Arwen's Chase Outfit

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Undersleeves Underskirts Boots Gloves Bad Ears Good Ears

Collar Buckle Uppersleeves Evenstar Eyes Makeup

DONE DONE DONE!!! This dress is done!!! Yay! I wore it to Dragon*Con and had a great time! To see the pictures from Dragon*Con, click here or click on the picture below.

This is me and King Aragorn.

 

4/14/04 - Ok. I have just added this outfit to my list of "To Do." I want to wear this *extremely* intricate outfit to DragonCon in September. Hopefully it will be done. I won't waste my time writing the description because you can easily read it on AlleyCatScratch or at Padawan's Guide. They have very good descriptions and excellent pictures.

 

Here are some pictures of the outfit. The first is one that Ngila Dickson (Lord of the Rings costume designer) drew.

 

8/8/04 - Update - Ok, I've been working reeeeeeally hard on this outfit. Dragon*Con is less than a month away. Anyway, here is how far I've gotten:

UNDERSLEEVES - 8/8/04 - Got the fabric for the undersleeves. I bought Metallic Silk Organza from fabric.com in Antique Silver. It looks GREAT!!! Cut the sleeves out and hemmed them. Now they need to be sewn to the uppersleeves as soon as my friend finishes making the design on the uppersleeves. Here are some "In Progress" pics. (The second pictures shows the "true color" of the fabric best.) TOP

This is how crinkled the organza can be.

Hemming the organza.

UNDERSKIRTS - 8/8/04 - Oh, I also bought the material for the underskirts. I got some gray stretchy polyester at Hancocks for $0.99 a yard. I know that Arwen's wasn't poly but it looks close enough and it was so CHEAP!!! Anyway, I cut the underskirts out and pinned them to the already sewn bodice and overskirts. I then sewed them together in the seam allowance so you don't see it from the outside. I still have to hem the under skirts. One "In Progress" pic: TOP

Pinned to the bodice.

BOOTS - 8/8/04 - Ok, I'm making boots out of my leftover suede from my dress. I'm making up the pattern myself. It's really a whole lot harder than it looks. TOP

The pattern pieces.

GLOVES - 8/8/04 - I'm making matching gloves as well. They will be out of my leftover underskirt material because it is sooooooo stretchy (a good thing for gloves). They will be elbow length so I can pin them to the inside of my seam on the sleeves to get them to stay up. Making gloves is a whole lot harder than it looks. My sewing machine delights in eating my fabric! TOP

Here is the pattern.

Here is the made glove without a thumb and without the long arm piece.

EARS - 8/8/04 - I decided to make ears because all the ones that you can buy are GIGANTIC!!! Not delicate elf ears. So I'm gonna make them. I made a trial pair out of PolyClay. Then I painted them with foundation. After they dry I will use blush to make them look natural. Then I will make the real pair out of Model Magic. TOP

One ear on me.

Both ears.

Both ears painted.

EARS VERSION II - 8/12/04 - Ok, made new ears. The model magic ones dried out waaaaaay too fast. So I made smaller ones out of the PolyClay. These look fantastic. I put them on with eyelash glue and then got a paintbrush and painted my entire ear with foundation to make the fake ear blend. From far away, they look great!!! I am sooooooo excited. TOP

In this pic you can see my lipstick scar as well.

And here is from the direct side.

COLLAR - 8/8/04 - I am lining the front to panel of the bodice with the same suede. For the "lace" part of the collar, I am using gray puffy paint. It took about two tubes of puffy paint all together. I was going to follow the exact pattern that Arwen had but then I decided that no one would know the exact pattern so my collar just had to look close. It actually looks really good if I do say so myself. (It's not quite that shiny in real life. It just the flash.) TOP

Me putting on the design.

BUCKLE - 8/8/04 - Well, this isn't actually a buckle but I couldn't think of anything else to call it. Anyway, one of my best friends made this buckle for me out of PolyClay. It is amazing!!! TOP

UPPERSLEEVES - 8/9/04 - These are the gorgeous suede uppersleeves. The same friend who did the buckle did the painting. She used the same puffy paint that I did for the collar. Isn't it beautiful?!?!?! TOP

A close-up.

EVENSTAR - 8/9/04 - Here is my evenstar. I bought the toy version from "badmonkeytoys" off eBay. It was super cheap and still very pretty. I followed the directions on AlleyCatScratch to refinish it and now it looks perfect! TOP

Sorry it's so blurry.

EYES - 8/30/04 - My eyes are normally green/brown so I got some blue contacts from the opthalmalogist (or however you spell eye doctor). They don't turn my eyes completely blue, but they are close enough. Here are some before and after pics. TOP

Here is the before...

And here is after...

Makeup - 8/30/04 - Ok, here is my Arwen makeup. Don't worry the cut will look better at Dragon*Con and the ears will be slanted better and I will wear some natural looking lipstick. TOP