Halloween 2014 - Elves of MirkWood
Nothing like a post about Halloween in late November!
Whenever the boyfriend and I do costumes, we pick a show/movie/fandom theme to be inspired by. In the past it was Game of Thrones (2 years in a row even) and we made medieval inspired outfits here and here. This year, with the Hobbit movies rekindling our love of all things Tolkien, we decided to be elves.
My boyfriend loves to take things to the next level, and using his knowledge of elven lore, directed me on how to make him into a dark elf. He's styled after the Mirkwood elf king Thranduil, but if he had a love for black instead of silver.
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| Move Accuracy? We throw that out the window! |
The fabric was a black faux snakeskin suede. He loves it - he feels like he hunted down a dragon and made it into coat. Originally the coat was supposed to be closed with lacing or hook and eyes, but we used a zipper for a seamless look.
Side note: this is the first time I had ever used a separating zipper, but not until I went back out to get one. I totally just bought the regular zippers like I always did, and didn't realize my mistake until I had already installed it!
The train is based on the same pattern, just sleeveless and no front closures. I made it slightly longer in the back too. This fabric was a black stretch jersey with glitter polka dots. I overlayed it with grey spider web stretch lace (found in the novelty section). I usually try to stay away from gimmicky fabrics in my costumes, but this time it worked with the overall look.
My costume was really simple in comparison; I wanted to just be Tauriel, a regular wood elf. I made the bracers and belt from Simplicity 1347 (now being sold as 1010). I was originally going to make the dress from the pattern too, but got a really similar looking one in a bag of hand me downs, so yay! Less work!
The bracers and belt were made from a faux suede and lined with some cotton twill. The bracers have a layer of cotton in the middle, and I quilted leaf patterns onto the back. The inside of the belt had interfacing and a couple of pieces of boning to help keep it's shape.
I also was going to make a cape, but ran out of time. Since it was chilly, I just took the cape fabric and draped it around my shoulders! Maybe I'll eventually turn it into a cape, or maybe something else entirely.
This costume marks the first time I've ever worn a wig. It's a super cheap one from Walmart, and was originally going to be for the boyfriend. But he didn't like how it looked, so I wore it instead. It was a lot easier than flat ironing my hair!
We also wore elf ears for the first time. Now allow me to get on my soap box: WHY, are there no elf ears available in darker colors at the store?????? We had to paint these with acrylic paint, then layers and layers of makeup! I know you can get some online (Aradani apparently makes good ones), but for our first run we wanted to just grab some from the store.
It was fun being elves for the night. We went out to a costume swing dancing event, at which point we realized a suede, long-sleeved coat was probably not the best attire! But we enjoyed ourselves anyways.
The train is based on the same pattern, just sleeveless and no front closures. I made it slightly longer in the back too. This fabric was a black stretch jersey with glitter polka dots. I overlayed it with grey spider web stretch lace (found in the novelty section). I usually try to stay away from gimmicky fabrics in my costumes, but this time it worked with the overall look.
My costume was really simple in comparison; I wanted to just be Tauriel, a regular wood elf. I made the bracers and belt from Simplicity 1347 (now being sold as 1010). I was originally going to make the dress from the pattern too, but got a really similar looking one in a bag of hand me downs, so yay! Less work!
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| Again, not going for movie accuracy. |
The bracers and belt were made from a faux suede and lined with some cotton twill. The bracers have a layer of cotton in the middle, and I quilted leaf patterns onto the back. The inside of the belt had interfacing and a couple of pieces of boning to help keep it's shape.
I also was going to make a cape, but ran out of time. Since it was chilly, I just took the cape fabric and draped it around my shoulders! Maybe I'll eventually turn it into a cape, or maybe something else entirely.
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| Better than being cold! |
This costume marks the first time I've ever worn a wig. It's a super cheap one from Walmart, and was originally going to be for the boyfriend. But he didn't like how it looked, so I wore it instead. It was a lot easier than flat ironing my hair!
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| I hid the ear seams with the wig. |
We also wore elf ears for the first time. Now allow me to get on my soap box: WHY, are there no elf ears available in darker colors at the store?????? We had to paint these with acrylic paint, then layers and layers of makeup! I know you can get some online (Aradani apparently makes good ones), but for our first run we wanted to just grab some from the store.
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| Can clearly see the ear is still slightly lighter than his skin. |
