A Guide to Making Your Own Tauriel Costume

I've been wanting to make a tutorial for those wanting to cosplay Tauriel for a very long time now, and yesterday I got the final push to do so when Simplicity *finally* released an actual pattern for one of Tauriel's costumes! (More on that later...)

Any and all questions are welcome (and encouraged!) in the comments, and I promise to answer them to the best of my ability! :)

So, without further ado, here's A Guide to Making Your Own Tauriel Cosplay! :D

Step 1: Choose Your Dress

Which of Tauriel's dresses do you want to make? I'm only going to feature the two main dresses (with their variations) in Desolation of Smaug here.

Costume 1 (Variation 1) - Spider Dress

This is the dress that Simplicity has a sewing pattern for.

Costume 1 (Variation 2) - Spider Dress

This simply has a different leather bodice than the first (and she threw on a scarf).

Costume 2 (Variation 1) - Archer Dress

I can give the most help on this one, as this is the dress of hers that I made.

Costume 2 (Variation 2) - Archer Dress

This is just the first dress, with the addition of a green "hoodie" type thing.

Step 2: Buy the Pattern OR Make a Mock-up

This is where it starts getting tricky, depending which route you want to go.

If you're looking for an easy out, I advise you to buy the pattern for the first variation of her "spider dress" and make that.

The pattern is Simplicity 1347:

From what I've seen of it, the pattern isn't half bad. I would advise you to keep the edge of the skirt straight instead of ripped up (what's with that, anyway? o_O), but otherwise it's quite nice, really. It also comes with patterns for the arm bracers and corset/belt.

Now, if you want to do a different dress, or simply don't like this pattern, I'd advise making a mock-up of the costume you want to make.
You can use a pattern to help you figure out sizing, sleeves, that sort of thing, as a basis -- elaborating and deviating in the places you want to change. Just keep messing around with it until you like what you see. Then you can use this mock-up as your pattern for the real costume!

Here's a couple drawings I made to help me with making my mock-up for Tauriel's archer dress (costume 2 - variation 1).

Variation 1 - Princess seam bodice.

Variation 2 - Two-piece bodice.

Split Skirt Diagram

Step 3: Buy Fabric

This can be hard. You'll probably need to do some research before finding *the* fabric. Don't be afraid to look in odd places to find it, too -- the leather I used for my bodice is upholstery (used for furniture, etc.) vinyl, and I got the material for my dress at a thrift store!

If you can't find what you're looking for in any stores near you, I recommend trying Fabric.com or Amazon.com. Both have great prices and a huge selection of fabrics! And from Fabric.com, you can even order a swatch of the material before you commit to buying several yards, in case you don't end up liking it.

Types of Fabric:

The spider dress fabric is crinkle taffeta, or something similar, with a bit of a satin finish.

After much debate from only seeing the online pictures of the archer dress, I had the opportunity to see the dress in person in New Zealand, and I discovered it actually is made of emerald suade! The second variation of the dress is hunter green, burlap-style hoodie, which extends into a split skirt. The top of the first variation is used underneath this.

For my archer dress, I used polyester, which looked nice and worked well, but isn't extremely screen-accurate. Simple cotton broadcloth would work as well, but it isn't very drape-y.

Basically, if you're going for Variation 1 of the archer dress, go with suede for the dress. If you're making Variation 2, use a thick, burlap-y material for the overdress (hoodie + skirt), then suede for the shirt underneath the leather bodice.

Amounts to Buy:

For both styles of Tauriel's dress, you'll need about 3 yards of 60 inch wide fabric, OR about 5 yards of 45 inch wide fabric. (I used 60" so I can't be sure about how much you'll need exactly of 45" fabric, but I'm sure you'd be safe with 5-6 yards.) If you're planning on putting in a lining, you'll be needing more than this, though. I skipped having a lining in my dress though, because, frankly, I hate them. xD

The bodice and bracers will require 1 yard of 60 inch wide fabric. If you go with 45 inch wide fabric, you might want to get 1.5 yards, just to be safe. I bought 2 yards of 60", and it was wayyyyy more than necessary -- but the material is really neat, so I've enjoyed using the leftovers for other projects. :)

Some quick tips about leather for the bracers and bodice:

Like I said, I used upholstery vinyl that I ordered from Amazon. (It was this stuff in case you were wondering, which I ended up darkening with black shoe polish.) I highly recommend upholstery leather for armor -- it has the same thickness as real leather at a fraction of the cost, and is 900% easier to work with.

