Just a few more days and it’s Halloween. It’s always been one of my favorite occassions because I love seeing everyone dressed in costumes. Since I enjoyed making last year’s Halloween blog entry (see Bellatrix Lestrange), I decided to write another one this year. For this year, I picked Morgana Pendragon from BBC One’s Merlin from my list of possible ideas. The premiere of season 5 of the show was really perfectly timed because it reminded me of how much I’ve been wanting to try and cosplay Morgana.
Morgana Pendragon
I never thought I would like Morgana. The story of Arthur and Merlin has been around for ages and it’s pretty much basic knowledge that Morgana is Arthur’s enemy. Of course, people usually side with the good guys at the start. I think it’s instinctive for us to root for the good guys and dislike the bad ones. The BBC adaptation of Merlin cast Morgana as good during the first few seasons though. This was a great move on their part because it shows how Morgana became The Morgana of the legends. After all, I don’t think bad guys are born that way. They turn out that way because of something they experienced.
Since the BBC adaptation of Merlin showed both Morgana’s good and evil sides, you can actually go have two looks for Morgana.
“Good” Morgana’s look is basically a princess look. Morgana’s makeup is usually light and natural looking with a bit of emphasis on the eyes and the lips. Her curly hair is usually kept down but she sometimes has them in a low side pony tail or in a bun. As for her clothes, flowing gowns with bright colours are perfect. She also sometimes wears velvet hooded cloaks.
“Good” Morgana
“Good” Morgana
“Good” Morgana
“Good” Morgana
I think “evil” Morgana’s look is very much like Bellatrix Lestrange’s look. The difference main difference I can see is with the makeup. While Bellatrix’s makeup is quite dark and heavy, Morgana’s is pale. The color comes from her eyes which are complemented by her eye makeup. Her hair and clothes though look very much alike: messy, unkempt hair, and a dark (preferably black) dress with lace details.
“Evil” Morgana
“Evil” Morgana
“Evil” Morgana
“Evil” Morgana
There are two bonus looks with Morgana. One is the in-between Morgana. There’s a part of the series where Morgana is pretending to be on Uther’s side but is actually against him. She’s not really “evil” yet but she’s not really good either. She’s somewhere in between by this time. The only difference from her “good” look is that her makeup is usually near pale with defined lips. Her eyes also look more deep-set as compared to her “good” look. Her wardrobe, of course, are still made up of gowns as she’s still living in the castle.
In-between Morgana
In-between Morgana
For the second bonus look, you can go for “warrior” Morgana. Morgana’s hair is braided to keep it from her face (and of course, so that it’s easier to fight) and her makeup is light with a bit of emphasis on the lips. For her clothes, go for a loose top or something like chain mail (the texture, not the cloth itself; real chain mail would be heavy), a wide belt, a pair of nicely fitting comfortable pants (not denim obviously), and a pair of boots. You can also go for a riding cloak.
“Warrior” Morgana
“Warrior” Morgana
One last thing, don’t forget to accessorize. Pick accessories fit for the character. Classy jewelry for “good” and in-between Morgana, something like arm guards and a sword for “warrior” Morgana, and you can actually skip the accessories for “evil” Morgana.
And there you have it. Four looks for one character, how cool is that? 🙂 If you’re on a tight schedule and a tight budget, I think “warrior” Morgana would be the best look to emulate since it seems pretty easy to do. If you have a nice lace dress though, you could go as “evil” Morgana.
For more inspiration on her look, you can visit the Morgana’s Wardrobe section on the Merlin Wikia.
