Cautionary Women

13 Wickedest Women in Movie History to Win Golden Globes

2026-07-22T19:58:00.000-04:00

All rise for the Golden Globes!

They're often treated as the opening act to the Oscars—less a crystal ball than an appetizer, but a glamorous one nonetheless.

Over the decades, the Golden Globes have honored some of cinema's most memorable antiheroes and outright villains. From manipulative schemers to serial killers, these characters prove that audiences can't look away from a compelling bad woman.

And the Golden Globes for Most Villainous Female Characters go to...

Rosalyn Rosenfeld

The only thing softening Jennifer Lawrence's unabashed chaos in American Hustle is her impeccable comedic timing. As the unpredictable Rosalyn Rosenfeld, Lawrence turns every scene into a disaster waiting to happen. The performance earned her the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress at the 2014 ceremony.

Lydia Tár

Cate Blanchett's Lydia Tár wields power as expertly as she conducts an orchestra. Brilliant but deeply abusive of her authority, she is one of modern cinema's most fascinating cautionary tales. Blanchett won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for this performance.

Ginger McKenna

Sharon Stone's turn in Casino is a glamorous hustler whose beauty, manipulation, and self-destructive impulses leave devastation in her wake. She's a tragic femme fatale whose toxic choices unravel everyone around her. Stone won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for the unforgettable performance.

Lisa Rowe

Few supporting characters have ever stolen a film quite like Lisa Rowe. Charismatic, manipulative, and utterly unhinged, Angelina Jolie's performance earned her both a Golden Globe and an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. What's even crazier? The character is based on a real person.

Katharine Parker

There's no game of thrones like climbing a corporate ladder. Sigourney Weaver's Katharine Parker smiles, schemes, and steals her way up the ladder in Working Girl, rewarding her the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress as one of the greatest workplace antagonists of the 1980s.

Diana Christensen

Television has never had a colder executive than Faye Dunaway's Diana Christensen, who turns human suffering into primetime entertainment. Long before "clickbait" entered the lexicon, Network imagined a media executive willing to sacrifice anything for viewers. Dunaway's chilling performance first earned her the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, then an Oscar.

Norma Desmond

As a faded star who refuses to relinquish her hold on popularity and loses her grip on reality, Gloria Swanson gave one of cinema's greatest performances in 1950's Sunset Boulevard. Although Swanson ultimately lost the Oscar, she took home the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama.

Minnie Castevet

Don't let the grandmotherly smile fool you. Ruth Gordon's Minnie Castevet is the nosy neighbor from hell—or rather, one working for it. She mothers the Satanic coven that gaslights the titular heroine in Rosemary's Baby into giving birth to the Antichrist. Gordon's sinister performance earned her both the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Regan MacNeil

Who's more villainous than the devil herself? While Regan is not the enemy, the entity Pazuzu possessing her certainly is. Evil truly took one of its most terrifying forms on screen with The Exorcist, handing Linda Blair the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress.

Marla Grayson

You couldn't go lower than preying on the elderly. Rosamund Pike won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy) for her deliciously wicked turn as the con artist you'd hate to death in I Care a Lot.

Annie Wilkes

Misery loves cockadoodie company. Kathy Bates takes fangirling to terrifying new heights as Annie Wilkes, the obsessive superfan who imprisons and tortures her favorite author in the 1990 adaptation of Stephen King's Misery. One of cinema's most unforgettable psychopaths, the performance earned Bates the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama before winning her the Oscar as well.

Aileen Wuornos

Patty Jenkins' Monster presents Aileen Wuornos with empathy, but it never ignores the brutality of her crimes. Charlize Theron's performance captured both the humanity and horror of the serial killer, earning her both Golden Globe and Oscar victories for Best Actress.

Nurse Ratched

Louise Fletcher's portrayal of Mildred Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest remains the Golden Globe and Oscar standard for cinematic villainy. She doesn't need supernatural powers, wealth, or violence to dominate others—only institutional authority and an unwavering belief that she knows best. That's what makes her so terrifying and why she remains one of the greatest villains in film history.

Who Needs Zeus? The 10 Most Villainous Goddesses in Fiction Could End You

2025-06-14T18:22:00.013-04:00

A 3rd-century CE statue of Hecate, the Greek goddess of witchcraft, in the Vatican Museums. Credit: Mark Cartwright

"Overpowered" is a word that gets thrown around a lot in geek culture, mainly for characters who are practically invincible.

But what do you expect when a character is supposed to be a deity?

This god-tier chaos happens an awful lot in fiction. From comics to movies, deities arrive fully loaded, lusting for universal domination and doing damage to superheroes with ease.

Many fictional deities defy gender altogether. But when they are portrayed as goddesses, they're often in a league of their own. At times self-righteous, sometimes downright malevolent, female deities wield a kind of power that could be all too rare in the real world.

For this list of goddesses, we're skipping mythological figures like Athena, Eris, or Kali as well as overt depictions of them; they belong to a realm between folklore and religion. Instead, let's bow down at the altar of modern fiction's fiercest bad goddesses.

These divine beings don't ask for your attention—they demand your reverence.

Selene

Marvel supervillain Selene in n Ta-Nehisi Coates and Leinil Francis Yu's Captain America #5

For one hot Westchester County, New York minute, Selene ascended to godhood and posed an existential threat to Marvel mutant-kind. Mistakenly worshipped as a goddess in her formative years, it's no surprise that one of the world's oldest mutants wishes to become the real thing so bad. She'll learn to be careful what she wishes for, but Miss Gallio never really goes away. Whether plotting in the Krakoan era or going toe to toe with Captain America, this immortal sorceress-cum-vampire is a nefarious presence who's here to stay.

Tia Dalma

When she first arrives on "Pirates of the Carribean," Tia Dalma seems like your average, eccentric voodoo priestess. She's eventually revealed to be Calypso, a "heathen" sea goddess bound in human form by pirate treachery. Not to be confused with her namesake, the nymph in Greek mythology, this Calypso can wreak havoc on the high seas, conjure furious tempests, and resurrect the dead, including Jack Sparrow's sworn enemy.

Charlotte Richards

God has a wife? In a show titled Lucifer, that automatically makes her a wicked candidate for this list. Imprisoned in hell, she escapes to the human world in the body of high-powered lawyer Charlotte Richards. Make no mistake about "Mum" though: Beneath the meek matriarch façade is a celestial schemer able to storm the heavens with her divine discontent.

Amara

Before God uttered, "Let there be light," there was Darkness, literally. In the Supernatural universe, God doesn't have a wife but a sister, a cosmic counterbalance known as Amara. So powerful that she had to be locked away with the Mark of Cain, The Darkness is above and beyond the whole good-versus-evil shebang. Even the creatures of Heaven and Hell had no idea this primordial being existed.

Glorificus

Buffy the Vampire Slayer's main baddies grew more powerful with every season, and Glorificus earned her place as a final boss. A literal goddess from hell, the antagonist on the show's last WB season had gone by many terrifying names over the centuries—The Beast, The Abomination, That Which Cannot Be Named—before reinventing herself in all her blonde-bimbo "Glory" for Y2K Sunnydale. Unserious but ultimately indomitable, Glory makes Slayer powers look puny in comparison, and she does it all in heels.

Hela

You know better than to mess with Thor's sister herself. Cate Blanchett's turn as the Asgardian goddess of death, based on Hel of Norse mythology, is a scene-chewing masterpiece. As 2017's Thor: Ragnarok showed, she is a one-woman army unto herself, capable of taking on Valkyries and obliterating the Mjolnir to bits. Truly all in a day's work for the MCU's first female villain.

