Ashley Examples - California, USA
Pattern:
Drafted from scratch
Fabric: Handpainted tapestry and bridal fabric.
Construction notes intro:
I decided I wanted to make this dress because I really liked the collared
look of this dress - it's a nice compromise between the roughness of her
chase dress and the elegance of her more formal gowns. So I searched around
for fabric that would be suitable for it. And I searched some more. And I
searched some more. And I found NOTHING. I eventually ended up going back to
a fabric I had seen early on and rejected. It was a bit heavy, but it was a
great color (sometimes it looked blue, sometimes purple, sometimes almost
mauve), and the designs had a very similar feel to the designs of the
original fabric. The only problem was that is was a solid color brocade. I
didn't really feel that the pattern was differentiated enough from its
background to give it the right feel. So I did what had to be done - I
painted it.
Dress
I started by drafting the pattern, because I didn't want to paint an inch
more than was necessary. After I had made a mockup out of some dollar store
fabric, I cut out the pieces and started painting over the designs of the
fabric with silver to make them stand out. I found that the silver fabric
paint didn't really have enough shine to it - I wanted something more the
look of a silver leafing pen. Unfortunately, the silver ink just bleeds
right into the fabric, so it became a two step process - paint, and then ink
over the top. My mother was kind enough to come and help me with this
tedious task, I don't think I could possibly have done it in time to wear to
ComicCon without her help.
Then
came the sash. I knew I wouldn't have time to embroider it, but I wanted
something a bit more fancy looking than fabric paint, so I decided that the
best route would be to sew cording on to create the pattern. I free handed
the pattern on with tailors chalk, and then stitched silver roping along the
lines I had drawn.
Ultimately, this decision carried over into the overdress as well, and I
used the same silver cord to do the designs on the bodice of the dress.
For the sash and the underdress, I found a nice imitation silk that was
pink with a purple underside. I decided the underside was just what I wanted
for my sash and underdress. Although it is obvious in some of the shots from
the movie that the fabric of the sash and the fabric for the underdress are
different, in the promotional shots the two fabrics really look the same, so
I felt okay about using the same fabric for both.
Wig
The wig was actually the first thing I bought. My wig is a 24 inch wig
from witchwigs.com called Ashley850 (I thought it was fun that the wig and I
had the same name), in dark brown. I'm actually not quite happy with it,
it's a little too dark and not long enough, but it works and looks
reasonably natural.
Circlet
After multiple attempts at crafting the circlet out of fimo, I decided to
give it up and buy a little bridal circlet. I really wanted to get the
official one from Noble Collection, but they said it wouldn't ship until
August - way after ComicCon. Imagine my joy to see one sitting at the Noble
Collection booth when I got to the convention on Friday! I think I surprised
the clerk by walking up and saying "I'll take one of those, please," and
plopping my credit card down.
Shoes
I'm sure Arwen wears some sort of nifty boots under this dress, but since
you can't really see her feet, I took a pair of white satin heels I had and
painted them with little leaf designs to match the dress.
Check out the rest of her costumes here:
http://forums.cosplay.com/costume.php?s=&action=list&userid=2107
I
Elf 1 | Elf 2 | Elf 3 | Elf 4 | Elf 5 | Elf 6 | Elf 7 | Elf 8 | Elf 9 | Elf 10 | Elf 11 | Elf 12 | Elf 13 | Elf 14 | Elf 15
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This page was last updated
11/21/09