If you don't want to go the upholstery leather route, you can also get apparel-grade vinyl/leather instead. If you want it to be thicker, just attach it to craft foam. I've never done this, personally, but there are tons of tutorials for it all over the internet -- a quick Google search will bring up exactly what you're looking for. :)

And then, of course, if you're really ambitious, you can go with real leather, of course. While I'm sure this would look fabulous, don't count on me for help... ;)

(sorry, couldn't resist xD)

Back to business.

Step 4: Accessorize!

Okay, yeah, not gonna lie, this is one of my favorite parts about cosplaying -- adding all the fun details that make the costume awesome. :D

Boots:

Again, time to do some shopping and Googling. It might take you some time to find the perfect shoes to compliment your Tauriel costume. Here's Tauriel's actual boots:

Two things that are a must to keep the costume as accurate as possible (without going crazy): Knee high, heel less than 1 inch, dark brown, and no prominent buckles or zippers or studs or anything like that that elves just wouldn't have on their footwear. ;)

As for where to find boots such as this, I recommend Amazon. They've got a huge boot selection, and you can find a good pair for a pretty decent price (Be prepared to pay bout $30-$35).

Here's a few possible options I found with a quick search...

Brinley Co. Women's Knee-High Stretch Riding Boots

Top Moda Women Land-57 Boots

Brinley Co. Knee High Double-buckle Riding Boots

And, in case you wondered, these are the boots I bought for my costume. They're not totally screen accurate, but I love them anyway. ;)

Necklace:

You might have missed this aspect of Tauriel's costume, but yes -- Tauriel has a gorgeous, silver necklace that you can see quite clearly in the scene in Desolation of her reporting to Thranduil.

Gorgeous, right???

You can buy the official version from WETA Workshop for $179 here.

But if you're wanting a cheaper option, you can find several versions on eBay for much cheaper. These are a few of my favorite reproductions...

By lindong2014

By Studio Seventeen

By EternalLove90

Elf Ears:

The most fun addition to this costume, in my opinion, is the pointy ears!

I HIGHLY recommend Aradani Studio's latex ear tips. Their prosthetics are high quality, durable, lightweight, and inexpensive! They even have a set now that are modeled after Tauriel's ears!

(These are the kind I bought.)

<<< Small Elf Ears

Wood Elf Ears >>>

Hairstyle:

Firstly, I have found SO many awesome tutorials for Tauriel's gorgeous braided hairstyle! I'll link some of the best YouTube tutorials here.

Braids Inspired by "The Hobbit's" Tauriel by LaDollyVita33

The Hobbit Hair - Tauriel by Silvousplaits

Tauriel Hair Tutorial | The Hobbit by Loepsie

Now, the question of a wig. Whether you want to buy one and deal with all the craziness that comes with wigs is 100% up to you. I, personally, am not a fan of wigs, mostly because I haven't the patience or the resources to afford them.

If you want to go this route, you'll want to get a high quality, lace front wig so that it will look the best it can. A wig like this will run at about $50-$90, so definitely not cheap. If you don't want to fork over that much money, just go with no wig. I promise you, this is the best way to go if you're low on cash. Don't try to get a cheap-o, non-lace front wig from China. It will look so much better to just use your own hair, and style it accordingly. :)

Bracers:

Use the same material that you made your leather bodice from, and if you're using Simplicity's pattern, then you're all set to go, as that as a pattern for the bracers. But if you're free-handing everything, this tutorial on eHow will you get you started in making your bracers... "How to Make Leather Arm Bracers."

Bow/Daggers:

If you're planning on wearing your costume to the midnight premiere of The Battle of the Five Armies, you'll probably want to skip Tauriel's weapons. With that said, if you want to make her bow, this guy on YouTube has an excellent tutorial for making her bow out of PVC pipe. (Which you can buy at Lowe's, etc, for about 5 bucks!) I actually started doing this, but never finished it. Finishing it is on my to-do list currently. ;)

If you want to buy her bow, WETA Workshop has the official licensed prop available to buy -- for $300 bucks. :P

Now her daggers.

You can buy officially licensed versions of these also from WETA, for $179.

Or the officially licensed pair made by United Cutlery from BUDK.com for $219.

And then, of course, there's always the option of making these. I, unfortunately, haven't found any good tutorials for this, but if you do, let me know in the comments so I can link it here! :)

A Bit More Help...

I hope I was able to help you out in your journey of making a Tauriel costume! Again, any and all questions are more than welcome in the comments, and I will answer them to the best of my ability.

You can check out my Tauriel Cosplay Pinterest board which has loads of helpful reference pictures, tips, and inspiration!

Follow Beth P.'s board To Be An Elf - Tauriel Cosplay on Pinterest.