The Goddess

The Goddess in Infinity Crusade, Vol. 1

In Marvel Comics' Infinity Saga storyline, The Goddess is the embodiment of Adam Warlock's soul. Or at least half of it. In the end, this resplendent manifestation of Adam's virtuous side is a little too extreme for our own good. Believing herself to be the servant of the One-Above-All, she intends to rid space of all sin and inequity. It took heroes and villains alike—yes, even Thanos—to stop her intergalactic crusade.

Takhisis

Takhisis gets her standalone book in The Dark Queen by Michael and Teri Williams

As Queen of Darkness, Takhisis mothers all evil on Krynn in the Dragonlance fantasy novels. She's known by a litany of titles worthy of her notoriety—the Corrupter, the False Metal, She of Many Faces, the One God, the Dark Warrior, and Shadow Sorcerer being just some of the most colorful ones. She is often confused with Tiamat, the draconian goddess in the Dungeons & Dragons games (who's in turn inspired by the namesake in Babylonian mythology). Takhisis is uniquely fearsome, however, with some scholars comparing her not just to your typical dark fantasy lord but to Satan himself (or herself).

Gozer

A flat-topped, glam-rock nightmare in a skintight bodysuit, Gozer the Gozerian is one of the most iconic preternatural foes in cinema, and you know it gets real when the honorifics start pouring. Referred to as Volguus Zildrohar, the Lord of the Sebouillia, the Destructor, and the Traveler, Gozer ruled as a goddess during Sumerian times. Alongside her hounds from hell, Zuul and Vinz Clortho, she deigns to descend to 1980s New York and test the limits of our technology. We quickly find out she's one ghost you can't just bust.

Shub-Niggurath

AI imagines the Lovecraftian cosmic horror that is Shub-Niggurath

Often mentioned in ritualistic invocations or cultic incantations in H. P. Lovecraft’s work, Shub-Niggurath is described as an “evil, cloud-like entity.” This Lovecraftian deity is also called "The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young,” tying her lore to the Baphomet goat. She straddles the line between creator and destroyer, a fertility deity with cosmic horror overtones. As the All-Mother, she's both ally to humans and the source of monstrosities: the divine feminine reimagined for the 20th century.

How to Dress Like Sue Ann 'Ma' Ellington

2023-10-14T13:42:00.005-04:00

It's hard to believe it, but Oscar-winning actor Octavia Spencer did not have her first lead role until 2019's Ma. While the movie, also directed by The Help's Tate Taylor, was no critical darling, it wasn't a waste of her phenomenal talents altogether.

The overwhelming consensus was that Octavia gave a solid performance as Sue Ann Ellington, a role that would have gone to a white actor.

Sue Ann is a twisted version of the Cool Mom, a larger-than-life parental figure with a hidden, murderous agenda. Here's how you can look like the meme-tastic, vengeful villainess for Halloween.

How to get Octavia Spencer's Ma look

Octavia's Ma costume is easy enough to pull off. A veterinary technician, Sue Ann is seen in floral scrubs that she covers with a purple knit cardigan. She pairs them with a pair of pink pants.

In one famous scene, Sue Ann is the life of the party with her newsboy cap and matchy-matchy maroon pants and blouse, with huge bangles thrown in for good measure.

But the topper of Ma's ensemble? It's her signature black bob, which you can copy with a wig.

The cool kid

Spoiler alert: Ma is what happens when bullying intersects with racial prejudice. Sue Ann's actions will never be justifiable, but it's a villain origin story that demands to be seen.

And hey, it's never too late to be cool, kids. Ha, ha!

How to Dress Like Nurse Ratched

2023-10-13T18:05:00.005-04:00

Nurse Mildred Ratched is one of cinema's most famous characters, and deservedly so.

The big baddie of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest has been ranked the second-greatest villainess of all time by the American Film Institute, the character even netting Louise Fletcher a Best Actress Oscar.

Let's just say this costume guide has been a long time coming.

How to make a Nurse Ratched costume

The story of the Mildred Ratched costume is the also the story of the nurse uniform. It has evolved a lot since the 1975 movie, so much so that hospitals and healthcare institutions have abandoned the iconic white cap-and-coat combo seen on Louise. Most have traded it for medical scrubs since the 90s.

Nevertheless, the nurse cap endures today as a Halloween costume staple. You can easily make DIY nurse caps with nothing but paper. Here's how.

If you want to copy the Sarah Paulson version of the villain, as seen on 2020's Ratched, get crafty with blue-green paper. (Or "surgical-green," as Ratched costume designer Rebecca Guzzi would say.)

The Netflix version of Nurse Ratched borrowed a silhouette from the 1940s, with lots of shoulder padding and cinched waists, and colored them all green. While it's not unusual to see nurses running around in green scrubs today, their post-WWII forebears traditionally wore white.

To show creator Ryan Murphy, this anachronism was fitting: Green represented lust, envy, oppression and violence.

How to do the Nurse Ratched hair and makeup

The 1940s setting extends to Sarah's hair for Ratched. Here's how you can imitate her post-war updo, which fits snugly under a nurse cap.

In the 1975 film, Louise wears a variation of Victory rolls, among the most popular hairstyles of the 1940s, of course.

Red was pretty much forbidden from the Ratched set and makeup design except for two things: lipstick and blood. And not just any lipstick — makeup artist Eryn Krueger Mekash used Bésame on Sarah.

She drives me crazy

While Nurse Ratched has somehow glamorized the image of the nurse, real healthcare practitioners have tried to push back against the stigma the character has brought to their profession over the decades. This just proves that Mildred is really bad medicine, even beyond the screen.

How to Dress Like Helga Sinclair from Atlantis: The Lost Empire

2023-10-13T16:13:00.003-04:00

Do you want to be a Disney villainess for Halloween but not one of the thousands of Maleficents, Cruella de Vils, and Ursulas on the streets? Helga Sinclair has you covered.

The bad girl of Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) has one of the easiest villain costumes you can gun for (no pun intended) this season.

How to make a Helga Sinclair costume

All you need to cosplay Helga is a white tank top, paired with olive-green military or cargo pants. Or a dark turtleneck, paired with tight-fitting tan pants. Earlier in the movie, she also wears a military-green coat.

To complete Helga's femme fatale look, wear a buscadero or Western holster that will not look out of place in 1914.

You can also accessorize with brown or black gloves and knee-high boots.

How to do Helga Sinclair hair and makeup

Helga has blond locks that she French-braids to the side, just like another strong female character who came out in theaters in 2001: Lara Croft.

Helga also has a triangular mole under her left eye, something you can easily draw on yourself, like her arched brows. (With practice, of course.)

Her lipstick color of choice appears to be a shade of ruby red. She also has avariciously green eyes, so go make that trip to the optometrist for a nice pair of contacts.

It also helps to walk over to the nearest gym and get yourself some toned Helga arms to show off with your tank top.

Ho, ho, ho

Yes, she came down the chimney. Yes, she betrayed people in the movie. Lots of people. Yes, Atlantis could have used a bigger audience. But, yes, she came to slay.

How to Dress as Wednesday Addams, the Jenna Ortega version

2023-10-12T12:20:00.003-04:00

There have now been 14 actresses who played Wednesday Addams, the notoriously stoic, helplessly truth-telling daughter of Gomez and Morticia Addams.

Little more than an editorial cartoon character on The New Yorker in the 1930s, Charles Addams' creation has taken on a life of her own and become a style icon over the years. With her bewitchingly funereal looks, Wednesday has inspired generations to wear their gothic fits with pride, on and beyond Halloween.

The Gen-Z Wednesday Addams, Jenna Ortega, has only added to the character's diversifying legacy of fashion statements. Let's see how the 2020s Wednesday differs from her predecessors.

How to make Jenna Ortega's Wednesday Addams costume

Lisa Loring and Christina Ricci are tough acts to follow as Wednesday, but Jenna still made the character her own. Costume designer Colleen Atwood went beyond the cartoon's famed peter pan collars and dressed Jenna in a wide array of OOTDs to last Wednesday and every day of the week.

