Hello Beloved Readers!
Here is the one of the cosplay tutorials I promised you – Eowyn’s will come out Lord willing sometime this week! Be PREPARED…it will be epic.
Also, a few words on Arwen.
Liv Tyler is gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous! Her hair is gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. Her horse is regale. The scene that isn’t in the book but in the movie with her on the horse riding from wraiths (I know that was a run-on sentence :P) is epic. One more thing, I would recommend looking at this post on a tablet or large computer. The images don’t come out as well on a smart phone. 😛
Anyway, let’s start this tutorial!
Step 1: Figure out which dress you want to cosplay
Arwen has many dresses and in order to begin creating a cosplay, you have to pick which one is for you. Arwen has 7 dresses and we will discuss all 7 in this tutorial.
Dress #1: Ford Riding Cloak
Ok, so this is the dress at a London Exhibit – couldn’t find a decent one with Arwen actually wearing it (horses aren’t always great for modeling costumes, if you know what I mean). The dress is worn on the flight to the ford scene where she takes Frodo across the River to Rivendell (in the book she’s not even there – Glorfindel gives Frodo the horse and doesn’t ride with him).
Dress #2: Arwen’s Dream Dress
This dress is a gorgeous lavender color and is sleeveless unless you count the shoulder drapes sleeves (I don’t). It is worn in a lovey, evenstar, Aragorn dream that is pretty romantic. Aragorn fell into a river and he washed on the shore and fell into a vision like dream with Arwen. Pretty weird – especially since it wasn’t in the book. I love the dress though.
Dress #3: Arwen’s Blue Dress
The Dress has too low of a neckline for me, but overall, it is beautiful (you can change that, too). It is worn in a very short scene with Elrond about her and Aragorn (then again, what’s new?). I have a good pattern base for a lot of these dresses because I have noted that they are pretty much the same form and design.
Dress #4: Arwen’s Blood Red Dress
This is the dress I made for my sister Allison and a friend which you can view here. The dress is worn in the Return of the King when Arwen is dying because of – you guessed it: Aragorn. It is also called Arwen’s Dying Dress. The first name sounds happier, so I chose that one.
Dress #5: Arwen’s Bridge Dress
I found this picture on pinterest and I must say it is a lovely reproduction of the dress (kudos to whomever made it!). This gown is worn in another (seriously) scene with Aragorn in the Fellowship. I love this dress and I think it would be lovely for a dress choice.
Dress #6: Arwen’s Mourning Gown
This dress is gorgeous and has a beautiful train – just leave out the creepy veil. Which scene is it worn in? Three words: Mortality, Aragorn, Evenstar.
Dress #7: Arwen’s Coronation
I love love love love this dress! So gorgeous! It’s worn in the scene where she gets married to Aragorn (I was waiting for that) and finally is reunited with him after the Ring is destroyed. She also wears a beautiful crown to go with it.
Step 2. Putting it together
Once you have your dress figured out, you have to decide how to go about making it. Will you use a pattern or make a mock up? I used a pattern and mock up for my cosplays, but it is totally up to you. The pattern I used was Simplicity 4940 (featured above – View C) – which I believe can be used for the Blue Gown, the Coronation, and the Blood Red (or Dying). Simplicity 1551 (I believe so) can be used for the Dream Dress and Bridge Dress. For the Ford Riding Cloak, you are ON YOUR OWN (that’s like a “duh duh duh” moment :P). My condolences.
Step 3. Fabric
Depending on your size, you will have to know how much fabric to buy. I bought 6 stinkin’ yards of fabric for the dress! It was insane. I used Crushed Panne Velvet and it was absolutely gorgeous!!! It costs about $6.99 a yard at Hancock Fabrics. I had to get 2.5 yards for the sleeves (used crushed panne velvet for that as well) and if I recall correctly, 0.5 yards of Organza (which costs like $1.00 a yard) for the overlays on the sleeves and neckline. If I could buy my fabric again, I would get embroidered lace instead of organza. It would look more authentic to the costume. However, Organza is a cheaper alternative, so that’s what I used.
Step 4: Accessorize!
There’s only a few accessories that come with Arwen – but I will go through all of them. My eyes hurt. Computer screen. Ouch. The plights of a cosplay blogger.
Evenstar Necklace
The Evenstar Necklace is absolutely gorgeous and shiny :P. You can get the official one on WETA for $199.99. It is a gorgeous replica from the movie:
Or you can buy a cheap one on Amazon. I haven’t bought my Evenstar yet, but I plan to. It is so beautiful!
Elf Ears
This is the kind of the cosmetic elf ears on Aradani Costumes. They have different types of ears, but these are the kind I like. Do not buy any on Amazon – I bought a pair for really cheap and they looked horrible. I think the seller wanted to make Legolas look like Legolamb from Lord of the Beans. Totally embarrassing.
Hair
Arwen’s hair is almost always down and not styled. If you don’t have wavy hair, you can either curl it with a curling iron (very lightly) or you can crimp it. On the Flight to the Ford however, her hair is styled and I found two tutorials on how to do it on youtube (if you’re cosplaying the Ford Riding Outfit).
Also, I don’t know what this is, but there’s a tutorial for Arwen’s Helms Deep Braid. Don’t know when she wears her hair like that (she wasn’t in Helm’s Deep), but I hope it helps you with your cosplay:
Weapon
Arwen’s sword – Hadhafang – is used on the Flight to the Ford when she must defend Frodo from the nine. It’s truly an epic weapon! I wouldn’t get the sword for your cosplay (unless you’re doing the Ford Cloak), because Arwen isn’t the warrior type (which is why Eowyn in my eyes reigns supreme :P). You can buy it on Amazon (by United Cutlery) for $206.00:
Totally awesome.
Crown (Coronation)
Arwen’s coronation crown is super gorgeous, and I saw one for $700! It’s totally gorgeous. She wears it in the end at her coronation. If you are making the coronation dress, I would HIGHLY recommend purchasing this. It would give extra glam to your outfit and make you look amazing.
I wish you all good luck on your cosplays! I hope this helps you in your adventurous endeavors…also, feel free to ask any questions in the comment log and I’d be obliged to answer any you have!
Auf Wiedersehen!
Emily 🙂
