Costumes!!

[Knight of Gondor]

From experience, I can already see that many of you are planning to go in costume. I do too, if I can. But I thought it would be fun for us to share ideas, websites, etc. Of course, the best place to find out ideas about costumes is <A HREF="http://www.alleycatscratch.com" TARGET=_blank>AlleyCatScratch.com</A>, but I am not exactly the creative one, and I just want to buy my way in to one. <P>I already have a maroon shirt and black jeans. I hope my sister (who is sewing a White Dress of Eowyn's) can sew me a tunic, which I hope to put the White Tree motif on. Then perhaps a cloak from armsofvalor.com and then vambraces from BladesbyBrown.com. I also have the Elven Brooch, which I got on sale.<P>What about you guys? Who're you going as, and how are your costumes coming?

[Meela]

Hey! A fellow White Tree person! I was thinking of the 'white tree on tunic' thing as well <BR>I'm hoping to make a black dress and add the White Tree to that, instead of the tunic. And I'm creating a Palantir from a magic 8 ball, so I can be a cross between Denethor and Mrs Denethor. Oh, and I'm also taking matches. Or perhaps sparklers and fireworks.<P>I don't know any sites myself, but the site you listed looks really good!

[Elentári_O_Most_Mighty_1]

Wear costumes where? RotK?

[Silmiel of Imladris]

While were talking about this we might as well talk Halloween too. It was amazing but I actually found a dress at Shopko that looks remarkably like the red colored dress Arwen wears in ROTK. Even better my Evenstar pendant should be here this week.

[Daisy Brambleburr]

Ooh, halloween! I'm going to a Halloween school social and I'm going to dress up, a lotr costume would be great! Does anyone know of any (british) shops that have elvish-like dresses?<BR>But yesterday I saw some people dressed as elves, it was one of the scariest moments of my life. I felt like going up to them and saying 'excuse me, did you know you have bread rolls stuck on your ears?' But to be fair, their dressed were quite nice.

[Orofaniel]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> While were talking about this we might as well talk Halloween too. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>There is already one thread disussing Halloween costumes, right <A HREF="http://forum.barrowdowns.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=17&t=000200" TARGET=_blank>here! </A>

[dragoneyes]

I saw a Frodo costume in Hamleys and nearly burst out laughing when I saw that you even got fake dirt with it. (or maybe it could be real dirt, who knows?)

[kittygirl02]

I was going to make an Elf costume,but I'm being a cat/Josie from Josie and the *****cats.(it'll go with my red hair) I don't have time to make one. Mebe next year. I'll plan before hand.

[Morquesse]

For RotK, it was either Merry or Frodo that I would dress as. I picked Frodo because I already have the hair on my head. <BR>I bought an off-white shirt, vest and jacket at second-hand shops. I made the pants (shorts?) and I'm finishing up the Elven cloak. I made the Elven brooch out of aluminum foil, wire and glass paint. It was cheaper than buying one.<BR>It's not a carbon-copy of Elijah's costume, but you get the idea.<BR>I can't wait till the day! About 71 days away, isn't it?<BR>See you later! <BR>~M

[Knight of Gondor]

There is a great costume version of the Elven Brooch for only four bucks at TolkienTown.com, but I can't seem to access the site right now, it must be down.

[Feared Half-Elf]

For the movie, an elf, obviously. I'm going to improvise, I've already ot a cloak and I know where to get fabric for the coat and stuff!

[peonydeepdelver]

I'm planning on going in this year's Halloween costume, which is....<P><BR><I>drumroll please....</I><P>Farmer Maggot!

[kittygirl02]

that's cool. Josie seemed ideal for me, because I liked the movie, and the message. LOTR costumes are the coolest ones besides matirx, *****cats, and mystry men.Another one of the best movies ever.

[Finwe]

I was originally planning on going as an Easterling spy, but now I changed my mind, and I'm going as a Marchwarden of Rivendell. My costume is:<P>- a long, black panne velvet cloak<BR>- black pants tucked into black boots (that go up to the middle of my calf)<BR>- beige, linen long-sleeved shirt<BR>- a maroon/dark purple panne velvet tunic <BR>- a silver belt<BR>- my beautiful (albeit slightly small) sword Soronnaro<BR>- a gorgeous silver Elvish ring that I found with a blood-red stone and the Ring of Barahir (just because I like it, and I just bought it from tolkientown.com)<P>I'm going to use that costume for the RotK premiere, Halloween, and my school's Renaissance Festival. (Well, perhaps not the sword, that one will only be for the Renaissance Festival).

[Daisy Brambleburr]

Silmiel of Imladris, where or what is Shopko? Is there a website I can visit? I'm looking for a ready made dress to wear for a party, I need help!

[kittygirl02]

What color or style?