Jenna's Rave'N dance dress is now the stuff of legends, thanks in part to legendary music from The Cramps. Atwood famously spotted the Alaïa dress on a mannequin along Bond Street in London. The sheer fabric, ruffles and layers really lent themselves well to movement required of the dancing scenes.

The Alaïa dress was just a one-off, but enterprising souls have since come up with affordable imitations of the outfit, even down to the cinching belt.

A Wednesday Addams costume is traditionally paired with brogues or Mary Janes, but Jenna's version has become associated with Prada monolith loafers and Doc Martens Jadon boots. In Colleen's words, she had to wear "black, kind of goth shoes that were still feminine, but had a different edge to the other people's footwear."

How to do Jenna Ortega's Wednesday Addams hair and makeup

Wednesday is also synonymous with pigtail braids. Tara McDonald, who did hair and makeup for the Netflix show, still stuck to that iconic imagery, but every once in a while she surprised with her own twist, literally, to Wednesday's hair.

In the Rave'N dance scenes, for example, Tara styled Jenna's locks as milkmaid braids. You can pull off this hairstyle, too.

Tara's go-to war paint for Wednesday's eternally half-dead look was an arsenal of MAC products: eyeshadows, sculpting powders, and the now-famous Nightmoth lip pencil (mixed with Dr. Paw Paw's cruelty-free multipurpose balm).

She also let Jenna's freckles go au naturel. Don't have them? You can follow this advice.

Hail Wednesday, full of woe, the Lurch is with you.

It wouldn't be a complete Wednesday Addams cosplay guide without learning her famous "Goo Goo Muck" dance steps. Master them and find yourself the creepy, kooky, ooky belle of the ball.

How to Dress Like Madame Medusa from The Rescuers

2023-10-09T19:26:00.003-04:00

Bianca and Bernard might be mice, but Madame Medusa is a rat.

Or a crocodile.

Or both.

The pawnshop owner that everyone loves to hate is probably one of Disney's most underrated villains. This, despite the House of Mouse calling her "the world's wickedest woman" during promo for The Rescuers.

She does have a wicked sense of style. What she lacks in infamy compared to villains like Cruella de Vil, she more than makes up for in the looks department.

How to make a Madame Medusa costume

If Madame Medusa reminds you a bit of Cruella, that's definitely not a coincidence. The animators initially considered reusing Cruella's designs for Madame Medusa, so this could explain the latter's similarly short fuse, reckless driving, and great penchant for abduction.

The diamond-crazed kidnapper is known for her red halter dress and pink high heels (with the occasional fur -trimmed coat) that scream late 1970s. She also favors jade earrings.

For a dash of realism to your Madame Medusa act, carry around a rotary dial phone and a cane.

How to do Madame Medusa's makeup and hair

Like her mythical Greek namesake, Madame Medusa has (Devil's) eyes that stare right through your soul. They're as greedy green as her pet crocodiles, a color you can easily achieve with the right contacts.

But if there's anything you can take away from Madame Medusa's peepers, it's that she seriously loves her some false eyelashes. She also wears blue eyeshadow, paired with fiery red lips for that deranged diamond hunter look.

Just take a look at these Madame Medusa makeup tutorials.

To top it all off, Madame Medusa wears a bouncy, bright orange crop that just adds to her maniacal look.

Diamonds are a girl's best friend

Voiced by Oscar-winning actress Geraldine Page, Madame Medusa delivers some quite unique lines that can add polish to your cosplay.

So be brave, little one. Try on this Disney costume for a change and prove that Madame Medusa's Pawn Shop Boutique is open for business.

How to Dress Like Catherine Tramell from Basic Instinct

2023-10-09T18:14:00.001-04:00

It's amazing how one dress can make or break careers. In the case of Sharon Stone, it only solidified her icon status.

Appearing on 1992's Basic Instinct as she did, all dressed in ironic white, Sharon's Catherine Tramell character played a dirty game in more ways than one.

How to recreate Sharon Stone's Basic Instinct costume

The story behind the iconic Catherine Tramell look is less glamorous than you'd think. Writing for InStyle on the 30th anniversary of the film, Sharon confessed that she was paid far, far less than co-star Michael Douglas.

But at least Sharon was able to keep the outfits — she had asked for them in her contract. That white turtleneck, complemented by a short white coat, up-to-there white pencil skirt, and white slingbacks with stiletto heels, is really a keeper.

The entire thing does make for a very easy costume. Sharon herself said she gets a kick out of seeing anyone channel Catherine Tramell on Halloween, so you better make mother proud with the right accessories.

How to do Sharon Stone's Basic Instinct hair and makeup

Sharon simply tied her hair back for her legendary leg-crossing scene. Here are some makeup tutorials for you aspiring Catherine Tramells out there.

Did she or didn't she?

Costume tip: Sharon has gone on record that she did go full commando for her famous Basic Instinct scene. (Director Paul Verhoeven apparently made her do it.)

How to Dress Like Vivian from Cinderella

2023-10-09T17:01:00.002-04:00

In 2021, Idina Menzel stepped into the not-so-glass slippers of Vivian, the antagonist on Amazon Studios' reimagining of Cinderella.

Elsa as Evil Stepmother? That perfect girl is gone alright.

Unlike her Disney counterparts, Idina's version of the wicked foster parent has a terrific set of pipes, naturally. But the dynamic is still a tale as old as time. Just like Lady Tremaine before her, Stepmom Vivian likes to gaslight Camila Cabello's Ella into thinking that she's all that stands between her and a life on the street.

How to make a Stepmother Vivian costume

Nothing about this movie sticks to any particular period in time. Ellen Mirojnick, she of Bridgerton fame, kept it ambiguous with her costume designs (a fairy tale is "any time," she insists).

In Idina's case, Ellen went 1980s Christian Lacroix and decked the actor in pussy bow blouses, jewel tones, and loud prints. The gown Idina wore to the ball, among many other memorable costumes, is hand-embroidered, Ellen told Fashionista.

How to get Stepmother Vivian's look

Want to get Vivian's timeless glow on Cinderella?

Get some ideas from Idina's skincare routine here, which includes everything from your trusty Cetaphil to Tatcha moisturizers to SK-II face masks.

She's living in a material world

Can't get enough of Idina on Amazon's Cinderella? The world doesn't need another dream, girl.

How to Dress Like Lady Tremaine

2023-09-30T14:55:00.003-04:00

Lady Tremaine's power isn't so much supernatural as a normal, everyday, human condition. She may not be able to turn herself into a dragon, crone, or leviathan, but, girl, is she wicked in herself.

Her power lies in her passive aggression and psychological cruelty, which she uses to secure wealthy sons-in-law for her daughters.

So imagine the consequences if she does get super powers. Let's just say everybody would be tripping themselves. (She ultimately got them in 2007's Cinderella III: A Twist in Time.)

Whether it's the original 1950 movie or the 2015 live-action remake, Disney's Cinderella has everyone rooting for the titular underdog and all her mouse friends because Lady Tremaine, simply put, is a rat.

Then there's the mending and the sewing. Let's get to the costume guide.

How to make a Lady Tremaine costume

Madame Tremaine cuts a matronly figure in a mid-to-late 19th-century dress with a full skirt, probably with a crinoline or bustle. If you have a floor-length maroon dress with puffy sleeves, all you have to do is buy or make this cage-like undergarment.

Et voilà! You've just volumized your skirt like it's 1800s France.

If your dress comes up short on the forearms, you can wear maroon opera gloves to give the semblance of long sleeves.

The top would not be complete without the high-neck lace collar and the lace cuffs. But it would probably look like just any other period dress if you don't wear Lady Tremaine's accessory of choice: the oval brooch. Hers comes in mint or turquoise, and the same goes for her ring.

For the finishing touch, get ready to trip the light fantastic with a cane.

