As a fan of FIREFLY and its related movie SERENITY, I used my jewelry-making skills to create replicas (or as close as I could get) for cosplayers and fellow Browncoats. This is a jewelry reference page for the character Inara Serra, with information about how I made some of these pieces. I also have pages for Kaylee and Saffron.
For anyone who doesn’t want to make jewelry, google “India wedding jewelry” (not “indian jewelry” or you’ll get something North American) or “Victorian jewelry” and you’ll find many beautiful items that could easily fit Inara’s style, even if they’re not identical to what she wears on screen.
Inara is a companion, something of a celebrity in the ‘Verse, and she wears a lot of jewelry, so this will be a long one.
Episode One: Serenity
In the pilot episode and opening credits, Inara is seen wearing a necklace with a dark, diamond-shaped pendant.
Inara also wears a pair of earrings during this episode. They appear to be the same earrings she later wears in “Jaynestown,” which I will cover in that section below.
Episode Two: The Train Job
Inara wears another slave bracelet (possibly the same one from episode one) while brushing Kaylee’s hair, and in other scenes she wears the same necklace she wore with her purple dress in the pilot episode.
Episode Three: Bushwhacked
Inara wears a new necklace in this episode. It appears to be made with a double strand of carnelian beads and a stone pendant, possibly on knotted orange silk cord. At least, that’s the way I made similar necklaces, which you can see inset and below. There’s a glint of earrings here and there but I can’t get a clear screenshot of them. She’s also wearing the slave bracelet again.
Episode Four: Shindig
At the beginning of the episode, Inara is slumming it with Mal and Jayne in a pool hall. The scene is dark and it’s hard to get a good look at her jewelry, but I attempted to make something similar, shown inset.
At the ball, we see Inara in a beautiful dress, necklace, earrings and tiara. This is another set of jewelry I’ve never attempted to make. To be honest, it’s not because I couldn’t but because I doubt anyone would want to pay what it would cost in time and materials to make.
At the end of “Shindig,” Inara attends the duel wearing a necklace of what looks like large black beads. I made something similar (shown inset) with glass beads and brass bead caps. She also seems to be wearing the chandelier earrings from “The Train Job.”
Later, back on the ship, Inara seems to be wearing the same diamond-shaped pendant she wore in the pilot, or one that is similar, and a pair of earrings we haven’t seen before.
Episode Five: Safe
Far as I can tell, Inara only wears one necklace and one pair of earrings in “Safe.” They are difficult to see clearly, but they appear to be a red and beige (pearl?) beaded collar and matching earrings.
Episode Six: Our Mrs. Reynolds
Inara wears one necklace throughout their first encounter with Saffron. It appears to be one strand or possibly a double strand of stone chips and a stone pendant. My version is shown inset.
She also wears the slave bracelet again in this episode, on her left hand, and there’s a glimpse of earrings but they’re difficult to see clearly because they’re covered by her hair.
Episode Seven: Jaynestown
Inara’s appearance in “Jaynestown” is a very popular cosplay, based on the number of earrings and necklaces I’ve made for this one. Her earrings appear to be purple glass or amethyst stone, with brass or gold cone beadcaps and filigree dangles.
I made the necklace using gold filigree and attaching a black oval bead to the center, with matching dangles of black beads and filigree cones.
At the end of the episode, she seems to be wearing the diamond-shaped pendant that she wore in the pilot and in “Shindig.”
Episode Eight: Out of Gas
Inara wears the necklace from “Our Mrs. Reynolds” throughout this episode, and during the flashback she’s wearing her slave bracelet and the black necklace from the duel scene in “Shindig.” But we see a new pair of earrings, which appear to be silver with garnet stones.
Episode Nine: Ariel
In the opening scene, Inara wears her chandelier earrings from “The Train Job” and the duel in “Shindig,” along with an adornment that might be a brooch or might be part of her top.