[Knight of Gondor]

Lots of good costume goodies can be found at TolkienTown.com<P>You can, for those of you with fatter walets, visit armsofvalour.com (try excluding the U of "valor" if it don't work) for authentic medieval clothes.<P>And yeah, I sorta meant for the opening. Halloween isn't my thing, I think it's a night for the Orcs.

[Daisy Brambleburr]

kittygirl02, I'm not too bothered about style or colour (I hope it was me you were asking or I'm going to look silly). I've been contemplating the Arwen dress in the Newline store for a while now, but I can't afford the delux one and the regular one at Tolkientown.com isn't as nice. So something like that one, really.

[Everdawn]

Wow, I should really get Elen Ilúvitauri onto this one, she is mad about costume design. Ill have to get her to post pictures of hte three elvish inspired dresses she made which won her the award for, jeez, i cant quite remember what it was called, but it meant that she won a Queensland-wide comp with her line.

[Finwe]

Oh my God! I'm so excited! I found the perfect thing for my costume. It's an ankle-length tunic/surcoat that is open at the front, and has one hook at the very top. It's got really colorful Indian embroidery on a cream-colored, silk background, and little mirrors on it. With my beige linen shirt, black leggings, black mid-calf boots, and black cloak, it would be absolutely perfect!

[Knight of Gondor]

Bumping this because of Lord Elrond's post, but he just bumped me into action a little sooner, because I was going to come back to this anyway.<P>My sister did indeed sew a tunic, but she didn't tell me until recently, as a Christmas present. It's in hopes of the Pellenor Fields Aragorn suit, or, more correctly, the clothing he wears on the road to the Black Gate. The tunic is a vinyl that looks leathery. We printed out a White Tree design to put on. A cloak of navy blue and red will come soon. She got a fabric that has the appearance of chain mail.

[StarJewel]

I put together an Elf-lady costume for RotK, as well as for an after-party. It's a long, green satin dress, chiffon sleeves, and a cord belt. I got a circlet online, an elvish necklace, and, yes, I will even do elvish makeup.<p>[ 8:57 PM November 27, 2003: Message edited by: StarJewel ]

[Oddwen]

Well, I'm afraid it's a bit too late for me to make the blood red dress, so I'm settling on making a cloak, beading a brooch, and I've a sweater and a pair of pants that will work. Also, one of my bookmark Rings on a chain. My sister, however, I believe, still has her heart set on a hobbity dress.<BR>Twenty days! *squee!*

[Sindae]

i'm sewing on a dark blue elven dress with these huge sleeves, i really love them looks quite good, but i'm not finished yet...hope i'll manage till 16th.<BR>uploaded a pic of it <A HREF="http://iceland.bravehost.com/KLEID1b.jpg" TARGET=_blank>here</A>, if you're interested.

[Enorëiel]

My beautiful wonderful aunt sewed me one of Eowyn's dresses. It's the shieldmaiden dress and (if i may say so) looks very close to the actual thing. I love it! All I'm lacking is a cape (it's going to be FREEZING the night of the premere) then I'm all set.

[Tigerlily Gamgee]

I love to see people's costumes for LOTR, so I devoted a page to it at my Line Party's site. If you want to see some of the Chicago Line Party members in costume, then go here:<BR> <A HREF="http://www.elvishinspirations.com/lineparty" TARGET=_blank>http://www.elvishinspirations.com/lineparty</A> - and click on "costumes"<P>One of the women in my group is a regular at Costume-Con and she does some great work!<P>In other news... I was recently searching Ebay for LOTR costumes and I found a bunch listed. It's someone who has an Ebay store... the only thing is, they charge around $450 for the costumes. Now, I don't know what fabric they're using, but it seems that they are making a huge profut for themselves (not to mention that the pictures in their descriptions are pictures from the museum exhibits, so you don't even know what this person's final product looks like).

[Jack]

Is it allowed to post dream of what your costume would look like if you had the money to get one?<P>I want a black cloak like the one Aragorn has, and brown boots. I like long swords that get in the way, and if I ever get one I would name it Ringy. I also want a horse but thats a little outside the costume feald. <P>Forever the only Jack<P>And thats my wish list.

[Fire-Galad]

I'm not sure if you other fellow fans are doing this but I think I'll be Galaderial(hope I spelled that right). I all ready naturally have her hair and a sliver ring with a white stone on it(actually it's a clear stone but who says it has to true to the book or movie) and I have another natural elvan characteristic, my ears.

[Gorwingel]

Oh Tigerlily, that Eowyn dress is oh so beautiful!<BR>I really want to wear my currently-in-production white wool Eowyn dress, but I am having a hard time getting my mother to start working on it again. I originally was going to wear it for Halloween. But we have been busy recently so it is still not done. It looks wonderful so far though.