Don't have a Fairy Godmother to make you Lady Tremaine until midnight? Well, we see no reason why you can’t go — if you get all your work done.

And if you can find something suitable to wear.

How to do Lady Tremaine's hair and makeup

Celebrity MUA Anthony Nguyen will teach you how to nail that selfish stepmom look here.

Another good one, if only for the Luciferian drama.

These purple eyeshadow palettes; they give it just the right touch. Don't you think so, Drizella?

Now here you can get some ideas for getting that Tremaine mane right.

Don't have the time after redoing all the tapestries and draperies? Take out the wig caps and get ready to wear this heart-shaped bouffant wig.

Shut the doors

Girls, girls. That's quite enough. Hurry along, now. I won't have you upsetting yourselves.

Good night.

For the live-action version with Cate Blanchett, run in your glass slippers here.

How to Dress Like Park Yeon Jin (박연진) from The Glory

2023-09-26T09:22:00.010-04:00

Lim Ji Yeon on the Netflix K-series The Glory

There were lots of villains in 2023, but few could claim having made us shake our screens in anger.

Park Yeon Jin from The Glory, the smash Netflix show filmed and set in South Korea, is truly one of the most enraging characters to have come out of K-drama.

But count on your fellow viewers' ability to compartmentalize their feelings. As maddening as The Glory's antagonist is, viewers can't help but crush on her fashion sense. She literally had clothes flying off shelves whenever she would appear on screen.

That's because of her outfits' relatability and — surprise, surprise! — how affordable they really are.

How to make a Park Yeon Jin costume

A Park Yeon Jin dress, affordable? To that, we say a big "예"

Just because Lim Ji-Yeon is parading on TV with designer handbags doesn't mean the rest of her outfits are just as expensive.

Remember the ombre green dress she wore in one particularly bloody episode? That one retailed for a mere ₩61,000 Korean ($47.47), according to AllKPop.com.

Or how about the yellow tassel point tweed jacket on Episode 7? It's listed at a discounted price of $140, Insider reported, and that's after several sellouts.

Park Yeon Jin is, by profession, a weather newscaster, and a murderous one at that. To make sure fellow costume partygoers don't confuse you with other K-drama villainesses, you might want to accessorize with a microphone and an umbrella. Some fake pearls will also give them the right idea.

Don't forget the damn nameplate. Dong-eun would approve.

How to do Park Yeon Jin's makeup

Thai MUA Soundtiss ST has shot this handy makeup guide to becoming Park Yeon Jin for a day.

Lest we forget, Park Yeon Jin is a weather reporter, so girl has to have makeup for all kinds of weather (or the dampness of her crocodile tears at least).

Park Yeon Jin goes through so many costume changes as expected of a fictional fashionista. It's not as many as her faces, although she deceptively looks like your everyday, harmless, beautiful Korean, which makes her a terrifying iljin, indeed.

How to Dress as Ursula, the Melissa McCarthy Version

2023-09-24T13:58:00.005-04:00

A scene from The Little Mermaid 2023, now on Disney+

The live-action remakes of the Disney Renaissance are now complete with The Little Mermaid swimming into streaming.

That means our beloved Ursula is made flesh-and-fishbone at last, with self-confessed fangirl Melissa McCarthy soaking up the role.

How do you give justice to becoming one of the most awesome villains, not just of 2023, but of all time?

Well, angelfish. The solution to your problem is simple.

How to do Ursula makeup and hair

Oscar-winning Peter Swords King got some flak from prominent drag queens who feel like the British artist's makeup on Melissa did not stay true to the spirit of the character. The sea witch is based on Divine, John Waters' muse on the films Hairspray and Pink Flamingo.

To his credit, Swords King, who identifies as straight, gave props to drag artists for improving his paint, especially the art of erasing the eyebrows and drawing on a completely new one. "So thank you all drag queens out there, because it was down to you,” he said on Vogue.

For the eye palette, he used Pat McGrath Labs, switching the animated version's blue eyeshadow for a metallic green one. He also swapped the purple glue stick common among drag performers for a white version.

Overall, Swords King went for a 1950s look in his take on Ursula, with the costume team looking to Peggy Lee for inspiration.

Given Ursula's roots in the LGBTQ community, it can be great to honor the character by taking some makeup tips from queer MUAs:

For the hair, you could opt for a white updo wig, but know that Melissa's onscreen hair is all CGI—she had to wear a skullcap during the shoot. Her locks were added in post-production to capture the movement of hair underwater.

How to make an Ursula costume

Now, it's happened once or twice. Someone couldn't pay the price for a ready-to-wear Ursula costume. (Or maybe you could.)

If you want to stay true to the spirit of the character, it's best to be crafty like the banished queen. The 2023 Ursula costume is a bit tricky but not impossible.

Ursula slinked under the sea in what looks like her own stab (looking at you, Eric) at a mermaid dress. Costumer designer Colleen Atwood and Melissa put their own spin on it for the live-action version, turning the simple sleeveless number into a bioluminescent, collared corset dress.

The collar is distinctive for its iridescent tendrils made to recall the lights dangling from anglerfish. To achieve this look, you might want to invest in wearable LED light strips to embellish on your collar. Just a token, really a trifle.

And don't underestimate the importance of tentacle language! You can also use the LED wearables to recreate the glowing circular suckers on her tentacles. For a show-stopping Ursula costume that not a poor unfortunate soul can clock, you might want to wheel yourself out, literally:

Or you can just give them the illusion of having tentacles with a voluminous skirt.

See, the fantasy's all about being fish, as drag queens would say.

You don't even have to be plus-size to pull the new Ursula costume off. It's all about choosing the right fabric. Colleen used shimmering lavender sequins as base for the dress, which she then covered with a layer of laser-cut suede. The desired effect was the webbed texture of octopus skin.

Spells, Ursula, please

Becoming Ursula is, of course, all about the attitude. First of all, Melissa knows the source material by heart, having watched countless VHS screenings of the 1989 original when she was still a nanny. It also helps that she has had practice; she herself used to perform in drag as her alter ego Miss Y.

"My inner Divine is always with me," she said.

For the animated version, swim over here.

How to Dress as Emperor Philippa Georgiou from Star Trek

2023-09-18T15:34:00.005-04:00

Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh on the Paramount+ series Star Trek: Discovery

Michelle Yeoh has been truly Everything Everywhere All at Once since her historic win at the Academy Awards.

She's off to bigger things, but one thing she would never be too big for is the Star Trek universe. She is reprising her role as the much-loathed—or much-loved, depending on which mirror universe you're looking at—Philippa Georgiou in Star Trek: Section 31, a spin-off movie from Star Trek: Discovery.

Of course our costume guide will not be all about Captain Philippa Georgiou. This post is dedicated to Her Most Imperial Majesty, Mother of the Fatherland, Overlord of Vulcan, Dominus of Kronos, Regina Andor, Emperor Philippa Georgiou Augustus Iaponius Centarius.

The fearsome ruler of the Terran Empire has such a badass lore that even Jobu Tupaki would be proud of.

How to cosplay Philippa Georgiou

Emperor Georgiou, like Michelle Yeoh herself, is of Malaysian heritage

Michelle's star turn on Star Trek: Discovery is such a modern classic that her outfit has been exhibited in museums.

Speaking to Deadline, costume designer Gersha Phillips said that Empress Georgiou's costume required a lot of 3D printing and modeling, especially in the making of her golden breastplate. (Improvise with your own here).

Then there's the matter of her halo-like sunburst crown, which looked to Asian costumes and art for inspiration. (You can check out some pieces here.) Emperor Philippa's gold robe is distinct for its standing collar, which appears like a futuristic version of the mandarin collar.

Philippa, like Michelle herself, was born in Malaysia.

