Thursday, May 29, 2014

Where My Cosplaying All Began - Arwen

Ok, it's about time I write this cosplay up. I've been meaning to do it ever since I started this blog almost a year ago. So, here it is.

My first ever cosplay project: an elven dress to be worn to the premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.



It was the year 2012, and I had just gotten into The Lord of the Rings. About 6 months before An Unexpected Journey was to be released in theaters, I caught wind of the fact that Peter Jackson was turning The Hobbit into a movie -- 3 movies, in fact.

Playing Lord of the Rings music of course. ;)
At first, I was very skeptical. I wasn't sure whether this was a good idea, or if I would even want to see the movies. I hadn't even read The Hobbit yet, having heard from my older sister, Alissa, that it was just a prequel to LOTR and wasn't that great anyway. (Since then I have learned not to fully trust her judgement completely when it comes to movies and books -- we have very different tastes, needless to say. ;D)

And besides, I'd never been to a movie theater for a movie I was really looking forward to seeing -- and I could count the times I'd even been to a theater on one hand. It just wasn't something my family or friends were in to, so I just kinda went along with that.


However, after seeing the trailers and promotional material, and then finally reading the book and absolutely loving it (EXCEPT FOR THE ENDING), I became very excited to see An Unexpected Journey. VERY excited. ;D

And then eventually I came up with the idea of sewing a medieval dress, based on Arwen's "blood red" dress (from The Two Towers), and going to the midnight premiere of AUJ dressed up as an elf -- complete with the ears, of course. :D


Looking back, and even at the time, it was a rather hair-brained idea, really. I'd barely sewn anything in my entire life, let alone a medieval dress, complete with a corset back and pretty intense sleeves. However, I'm pretty crafty, and knew that if I really put my mind to it, I could do it. My older sister Alissa also offered her help if I got stuck (though she wasn't much more experienced than myself ;D).


I documented the "making of" the costume on notebook paper, drawing designs, jotting down measurements -- writing down all the developments pertaining to the cosplay's making, basically. :) And I'm so glad I did, 'cause now I have something more {than just the dress and pictures} to look back on -- especially since it was my first cosplay! ;)


So, after months of "work," I and several friends went to see An Unexpected Journey -- though not the midnight premiere. xD Due to scheduling, we ended up going to a matinee the day after it came out (Saturday) -- but we still dressed up! xD Yes, we got more than a few odd looks, as I recall. ;) We even walked through the mall in costume afterwards. It was so great. ;D

Oh, and of course, we all loved the movie. ^_^

The same peeps I went to see Desolation of Smaug with. :D (minus one) Yes, I know. The guy's wigs are hilarious xD
Then in February, for my 14th birthday, I had a LOTR themed party, and had all le friends dress up and do a little photoshoot, which is where I got most of the pictures you see here from. :)

So yes. My first cosplay was so much fun, and a great learning experience to be sure. Yes, there's alot of things I would change about the costume looking back now, but for my first cosplay it wasn't too terrible, right? ;)

And voila! That was the adventure of my first ever cosplay project, Arwen.

I feel so much better now that I finally got it posted... ;)

20 comments:

  1. The sleeves do look complicated but your costume turned out wonderfully :), what a nice idea to keep a record of your sewing projects. Thank you for sharing.

    Blessings,
    ~Laura

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    1. Awh thankyou! The sleeves ended up not being too hard, though it did take a while... ;)

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  2. I've said it before and I'll say it again, YOU'RE GORGEOUS!

    Also, that cosplay is perfection. I loooooooove the dress! You did a wonderful job of it! I'm not good at sewing...at all, but I would love to do a cosplay one day. Maybe in the near future...:)

    Love it!

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    1. Shucks. Faith you're too sweet. ^_^

      Thankyou! I always wanted a legit medieval dress, so it was basically a dream come true to actually make one. (: Yes! Hey, cosplaying definitely doesn't require sewing skills... so you totally should. :D

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  3. You did great especially for it being your first costume! Tuariel's costume was my first costume I sewed and I didn't have a lot experience (I hadn't even sewed clothes). It was only the grace of God that it came out to be pretty close to it. (I even have the stitchery going down the sleeve like she does!)
    I got odd looks too because I dressed up and didn't go to the Midnight Premiere. But it was great anyways!

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    1. :D Ahhh yes! Oh. my. word. I didn't even *mention* God's part in this whole cosplaying venture... it would never have happened except for Him. I'm serious. I committed it to him even before I bought the pattern (McCall's 4491) -- I laid out a "fleece," that if the particular pattern I had my eye on on eBay was still available two days hence, I would go ahead with the cosplay. If not, I would forget the whole thing. The particular seller's pattern was the least expensive on ebay, and "buy it now" so it was very possible it wouldn't be there as it's a pretty popular pattern. Needless to say, it was still there two days later and I made le dress. :D

      That's too cool about your Tauriel cosplay!! Too cool that you even did the stitching down the sleeves -- I didn't because I was too lazy and hadn't the slightest idea of how to go about doing it. ;D Hahaha! Oh yes... odd looks are definitely amusing. But of course it's all good. ;)

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  4. Ahh... I remember these days :) That was so much fun, and I think your Arwen dress is incredible! This is really random, but I thought it was hilarious how you said "I'm pretty crafty" :D That could have multiple meanings... Anyway, awesome dress, awesome post!