At the end of the episode, she wears some earrings we haven’t seen before but look similar in shape and style to her pendant in “Jaynestown,” and a long, colorful beaded necklace that seems to be wrapped several times around her neck and ends with some long tassels.
The necklace could possibly be two very long beaded strands that are tied in the front, wrapped around her neck, and then hanging in front of her shoulders, since they appear to be hanging down the front of her coat as well. The beads look like India glass, to me, which can be found in vibrant colors but slightly irregular shapes, with a murky quality like sea glass.
Episode Ten: War Stories
In “War Stories,” we revisit many of the pieces Inara wore in previous episodes, including the “Shindig” duel scene necklace, the “Our Mrs. Reynolds” necklace, and the double-strand stone necklace from “Bushwhacked.”
Episode Eleven: Trash
During her conversation and attempted tea party with Mal, Inara wears an elaborate collar and matching earrings. This isn’t something I’ve attempted to make, but I’ve seen similar items when googling “Turkish silver collar” or “India silver wedding necklace.”
Later, we see Inara wearing what appear to be a matching necklace and earrings, with oval stones and long sparkling cascades of beads. I love this one and have made a few pieces of jewelry inspired by it. In the picture below, my daughter is modeling the necklace (her ears aren’t pierced so she’s not wearing the earrings).
At the end of the episode, when Inara leaves Saffron in the trash and returns to a naked Mal, she seems to be wearing a necklace and earrings we haven’t seen before, but I couldn’t get any decent screenshots of them.
Episode Twelve: The Message
Inara wears an elaborate beaded necklace which I’ve seen online under various descriptions including “Victorian,” “burlesque,” “baroque” and “beaded choker.” Because this necklace, or something very much like it, is widely available, and because it would be a complex and expensive item for me to create, I’ve never made one.
I’ve seen them going for anywhere from $25 to $200 online. The difference in price is likely due to the difference in where and how they are made, and what materials are used, such as Swarovski crystal vs glass vs plastic, for example.
She’s also wearing some large, elaborate earrings with red glass to match the necklace. Back on the ship, she wears her diamond-shaped pendant from the pilot, “Shindig” and “Our Mrs. Reynolds.”
Episode Thirteen: Heart of Gold
When we first see Inara in “Heart of Gold,” she’s wearing a necklace we haven’t seen before. It reminds me of something Victorian. I can’t tell if the strands are beaded, ribbon, leather or something else.
For the rest of the episode, she wears the double strand of possibly carnelian stones that she wore in “Bushwhacked” and “War Stories.”
Episode Fourteen: Objects in Space
Inara wears a new necklace in this one, which appears to be a brass or gold disc with three metal teardrops hanging from it. The disc has a floral pattern and the drops look like they’re decorated with maybe birds or flowers.
It looks like she’s wearing another necklace while she talks to Mal outside the infirmary at the end of the episode, but it’s hard to tell because the scene is so dark.
The Movie: Serenity
Inara wears a lot of jewelry in the movie Serenity (2005) but several of the items have brief screen time and are difficult to see. I’ve done my best to find photos of them, below.
The items with the most screen time are a gold necklace and red jeweled earrings she wears when Mal visits her and they escape the Operative together, and a double drop necklace with chandelier earrings that she wears after boarding Serenity.
The double drop necklace is a bit confusing because it’s worn differently in three different scenes. In the photo below, on the left, there’s just one bead to the left of the drops. Center, there appear to be two beads to the left of the drops, which might actually just be one drop and a shadow(?) not two drops. And right, there are no beads to the left of the drops, and the drops are not equal lengths.
My attempt to make something similar is shown below, using leather, garnet and smoky quartz.
Hope this is helpful to cosplayers, fans and crafters! If you have a moment, please check out my crafting and gaming channels on YouTube, and my shop JunkWitch.com. Thanks!
~ J.L. Hilton
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Screenshots courtesy of cap-that.com