How to do the Emperor Philippa Georgiou makeup

Just as terrific as Michelle's characters was her acceptance speech at the Oscars. We all watched in awe as she said: "Ladies, don't let anybody tell you you're ever past your prime."

Positive attitude aside, it also helped that Michelle continues to be one of the most age-defying actors in the biz today. She has been in a campaign for La Mer and, like many women of a certain age, swears by the timeless moisturizing soft cream.

It will take more than anti-ageing products to be as talented as Michelle though. With the right kick or a swish of the cape, you, too, can be Empress Philippa for a day (in the 21st century).

As Michelle herself said: "Live long and prosper...unless Emperor Georgiou decrees otherwise."

How to Dress Like Akasha, Queen of the Damned

2022-10-25T18:18:00.002-04:00

When Anne Rice released Queen of the Damned, the third in the Vampire Chronicles, in 1988, no one would have thought that a real music star would portray the titular character in a movie adaptation. After all, it was Lestat, the antihero of the novel, who dabbled in a music career, not Akasha, the progenitor of all vampires in the Anne Rice universe.

But Aaliyah, in her last starring role, really made the character her own. As Akasha, the R&B star was, ahem, "At Her Best," comporting herself like a regal serpent, her movements blurring the boundaries between movie and music video.

Anne truly left earth with one of the most bloody brilliant creations to grace fiction. Now that it's that time of the year, let's pay respect to the mother of all vampires, Queen Akasha of Kemet.

Akasha headdress

Akasha's crowning glory doesn't require precious stones from primordial Egypt at all. Just be your bad crafty self.

Here's the paper plate route:

This one involves cardboard and a little bit of baking in the oven.

Akasha dress

The vampire queen is basically topless except for her awesome, barely-there breast plate, which you can make using EVA foam.

Take this tip from an OG Akasha cosplayer: Don't use foil for the bra armor. Use paperclay instead.

Akasha hair

Akasha's hair in the movie is tied into a giant bun, the better to accommodate and provide something for her headpiece to lean on, with the rest of the tresses cascading down. Here's how you can get a giant bun:

Akasha, Queen of the Damned, makeup

There are many vampy makeup gurus who've been there, done that with the Akasha Queen of the Damned look. Watch and learn:

Finish off the look with a bloodsucking immortal's smile.

And all hail you! The memory of both Aaliyah and Anne Rice lives on in your very own Akasha cosplay.

As Ms. Rice would say, “The young die first; the old wither slowly; the eldest perhaps would go last. But she is the Queen of the Damned, and the Damned can't live without her.”

How to Dress Like Natacha from Nightbooks

2022-10-17T17:02:00.003-04:00

Krysten Ritter trades superhero Jessica Jones for supervillain Natacha in Netflix's Nightbooks

Krysten Ritter's costumes in Netflix's 2021 Halloween smash "Nightbooks" were, no pun intended, eye candy. In this modern stab at a well-known fairytale, most of the costume changes are the "Jessica Jones" alum's sweet burden to bear. Her character Natacha is, in her words, a "goth Barbie" who switches up her outfits almost as often as the hero Alex tells scary stories.

Let's see how you can steal ~~children~~ her look:

Natacha costume

Image via List23

If a witch has gone punk rock, that's Natacha for you.

This sorceress knows which outfits are the most spellbinding, and viewers would agree that her pearl cage neckpiece is one of the most bewitching yet. She paired this with pink platform boots that would shame the Spice Girls.

For this outfit, simply pair a black long-sleeve dress with this pearl body chain bra.

You might not know this but costume designer Autumn Steed made sure all of Krysten's outfits were functional: She could breastfeed her newborn through them!

Natacha hair and makeup

Natacha wears her hair icy blue. Here's how you can dye your hair this shade using the watercolor method:

If you're not looking for a permanent color, it's best to try on an ice blue wig.

Krysten's wide, expressive eyes already did half the job. All head makeup artist Leslie Sebert had to do was use a lot of black liner and draw wings that went out the side. She added her little twist to a 1960s makeup technique, underlining with a tail at the end and then putting glitter in between. Instead of using false under-eye lashes, she just drew extra lines and applied gold, silver or purple highlights within.

For glitters, she swears by Urban Decay products like Starfire and Studio and, for the eye shadow, something from Christian Dior.

Walking around as Natacha on Halloween? Now that's a story you'll tell happily ever after.

How to Dress Like Jobu Tupaki from Everything Everywhere All at Once

2022-10-03T18:20:00.010-04:00

Image via plotchickens

To see dozens of Jobu Tupakis, you need not jump around the multiverse. Just go to your local Halloween party this year.

It's the "Everything Everywhere All at Once" effect. The movie has really secured its legacy by becoming the highest-grossing movie for A24, the company behind "Moonlight" and "Hereditary."

But for a movie predicated on so much world-building through fashion, the Michelle Yeoh starrer surprisingly spent less than you think on costumes. As the movie's rock-star costume designer Shirley Kurata told Soho House, the budget for the movie was "probably the cost of one Marvel costume."

The multiplicity of the multiverse really comes alive in the person of Jobu Tupaki, played by Stephanie Hsu who felt at home in the Gotham-like fashion sensibilities of the villainess. Hsu flits from alter ego to alter ego in wardrobe changes that include a white Elvis-like jumpsuit; a teddy-bear-sleeved Jeremy Scott jacket; a full-body tartan outfit; a luchador costume; a pink golfer number; a Harajuku-inspired goth anime ensemble; and more attires, some left in the cutting room.

But Kurata's favorite? The all-white apotheotic look in the bagel universe: Goddess Jobu.

Here's how you can verse-jump to this look:

Jobu Tupaki dress

Image via plotchickens

Kurata is especially proud of this "surreal futuristic look." Goddess Jobu's skirt was courtesy of designer Claudia Li but everything else was Kurata's handiwork.

For this look, you need to find an Elizabethan collar to pair with a long white gown.

Jobu Tupaki hair

Image via plotchickens

This look is not complete without its signature hairpiece: a bagel-shaped bun. Hairstylist Anissa Salazar actually used glue to secure the braids that go around the bun and across Hsu's head.

Jobu Tupaki makeup

Head makeup artist Michelle Chung is just as much to thank for the film's multiversal appeal. Chung's mood boards were mined from K-beauty looks and what-not.

Picasso even inspired one of her most standout works: a makeup creation that looked as if Hsu's eye was open, the other closed. "For everything to be on her face at once—the culmination of all of her characters,” Chung told Vogue.

In Stephanie's words:

So there. Be Jobu Tupaki for a day and live your best you.

How to Dress Like Regina George from Mean Girls

2021-10-13T13:48:00.003-04:00

"Cautionary Women" is just another way of saying "Mean Girls." It would be remiss of this site not to pay tribute to the Queen Bee herself, the evil-in-human-form Regina George.

Many teen movie narratives since Heathers have relied on self-absorbed blondes to terrorize schoolyards. Mean Girls is no exception, but Regina is in unique territory (her name literally means "reigning queen"). Brought to life by Rachel McAdams (and Tina Fey's script), the empress of the Plastics spits out cutting one-liners like there's no tomorrow.

Be very afraid of her, not when she's in front of you, but when she's behind your back. Or on the phone, Ms. George's weapon of choice if you've seen how expertly she handles her three-way calls.

Think Regina is an awesome style icon? Get in loser, we're going shopping.

So, like, how do I dress like Regina George?

It's easy to forget that Mean Girls came out in 2004. That's how ~~fetch~~ fresh it still is.

However, there are some fashion signifiers that will remind you that this otherwise timeless flick was released in the early Aughts. One is the pleated micro mini-skirt, and Rachel rocked this so well with a pastel pink cardigan and fuschia pumps on the Mean Girls poster. That could have been the ugliest f-ing skirt you've ever seen a few years ago, but as with all things fashion, it's sneakily making a comeback nowadays. Get ready to see these skirts everywhere on Wednesdays soon.