[Knight of Gondor]

I'm not a part of that group, but y'all might be interested to see my costume once it's done. My only misgiving is that I have nothing whatsoever to do with its making. It's my seamstress sister that is making it. So far, the "chain mail" is done, a fabric that looks a lot like chain mail. The tunic is nearly done, just need to get the White Tree insignia put on it. Then comes the cloak! I already have the brooch. Wish I were allowed to take Narsil with me.

[Nuranar]

Imagine this...After two years of surfing sites, imagining what I'd like to do if I had time and money, and searching endlessly for fabric, I can finally post on one of these costume threads!<P>Not to imply that I'll be completely outfitted or anything. But over Thanksgiving I <I>finally</I> found wool for a cloak! I've been wanting to do the pattern on alleycatscratch.com, but I've had to wait for the material (and the time). See, I'm a Civil War reenactor and most of my money goes into that. It also means I'm dedicated to natural fibers. Now that I finally found my lightweight (but not too light, like men's suiting) wool, I can have cloak to wear at events that aren't cold enough for my heavy wool-lined-with-flannel cape.<P>So the fabric itself is made of dark gray, light gray, and blue threads, with a little dark green. From a distance it blends into a nice blue-gray. And it's smooth, but the light gray keeps the texture from appearing too slick, since it's not fuzzy like the actual fabric. I've got it cut out, though, and it flows oh-so-nicely.<P>And incidentally, did I mention I'm sewing this by hand? Hey, when you're away at college, you make do with what you have! I can't exactly lug a sewing machine and all its paraphenelia with me, but my hands work just as well. I love handsewing!<P>I got a nice pin on eBay - NOT a leaf brooch. (Part of being a living historian - I don't like to copy things exactly; I want to portray someone who <I>could</I> be there, not an actual character.) I'm very pleased with it - it's a 2-inch Maltese cross (or similar to a Maltese cross) set with several ebony-like round stones. It looks a bit Ranger-ish or Gondorian to me.<P>Unfortunately, I've hardly progressed on the rest of the ensemble. So I'll be wearing jeans (since I lack other trousers at the moment), brown riding boots, and some kind of shirt. Oh, but I do have my wooden sword - hehe. Amazing what you (and your brothers) can whittle out of yard sign stakes. (Just don't use the ones with knots in them - they tend to break right there when you're sparring. )

[Oddwen]

Well, at first I wanted to do Eowyn's green dress, then it was Arwen's blood red dress, and now it's just a cloak that I'm making. I think the material is too brown, now that I look at it though.<P>I have a burgundy sweater that belonged to my great-grandfather, some black pants, a disco-silver shirt which I will wear under the sweater to simulate mithril, my One Ring necklace, and finally I am beading a brooch which reads "Do the Wave for Boromir the Disco King". Quite interesting, no?

[Annalaliath]

I have a white mideaval dress(I know mideaval is spelled wrong I just can't remember how to at the moment) that I also have a maching bodice. I am going to wear this with whatever shoes I can find for it cause I don't want to wear my big heals buut i may get to Old Town or Clines Corners and get me sone knee high leather mokasins(SP?). that be my costumes.

[Knight of Gondor]

Mine is all done, too! If I can find someone to host my image, I will put up my costume picture so you can see it. I must again give all credit to my lovely sister. She's a great seamstress already, and she's barely begun.<P>I have a chain mail shirt (it's not real, it's just fabric that looks like chain mail) underneath, and then a tunic that goes over that. It fastens (the tunic does) in four places with little hooks. Then I have my cloak, which she fastened hooks to to close it. I have my Elven Broach on it, but 1, it orients itself vertically (hate that) and 2, it looks kind of small, actually, in the folds of the cloak. I'm looking into wigs and beards (my little beard is just too scrawny, and long hair looks hippy without a costume), and I also have arm vambraces. (Just toy armor foot guards with leather sewn over top of them) <P>It's very convincing, if I do say so myself! She (my sister) also made herself an Eowyn dress. And they get their first breath of theater air coming up in just a few short days, wahoo!

[Orominuialwen]

I'm going in Éowyn's white dress. It's all done, except that one sleeve and the bottom need to be hemmed. Also, since I have no wig, I will have my own, reddish-brown, curly hair, which is rather un-Éowyn-like. My little brother is going in his Frodo costume, except with shoes. The climate here does not let you go shoeless in December (it was -2F this morning!). Knight of Gondor, you can send your picture into the <A HREF="http://breeunderbreehill.com/barrow_downs_members.htm" TARGET=_blank>Barrow-Downs Members Photo Page</A>. There's a <A HREF="http://forum.barrowdowns.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=14&t=001068" TARGET=_blank>thread</A> telling abot the page, too.