form-fitting. In a way, the Nehelenia costume dress recalls a maternity dress, which varies in shades of olive green to black in the anime and manga.  

Nehelenia's origin story in the manga is reenacted in part two of Sailor Moon Eternal

The holy grail of Nehelenia's outfit is the ivory overskirt that slits down the middle. Sew this to the bustline of the empire waist dress, and you have half a Nehelenia outfit already. You still need to sew off-shoulder puffy sleeves to complete the look (instructions here). If your maternity dress already has puffy sleeves, you're almost there; just attach skin-tight long sleeves in the same color below them. You can easily make these skintight sleeves out of opera gloves, cut off to expose your hands. 

Accessorize the lopped-off gloves with gold bracelets. No gold bracelets? Improvise with gold paper and black wooden beads, alternatively painted pearls. You can use the same materials to create Nehelenia's choker. 

Don't forget that she has some serious moon tiara action going on, too. With cardboard and metallic paper, get crafty with a Nehelenia headpiece, which is essentially a silver head necklace with an obsidian circle, dangling from which are crescent moons, one golden and two silver. Her earrings also have the same crescent design. 

Finally, finish off the costume with a lavender cape.  

Nightmarish look

Nehelenia may be the stuff of nightmares, but her beauty will make you rave like a lunatic. Here's how you can get that Nehelenia makeup right.

To serve Nehelenia realness, you are going to require pointy elf ears. It would be great to wear ice blue contacts as well, for a stare as icy as the dark queen of the Dead Moon. 

Bad hair night

The Sailor Moon universe don't want none unless you got hair buns, hun. Nehelenia is no exception to this rule. She lets her hair down to the floor, except for two massive buns on either side of her head, with curly ponytails cascading from the pair. 

You can get some pointers on how to make Sailor Moon buns, the Nehelenia version, here:





Yes, if you want to commit to this look, you will need a floor-length raven black wig: Here's one that is 66 inches long. It will also have to be one with curls large and voluminous enough for a circus. 

Remember that lots of wigs are made of synthetic fibers, so stay away from overly hot tools if you want to curl them. You can use bendy rollers or even hair donuts to curl straight wigs with little to no heat. 

Now you're ready for your transformation sequence and create deadly illusions as Her Majesty, Queen Nehelenia. Cue Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Dress as Bellatrix Lestrange

With the closing of the Harry Potter movie series in July, Bellatrix Lestrange has emerged as the woman to be for Halloween 2011. Who wouldn't want to be her? Witches are the empresses of Halloween. Wickedest of wicked witches, Bellatrix is not above placing Cruciatus hexes on you. Here's how to dress up as Bellatrix for Halloween: 1. Wand Get into character with a Harry Potter wand. Your Bellatrix getup is incomplete without it. Like its owner, Bellatrix's wand can be described as "unyielding." Her first and more iconic of two wands is curved and made of walnut, with dragon heartstring for core. You can make do with intricate  wand replicas . 2. Costume Bellatrix is often clad in a black dress with detached sleeves held on to the top by way of strings. A leather-looking corset also girths her. You can get a good bargain on ready-made Bellatrix costumes here .  But you'd be surprised how easy it is to DIY Bellatrix's costume using ol...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to Dress as Morticia Addams

All Hallow's Eve is fast approaching. From now until the macabre occasion, Cautionary Women will give you tips and tricks on what is Halloween all about: dressing up! To start, let's try to get the look of Morticia Addams, one of the reigning queens of Halloween. Anjelica Huston as Morticia Addams Now Morticia, the iconic matriarch of the Addams Family, is scarcely the evil woman pictured here at Cautionary Women. She is rather something of a paradox: scary-looking but kind (in the way she knows how), intimidating but approachable (again, in the way she knows how). She is just eerie, not evil. Carolyn Jones as Morticia Yet Morticia can give any superbly nefarious queen a run for her money. Whether on TV, film, or anywhere The Addams Family franchise is splayed, Morticia commands attention with her spine-tingling style. Sure she may be fundamentally good and all, but try running into her on a solitary road at night. Here's how to be Morticia Addams for...
3 comments
Read more

How to Dress as Madam Mim

Photo via Heider Carlos Eat your heart out, Mystique. The magnificent, marvelous, mad Madam Mim from The Sword in the Stone has the shapeshifting business down pat. With powers of transfiguration rivalled only by Merlin and Maleficent, Madam Mim is a one-size-fits-all Disney villain. This is the sorceress with the ability to turn herself from this: To this: Madam Mim can reverse ageing and shed weight for the fraction of time it takes Ursula to morph into Vanessa. In hindsight, Mother Gothel should have just asked Mim for tips instead of committing all those crimes in pursuit of rejuvenation. Hair via New Republic Be beautiful, lovely and fair, have some silvery voice, but never forget the long purple hair! The lavender wig is essential if you intend to channel the scourge of Camelot. If you want to be skinny Madam Mim, go for the longest wig . The older, plumper Mim would opt for a shoulder-length one . Either way, give the wig a little tousle for that truly ...
Post a Comment
Read more