The Plastics often paired their miniskirts with tank tops, and there's probably nothing more stylish than the one Janis Ian ripped where the nips should be. This is probably the most DIY Regina George Halloween you could improvise. For everything else, you just need a purple bra and shiny black miniskirt.

Another signature Regina tank top is the one emblazoned with the "A Little Bit Dramatic" print across it, perfect for your inner drama queen.

Regina is a fashion icon for all seasons. Let's not get started on the iconic Santa Claus ensemble that she donned for the Plastics' now-classic "Jingle Bell Rock" rendition.

And what did Regina George wear on Halloween? She totally boo'd those whores with her cutesy bunny ears, a sequined, silvery bodice, a pair of furry wrist cuffs, and white knee-high satin boots. Get the complete ensemble here or embellish what you already have with white faux fur.

Of course, these are just five of Regina George's looks. Like co-stars Lindsay Lohan, Lacey Chabert and Amanda Seyfried, Rachel had at least 30 costume changes for the movie.

How to look like Regina George

Regina spits her lines with a glossy pout and pucker here and there. If you have a quality pink lip gloss, you're one step closer to looking like your best high school bully self.

It's hard to imagine that Rachel wore a wig as Regina for the movie—the actor is a natural brunette. Her hair was too short for the role at the time, so rather than wait for it to grow out, the hair and makeup team put her in some fetching mid-back-length blonde wigs. (Find one for you here.)

Raise your hand if you have ever been personally ~~terrorized~~ inspired by Regina George

High school is just a fleeting moment in time, but Halloween is the one time of the year a girl can dress like Regina George—and no other girl can say anything about it. That's just, like, the rules of feminism.

How to Dress Like Narcissa Malfoy from Harry Potter

2021-09-30T15:01:00.009-04:00

So many wicked witches populate the Harry Potter universe, chief among them Bellatrix Lestrange, but there's one who brings a touch of class to her witchery: Narcissa 'Cissy' Black Malfoy.

Married into money, Narcissa is as pureblood as they come. She takes pride in her stock a little too much, the complete antithesis of her humble sister Andromeda. While she's not as cuckoo for cocoa puffs or overtly murderous as her other sister Bellatrix, she can be very classist and racist, not afraid to thumb her nose down at Muggles. At least you won't ever catch Mrs. Lucius Malfoy in raggedy clothes.

Narcissa Malfoy cosplay

Narcissa Malfoy with big sis Bellatrix Lestrange

Draco Malfoy's mother is always well put together, as seen on the few scenes she has on the Harry Potter films. The classic Narcissa Malfoy costume is one in which the late actress Helen McCrory wears a fabulous green variation of a blazer dress with long sleeves, rounded shoulders and cinched waist.

Towards the end of the Harry Potter movie series, however, Helen went full-on Death Eater, favoring a form-fitting black cloak embellished with silvery appliqué.

How to do Narcissa Malfoy hair and makeup

J.K. Rowling might have imagined Narcissa as a blonde, but hair designer Lisa Tomblin had other ideas for Helen in the role. Tomblin actually tried various shades of blonde before finally coming up with Helen's now-famous skunk hairstyle.

Here's how you can achieve the two-tone hair if you don't want to opt for a Narcissa Malfoy-like wig:

Narcissa may not be the type to show some skin but she wouldn't want to get caught dead by Voldemort without her Dark Mark either. You can find a temporary Dark Mark tattoo here.

What kind of wand does Narcissa Malfoy have?

Now for the finishing touch: a legit Narcissa Malfoy wand. No one knows the core material and wood of her wand, let alone its length, but Harry Potter canon would place its purchase around 1966, when she first came to Hogwarts. A true Narcissa Malfoy wand replica would have a silver-studded handle cover, a mark of her snobbish upbringing.

If the reigning Real Housewife of Malfoy Manor is not your cup of tea, you can always dress up as Helen McCrory's other famous witch character: the evil Evelyn Poole. Accio to that.

How to Dress Like Maria Paula from Lazos de Amor

2021-09-08T22:34:00.003-04:00

Qué personaje te gustaría ser?

Ask any viewer of the classic telenovela Lazos de Amor this question, and you'll probably get the same answer: Señorita María Paula Rivas Iturbe.

There is just something aspirational about pretending to be the bad seed of the triplets played (all at once) by Lucero on the legendary 1995 Televisa show. The Mexican actor had starred in several telenovelas at that point, but it was her turn as María Guadalupe, María Fernanda and María Paula that truly elevated her to diosa tier.

At a loss on what costume to wear to Dia de Los Muertos or Samhain in general? Trace that pinkie finger across your eyebrow and let's get to work.

Maria Paula hairstyle

Maria Paula is like the Samson of telenovela villains. You just know her strength stems from her hair.

If you have waist-length hair, you're halfway there. The secret to a nice Maria Paula ponytail is tying your hair back twice at the right height. What you're going to do next is just to bring those ties—of love, pun intended—forward and securing them near the center of your head.

Hair not long enough? There's always an extension; don't worry about it. Ponytail extensions come in a lot of lengths and shapes especially now that the high ponytail has become the hairstyle of choice for many women. (Thanks, Ariana Grande?)

It's important that you keep it true to Maria Paula though and choose a straight, not wavy, ponytail. Let it fall on your back, too, instead of draping them over your shoulders, which would be a very Maria Guadalupe thing to do.

Maria Paula costume

Maria Paula means business. Her wardrobe of choice alternates between power suits, power suits, and did we mention power suits?

Whether she's near her uncle Eduardo or just plotting devious schemes at home, she is almost never not seen with pencil skirts, which she often pairs with matchy matchy blazers.

Te confundes si nos ves

It takes a special kind of evil to wish ill will on your blood and flesh. So play dress-up like Miss Iturbe but remember that the bonds of love will always...llevamos dentro.

It's also good to realize just how far women have come from the viceroyalty years of modesty. Today it feels empowering to wear suits as a woman, and no one should be villainized for having a seat at the table like Eduardo, Alejandro and all those boardroom boys.

How to Dress Like Agatha Harkness from Wandavision

2021-09-04T16:33:00.005-04:00

We get it, we get it. You've been bamboozled by Agnes, and now you want to be another magical girl in town.

Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe got off to a bewitchingly good start with Wandavision and its totally unexpected big bad: Agatha Harkness.

This is not the Agatha you know from the Marvel comic books: She's no doting nanny to Franklin Richards or selfless mentor to Wanda Maximoff here. It's true that Fantastic Four and Hellcat supervillain Nicholas Scratch takes a bit after Agatha in the comics—she's his mom, which explains her fondness for Señor Scratchy perhaps—but the Disney+ version of her is just outright vile. (To be fair to Agatha, Wanda does share some co-villainess duties with her.)

Don't just be any wicked witch this Halloween. Be the insidious, perfidious Agatha Harkness!

Agatha Harkness costume

Played by Kathryn Hahn, Agatha on Wandavision has strayed so far from her comic-book origin story. But Kathryn still manages to slip into the boxy, grandmotherly clothing for which Agatha is known in the comics, albeit with a more youthful spin to it.

Here's a little trivia for those who want to conjure an Agatha Harkness costume DIY: This year actually marks 60 years since the character's first appearance in the comics. In a *wink, wink* at the original Agatha, Kathryn is covered from the neck down in a heavily pleated cloak that ever so slightly wraps around her while an equally pleated purple shawl drapes over the dress. She also wears a bib with coarse blue fabric and a high neck reminiscent of a clergy collar, giving her the look of a high priestess.

She might have ambled through the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and the Aughts in different outfits, but one fashion detail makes a rerun with Agnes-slash-Agatha each time: the brooch. It was also a mainstay of Agatha's costuming during her early appearances in the comics.

Now you might wonder, what's on Agatha Harkness' brooch?