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    1. Oh yes! :) :) Hehe. LOL I was laughing at that as well when I wrote it actually... xD Crafty lololol... ;) Hehe thankya thankya!

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  5. AAAHHH, this is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! :D
    I love Arwen... and her clothes... ;)
    Well done on the dress, and thank you for posting about it!

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    1. Thankyou!! :D Yesss me too. All her dresses are to. die. for. :O

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    2. So how were you able to settle on just one of them to make? :) I don't think I could! At least not easily...
      So, you have only been doing cosplays for two to three years? Most impressive! All of the ones you've posted on look amazing!
      Do you plan on doing any cosplays from Frozen? And if so, which of the outfits would you be most likely to try?

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    3. Let me tell ya, it was soooo hard... xD I was torn between this one, her blue and silver "requim" dress, and her coronation gown. Somehow I eventually decided on this one... xD

      Yep indeedy! About 2 years now. Heheh thankyou!! :D

      Ahhhhh yessss I had wanted to make Elsa's ice dress, but then... soooooo many people were making it, and I really didn't have a place to wear it. :P So I ended up scraping that idea. But if I ever have a place to wear a Frozen costume, I will most definitely make it!! :D

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    4. Ah, that LOVELY blue and silver dress... {sigh}

      Heh heh, I can easily imagine that many people of the sewing type would be scrambling to recreate the shimmering loveliness that is the Ice Dress! I myself, though, if given an opportunity, would love to spend an evening in Anna's party dress - it has the perfect mixture of swoosh, swirl, spin, and swing... and the pleasing color scheme... and the detailing... beautiful! :}

      As to where you would wear a Frozen costume: for pity's sakes, if I had one, I'd be wearing it every day! (A compelling reason not to obtain one, perhaps... hee hee...)

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    5. I knoooooowwww I still want to make it someday, as well as her coronation dress... (AHHH speaking of which, I actually saw some fabric today (at Walmart hahahah) that would be PERFECT for her coronation dress (the light green one) -- and it was even on sale but I forved myself not to buy it because I knew I'd have no use for the dress... but still. Who needs uses? I'm actually debating going back and getting it... it was 60% off and really good quality fabric... uggghhhh I don't know... ok, anyway. In case you haven't noticed, fabric is a major weakness of mine... ;D)

      Oh yes!! Ahhhh yes Anna's party/coronation dress is my second favorite, for sure. I just adore the skirt swirly-ness! ;) And the detailing is lovely.

      Hahahah! YES! ;D I think the "hipster" side of my kinda kicked in for this project... but I haven't seen many recreations of Anna's party gown! Ahhh you need to get one. Because obviously. :D Wait, do you sew??

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    6. 60% off? GET IT ALREADY! ;] Especially if it truly is perfect for Elsa's coronation dress - that was my second favorite outfit from the movie. Sort of needs the cape and gloves too, though. :]

      Do I sew? Umm... to some extent... sort of... okay, not really. I've completed fewer than ten (worthwhile) projects, and none of them were complex. But I still like fantasizing that I could sew something, someday, somehow... ;]

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    7. Hahhah!! Ooops I meant to say *Arwen's* coronation gown. xD But YES Elsa's coronation dress is gorgeous!! Especially that cape... oh my goodness. ^_^ Oh -- but I ended up getting the fabric it yesterday hehehe. ;D

      Hahah! Ahhh I see. ;) That was me like 2 years ago -- I loved the *idea* of sewing, but I really hadn't done much. Just a couple little projects here and there... which all changed, of course, after I made my first big project (le Arwen dress) and now I'm a sewing fanatic, basically. ;D I definitely encourage you to try a big project some time!! I'm sure you'd have so much fun with it, and then you could live your fantasies... :D

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    8. Ohhh... ha ha, that IS what you said, I just didn't see it. :)

      Ah, wonderful! So we'll be seeing the cosplay post how soon? :) Looking forward to it!

      Thank you for the encouragement! To be sure, what you described is a potential result from trying a big project for the first time... a far more likely outcome, however, would be hours of effort ending in a big mess, leaving only frustration and disappointment. Failure is always an option! ;)

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    9. Teehee. ;) Well, hopefully I'll be doing a post about my Battle of Five Armies cosplay within the week... basically, you can expect it when the trailer releases. :D That's my plan at least. ;)

      Hahah! Oh dear yes... I have experienced that option way too many times! ;) But still -- I definitely encourage you to keep trying, though! (:

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  6. So I can't believe I missed this post where you totally dissed my entire literary opinion!!!! :/ :) I HAVE recommended some good books/movies to you over the years in spite of our differing tastes :D No need to throw the big sister out with the bath water... ;)

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