Anyway, time for me to go. Until next time dear readers. Give me a shout out in the comments on who you’re planning to go as on Halloween. Maybe others can get their Halloween costume ideas from you. 🙂
♥ Niece
ne pas cesser de rêver 
Hey, I really liked the article, I like very much Merlin Series, but I’d like to comment, on somenthing. First, my name is Morgana, my mother is a Literature teacher obssesed with Arthurian legends and we kind of had pagan ancestry. When you said “The story of Arthur and Merlin has been around for ages and it’s pretty much basic knowledge that Morgana is Arthur’s enemy.” I couldn’t handle myself but try to communicate. The knowledge that Morgana is Arthur enemy is somewhat wrong, they doesn’t always shown her as evil, people do tend to see this way, but if look deeper into the legend you’ll see that she is more a victim and didn’t wished for Arthur’s fall. You might know that on the most popular legends Morgana beds Arthur during Beltane and they are wearing masks so they don’t know they became lovers, and later Morgana gives birth to Arthur’s son Mordered. You can research more if you please. I the earlier versions of the legendas Morgana didn’t even existed, and Arthur’s sister was Morgause, who also bed him and gave birth to Mordered. On later version they inserted Morgana as Arthur niece, much younger than him, being a child when he was already and adult and Arthur adored and spoiled his niece Morgana until she was sent to Avalon. The versions where Morgana is adult and “evil” are the later ones, so I say try to see from her angle. Moragana loved Arthur and he loved her, still she was disgusted because her aunt Vivienne made her bed her brother. Morgana was pagan, Arthur also (important to remember, he was Uther and Ygraine son, Morgana was Gorlois and Ygraing daughter), but when Arthur married Guinever she manipulated him (Guinevere was extremely skilled in manipulate people) for him to become Christina. Morgaa was desperate because the magic of Avalon would fade, she didn’t wanted her Goddess to be forgoteen. Still Morgana cast some light spells over people of Camelot, but felt unable to hurt Arthur, she loved him so much. Who hated Arthur was Morgause, who wanted the throne fro herself, when she find out Mordered was Arthur’s son and only heir to the throne, as she was the one to raise the child (Morgana was married to king Urien if I am not mistaken) Morgause turned Mordered against Vivien (Lady of the Lake) and agaist Arthur, and Mordered adored Morgause as if she was his mother. When the battle came and Morgana had a vison of Mordered and Arthur killing each other she ran to the battlefield to save them, when she got there Mordered was already dead and Arthur was dying. She took Arthur to the boat to Avalon and tried to get on the island, but she wasn’t allowed to come back, as a High Pristess she was immortal, she trade her immortal life for the life of Arthur, so he was able to go into the Island where he would be healed and in some versions he would wake and be king again, in others he would reeincarnate and become king once more. There are versions where Morgana is allowed to go into Avalon with him to look after him during his sleeping time. Thought this versions are rare. Morgana and Arthur loved each other as friends, siblings and lovers, there are versions where Arthur get married to Guinevere as part of an agreement for a Pagan King and a Catholic Queen, but he was in love with Morgana, and Morgana loved him so much she traded her immortality for a chance for him to return, and when she did it she wasn’t allowed in Avalon so kept the rest of her life living in the forests nearby Camelot. Morgana is a victim and suffered a lot in most of the legends, the one who wished for the crown was always Morgause, Morgana only wished for her people to be allowed to live in peace. I didn’t mentioned Merlin in this text, but he was a close friend of Vivienne and Morgana, he raised Arthur and helped him during Morgana speels, which were mostly harmless. I understand Morgana very well because I tend to get bitter sometimes, if you wish there a lots of books about the arthurian legend, The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley is my mother’s and my favorite version because it tell the story from the pov of the femeale characters of Arthurian legends, if I am not mistaken you can find the full movie on Youtube, just look for Mists of Avalon, it is really great.
I loved your article, really true to BBC Merlin’s Morgana wardrobe. Sorry for the big text, won’t even know if you read, but I tried. Have a good week!
Please don’t be sorry. I totes love reading about these kinds of things. I have to say, this is really insightful and informational. Awesomesauce. 🙂
And I actually did read everything. 🙂
It was nice to meet you (sort of) Morgana. 🙂
You are the only person I have ever heard of who knows Arthurian Legend as well as I do. You cannot know how happy your comment made me. 🙂
Morgana I love your comment and I achully know morgana was NOT originally evil and not Arthur’s enemy also I know alot about Arthurian legand myself I knew most of what you said and all of the begining of what you said and also Morgana’s name wasn’t always Morgana in some of the stories her name was Morgan le fey.