Agatha 2021 wears a brooch with a cameo of the Three Graces, Greek mythological figures. As Agnes, she sometimes wears the item as a necklace, depending on the decade.

Although it looks really flowy and airy on TV, this costume can get hot really quick. On set, Kathryn had tubes of ice-cold water running in a suit underneath her costume. If doing the costume yourself sounds like a Faustian deal, take note that it doesn't take the Darkhold to hex an Agatha Harkness robe into existence.

Agatha Harkness makeup

Agatha Harkness powering up in Fantastic Four #94 in 1961 and, 60 years later, in Wandavision

Don't be fooled by Agnes' literal glamour; it's been Agatha all along.

For her grand reveal during the season finale, everyone's nosy neighbor went for a witchy eye palette of purples and dark blues. She also laid it on thick on the eyebrows and put on some serious cheek contouring.

Allow these beauty sorcerers supreme to spellbind your face.

Notice how witch Agatha looks like she's wearing gloves? The tips of her fingers are just painted black.

Hair

This version of Agatha shed the graying hair of her matronly comic-book incarnation for a wavy black wig.

As Kathryn tells Allure, Wandavision was the first time she felt comfortable around wigs. "It felt like they were realistic...like a part of my personhood."

Who's been pulling every evil string?

The comic-book Agatha has a cat, Ebony, as her familiar. That could explain her aversion and heartlessness to Sparky on Wandavision.

To stand out in a coven of Agatha Harknesses at your party, you might want to bring a plush Jack Russell terrier toy (or a Señor Scratchy lookalike) with you. Cackle above the competition or wink—the Thanos snap has nothing on an Agatha wink.

How to do Regan Macneil's The Exorcist makeup

2021-08-09T20:33:00.011-04:00

Can you believe it has been around 50 years since Linda Blair possessed audiences as Regan MacNeil in The Exorcist? The unseen enemy that grips her in the movie hits close to home especially now as Covid-19 makes its invisible, body-snatching presence felt everywhere.

Now we all know an ancient Mesopotamian demon is the real enemy in The Exorcist, but Regan really made the Prince of Murderers a character all her own. Here's how you can take possession of Linda's iconic character for your next costume party. (Cue Mike Oldfield's equally iconic "Tubular Bells.")

How to do Regan's Exorcist makeup and hair

The power of Christ compels you to...do Regan MacNeil's makeup before anything else.

Blair's harrowing makeup for Regan was done by no other than the “Godfather of Makeup” himself, Dick Smith. This is the man who literally wrote the book on monster makeup and formulated fake blood with corn syrup.

"I was faced with the problem of making this 12-year-old little girl, very pretty little girl with apple cheeks and a buttonhole nose, into a demon," recalled Smith in the documentary The Fear of God. Smith went through six different makeup treatments for Blair before he settled on one that would effectively show how the possessed Regan did so much self-harm. To that end, Smith applied plenty of fake lacerations and sores on Blair's face, as if she gashed it with a crucifix, and gave her swollen, cracked lips. He finished the look with an array of contact lens, from bright green ones to a pair that whited out her eyes.

It's easy to go ahead and put on a Regan MacNeil mask but you can almost as easily recreate the lacerations with fake wound kits, including SFX latex, or temporary wound tattoos. Alternatively, you can create fake blood using blue liquid detergent and red food coloring.

You're also going to need yellowing tooth paint to give off that semblance of nicotine-stained, diabolic chompers. If you want to get Regan's hair right, go for a shoulder-length brown wig and run a bit of gel through it for that disheveled, demonic look.

Otherwise let these high priestesses of makeup deliver you unto evil for the night. This scary look generally calls for lots of white makeup and, using fingers, a smudging of dark eye shadow or eyeliner around the eyes.

How to make The Exorcist costume

The Regan-Exorcist dress is as simple as it gets: a little girl's nightgown with white and blue print. The difference is that it's stained all over with the character's famous projectile vomit.

But what did they use for vomit in The Exorcist? Movie buffs will instantly tell you what but to the uninitiated, the puke is nothing but a concoction of green pea soup and oatmeal porridge, spewed through a nozzle that Smith artfully hid with makeup. To make your nightgown more authentic-looking, just open a can of the soup and spill it on the dress.

Now for the footwear: The Devil may wear Prada, but Pazuzu prefers to go au naturel. Simply go barefoot for this number.

Alas, these days it's no longer enough to nail the Regan MacNeil makeup: Get creative and learn how to make Exorcist bed costumes. You can create it with nothing but cardboard, used Styrofoam cups, tennis balls, and old sheets. For a performance straight from the heights of heaven to the depths of hell, you may also utilize a baby crib.

It's hard to overstate the cultural impact of The Exorcist, let alone Blair's star turn as MacNeil. It was a box office and critical darling upon its release, the first horror film to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar.

In fact, the term "cinematic neurosis" was coined because many moviegoers had visceral reactions to the movie. Horror flicks have come and gone since, but even in the internet era, Regan is still a terrifying sight to behold.

How to Make a Grand High Witch Costume, the Anne Hathaway Version

2021-08-07T17:38:00.012-04:00

From the Warner Bros. film The Witches (2020)

So how do Grand High Witches dress up?

Depends on which actress. Anne Hathaway portrayed the terrifying villainess for Robert Zemeckis' big-screen take on Roald Dahl's "The Witches" in 2020. The original 1990 movie saw Anjelica Huston in the role, too, brought to bewitching life by master puppeteer Jim Henson in his last work as producer.

Playing Grand High Witch for the night requires one to be the epitome of fashion, and the two AH's delivered. While Huston slinked around in ultra-glamorous, eighties-going-on-nineties bowed skirts and hats, fellow Oscar winner for supporting actress Hathaway opted for voguish 1960s wear in keeping with the period of setting.

What does the Grand High Witch wear?

According to the source material, which came out in 1983, the fashion of the Grand High Witch is the definition of function. Witches have to hide their claws with gloves; their toeless hooves with pointed shoes instead of comfier wide shoes (to keep up the pretenses); and their bald heads, wigs. Don't rrree-moof those if you want to look like the human-passing Grand High Witch.

Unlike other members of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the Grand High Witch does not usually wear a hat. She was, as the book says, "very pretty" with a "rather stylish long black dress that reached right to the ground." Of course, there were the gloves, "black...that came up to her elbows."

Instead of the predictable black frock, 2020's "The Witches" costume designer Joanna Johnston played with color and took notes from trendsetters of the 60s, from Nena von Schlebrügge to Jackie Kennedy and Carmen Dell’Orefice. She also paid tribute to her boss Anthony Powell, who excelled in black-and-white costumes, like the one the Grand High Witch wears in her first scene with Mr. Stringer (Stanley Tucci).

At the RSPCC convention, Hathaway wears an asymmetrical purple dress with matching opera gloves, plus a statement golden necklace in the shape of a snake that coils down to her waist, a nod to her flashing a "look of serpents in those eyes of hers...around the audience." Hathaway also wore elongated heels custom-made for the role.

How did they do the makeup for The Witches?

The Grand High Witch's face is so shriveled and ghastly that it looks "as though it had been pickled in vinegar...all cankered and worm-eaten," Dahl imagines. Also, a witch has enormous nose-holes as well as lips that show all the front teeth, with gums "like raw meat." To translate this look for the screen, Hathaway had to be with the makeup team for five hours. The rest was all CGI witchcraft.

In human form, the Grand High Witch's makeup doesn't need that much special effects or prosthetics. With some fake mouth slits, you will be giving 2020 Grand High Witch realness in no time.

Did Anne Hathaway go bald for The Witches?

In short, no. To get her veiny, naked scalp onscreen, Hathaway put on 17 bald caps. You can check these out for yourself.

As for the "vigs," hair designer Peter Swords King used almost 140 wigs for the witches in the movie. You will need several wigs for the Grand High Witch alone, but all should be coiffed affairs reminiscent of the 60s. Although the movie is set in the late 60s, Marilyn Monroe's famous pageboy curls were one of the hair team's inspirations, as she was still one of the decade's fashion icons. Hathaway also sported The Flip, the hairstyle of the 60s, so take note.

By the end of the flick, Hathaway's wig was backcombed to hell as she wanted it to appear like horns when profiled. You may copy this look with a bouffant wig.

If you have naturally blond hair like the Grand High Witch's wig, recreate that bouffant, flip, or Marilyn Monroe hairdo with lots of hairspray, which was probably every girl's best friend in the 60s.

So away with your mousy self, and go on as the Grand High Witch for the night. You will be having no trouble in getting vot you wont.

How to Look Like Baby Jane Hudson from Whatever Happened to Baby Jane

2021-08-06T15:24:00.013-04:00

Bette Davis and Joan Crawford's feud on the set of 1962's Whatever Happened to Baby Jane could be a movie unto itself. Their purported beef was the stuff of Hollywood legend, escalating into a cringeworthy night at the Academy Awards that saw Crawford accepting an Oscar that was not hers, allegedly just to spite Davis. The villain narratives fabricated by Hollywood rags against the two actresses, who had been nothing but consummate professionals during filming, would make their violent characters, Baby Jane and Blanche Hudson, shudder.

But boy did Bette look villainous. Caked to the high heavens with makeup and wearing children's gowns, Davis had the part of an unhinged, washed-out child star down pat.

Ready to play Baby Jane Hudson? Let's get hagsploitational.

Baby Jane costume

To get into the character's frame of mind, Davis played up the ugly. Baby Jane was stuck in the past, and nothing says regressive like adult-size dresses styled for little girls.

Costume designer Norma Koch won an Oscar for Davis' demented outfits, which included a series of embroidered, bibbed, lacy dresses that have made Baby Jane such a memorable character after all these years. (Baby doll dresses have evolved today into boho wear.)

Baby Jane makeup

It's hard to believe how old was Bette Davis in Baby Jane, given how age-defying Hollywood actresses have become nowadays. She was only 54 years old then.

The wizened Baby Jane Hudson makeup was all Davis' doing and it has since remained one of her greatest works of art. "What I had in mind no professional makeup man would have dared to put on me," said Davis. "One told me he was afraid that if he did what I wanted, he might never work again."

It was not hard to look for inspiration in Tinseltown. Davis paid attention to the appearance of faded stars who resided along Hollywood Boulevard. She even went out on a limb not to wash her face but rather just put on "another layer of makeup each day."

Here's how your face can get into character as the wilted child starlet.

Having hard time getting those wrinkles out? Here's how to do old age makeup as Baby Jane.

Baby Jane hair

Davis tied her Baby Jane hair in ribbons, like the character's prized porcelain doll. But it was a wig, and not just any wig: Crawford had worn the wig, originally long and straight, in an old movie for MGM. Robert Aldrich rediscovered the wig in the studio and tasked hairdresser Peggy Shannon to restyle it with ringlets.

Whatever happened to Baby Jane? To her smile, her golden hair? Why must everything be so unfair? Is there no one left to care?

The answer left unsung, of course, is Hollywood, or all the ageism and sexism that come with it. Combined, those make for a far bigger villain than Jane and Blanche could ever hope to be.

How to cosplay Queen Nehelenia from Sailor Moon

2021-07-27T17:06:00.010-04:00

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."

How to Dress Like Cruella, the Emma Stone version

2021-07-21T17:03:00.017-04:00

Cruella, now in theaters and on Premier Access with Disney+

Come through, ~~Manila Luzon~~ Emma Stone!

You could almost hear a million fashion designers, cosplayers and drag queens let out a diabolical laugh when Disney announced they would be doing another live-action reimagining of Cruella de Vil. Emma Stone truly had big stilettoes to fill when she signed up to play the enduring fan favorite and ultimate PETA nemesis. First of all, there would be the inevitable comparisons to Glenn Close who barked and chewed every scene she starred in "101 Dalmatians", the 1996 live-action remake of the 1961 Disney classic, which in turn was a retelling of the 1956 Dodie Smith novel.

And there were the stilettoes themselves. Stone had to go through 47 costume changes for "Cruella", which features a special message from PETA in the credits. (For good reason: The 1996 movie sparked mass buying of Dalmatian puppies, which were then unceremoniously discarded once the novelty faded.)

If you find you can't wear all 47 (even with all the time the pandemic has bought for fashion rebels everywhere), then you're in luck: The crux of Cruella is in her iconic black-and-white locks. Just nail the monochromatic mane, and you’ll earn your fashion spots. You shouldn't wear fur anyway, and you need not borrow your neighbor's newborn Dalmatian for a (Halloween) night out in this ensemble.

How to do Cruella Hair

The devilry begins with a trip to the wig shop. Stone herself didn't have to bleach her hair white for the role. As with her costume, Cruella de Vil undergoes a series of wig changes in the movie. But it would surprise you to know that movie hairdresser Nadia Stacey surprisingly made do with just two wigs! She simply added or removed things here and there ("like a Lego kit," she tells Elle), transforming the wig into a completely new animal each time. Sometimes the fringe is an entirely separate thing.

Miss de Vil's split-down-the-middle skunk hair is well and truly iconic, as hackneyed as that term has become. It takes on a more punkish form in the movie; this is 1970s London after all. Go for a monochromatic bob with loose curls if you want to parrot her look from the posters. Equally show-stopping is the curly bob with bangs that Stone wears in her scene-stealing scenes with the Baroness (Emma Thompson).

If you want this instantly recognizable, two-tone hair color to be a more permanent affair, know this: The black side of the hair reacts differently to the white side after processing, Stacey warns.

How to get Cruella makeup

There is probably no more spot-on, pun intended, makeup than Disney's official Cruella collection with MAC cosmetics.

In fact, for Cruella's everyday look in the movie, Stacey and her makeup assistant favored the MAC Smolder pencil, which achieves a devilish shade of gunmetal gray and an instant smoky look when smudged around the eyes, she tells Vanity Fair. The makeup team also went for the MAC Shivering powder as the basis for her pale, masklike mug.

This may not be your grandmom's Cruella, but this new vision of the villainess breathes and lives 70s punk. So don't be afraid to style your brows like rock goddess Siouxsie Soux, who figures heavily in the movie's mood boards. Or make do with what makeup you have: Resourcefulness is what punk is all about.

Otherwise, just take it from the pros below:

Then, of course, there's Cruella's doggone mad, spray-painted face moment. This involves some serious airbrushing and stenciling, with letters cut out in the same font as the Sex Pistols' "Never Mind The Bollocks" album cover.

Here's how you can get the Cruella "Future" look:

Costume

Costumer to the stars Jenny Beavan ensured that Stone only wore clothes in shades of black, white and gray in this role. With a few exceptions...

Here's a replica of Cruella's hellish red ballgown at the masquerade, for example. As Cruella costume designer Jenny Beavan told Vogue, the dress takes inspo from Charles James’ "Tree" dress.

While Emma's Cruella is pooch-friendly, one of her best outfits in the movie has to be the Dalmatian spot-studded number she wears during her punk-rock fashion blitzkrieg outside the Baroness' workshop.

No fashionista? No worries. Cruella is the most modern animated Disney villainess besides Madame Medusa, and you're likelier to pull her outfits off with what you have in your closet than, say, Queen Grimhilde.

Take note though that the 2021 Cruella does not smoke, so leave the fake cigarettes with the old-school Cruella costumes.

Hello, Cruel Heart

The world was such a wholesome place until Cruella De Vil. As long as you keep your wardrobe, hair and makeup cruelty-free, you should have a devil of a time getting possessed by Cruella's maverick fashion spirit.

Oh, and adopt, don't shop.