You can also get some inspiration from my journal of making my Tauriel cosplay, where I've ordered everything in chronological order for your viewing convenience. :D

Welp -- I suppose this is the end. I hope I could be of help, and best of luck to you in making your costume!

Namárië!

Beth - An Elven Princess

Tauriel Cosplay - The Photoshoot

As promised. :) I hope you like them! ^_^

You can barely tell in the other pictures, but in this one you can see it... yup, I'm wearing Tauriel's necklace!! :D

PS - Feel free to pin, share, etc, these pics! Just don't, like, take credit for them or anything. ;)

Tauriel Cosplay - Photoshoot Sneak Peek

Hey ya'll!!

Sooooo today was awesome -- I finally did that photoshoot as Tauriel I've been promising you guys!!! It was freezing cold, but oh so worth it. :D

I'm so excited for you all to see the pictures!! I'm currently editing them up and such, buuuuut here's a little sneak peek...

More pics to come soon!!! :)

The Desolation of Smaug Midnight Premiere

THE NIGHT OF DECEMBER 12TH, 2013.

IT HAPPENED.

THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG.

In Walmart. xD

These are some pictures from the night at the theater, WHICH WAS SO MUCH FUN. :D :D :D There were quite a few other people dressed up, and the feeling of comradery was just great.

And the movie... STINKING AMAZING!!!!! SMAUG BEORN THRANDUIL TAURIEL LEGOLAS BARD LAKETOWN EREBOR MIRKWOOD DWARVES IN BARRELS EPIC FIGHTING TAURIEL/KILI/LOL AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH just everything pretty much. ^_^ So epic and awesome and AMAZING. :D :D :D I actually got to see it again yesterday!! EVEN BETTER the second time around!!! Ahhhhh just...wow. AND I CAN'T BELIEVE WE HAVE TO WAIT A YEAR NOW FOR THE FINAL MOVIE OMG!!!! O_O

SOOOOOOO peeps...what about you guys? Have you seen it yet??? Midnight premiere? Dressed up? Thoughts on the movie? Tell me in le comments! :)

Tauriel Cosplay - The Final Update

Today is a special day.

On June 13, 2013, exactly 173 days ago, I wrote the second post on this blog. It was concerning my latest cosplay idea, Tauriel. I was then on summer vacation, and the first trailer for the Desolation of Smaug had just released.

"The idea began to form when the first official picture of Tauriel was released...I began to think how much fun it might be to recreate that costume and wear it to the midnight premiere of The Desolation of Smaug in theaters...So, I have officially found my next adventure. Becoming an elf of Mirkwood."

Over the course of those almost 6 months, many amazing adventures have occurred.

For one, this blog has grown to 18 posts, 8 followers, and almost 5,000 views. You don't know how happy and proud I am of that; it has been such a dream come true. I have always wanted to write a blog that people actually read. And I have you, all my wonderful friends and followers, to thank for that!!!  Secondly, I have [almost] completed my second dual-enrolled college course. It's been a long, and a lot of times hard, road, but has definitely been a great experience.  Thirdly, I started taking horse riding lessons again, at a nearby stable. I have always loved horses and riding, so it has been tons of fun getting back into that.

And last, but definitely not least, I completed my second cosplay: Tauriel of the Mirkwood Realm, from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

The creation of this costume has been such a crazy, difficult, long, fun, and, at times, plain maddening adventure. From finding boots to sewing leather, I learned so much and enjoyed every bit of it.  And now, that adventure is finally at an end. But the journey isn't over yet! We've still got NINE DAYS to go until The Desolation of Smaug midnight premiere, and the debut of my costume!!!  (Needless to say, I'm nearly hyperventilating from excitement. :D)

Unfortunately, I don't have any [good] pictures of the cosplay to share - yet! I'm hoping to do a photoshoot soon, and then of course I will post a gazillion pictures. ;)  Until then, here's a shot of the full assembled costume. 100% complete. ^_^

And one last picture, for Grace - the back of the leather bodice. (I'm going to use black lacing, though.)

Until later!

-AnElvenPrincess

Questions, Bracers, and a Call for Help

Friends and followers! (which is really the same thing.. ;)

We have less than 3 weeks - 20 days to be exact - until the Desolation of Smaug!!! Who's excited????? (MEMEMEMEME) :D So, I've got a couple things to ask you guys. :D

1) As I'm sure many of you know, tickets for theater showings went on sale yesterday, so some questions regarding that:

   a) Have you bought your tickets yet?? (I got mine yesterday!! :D)
   b) What format are you going to see the movie in? (I'm going to see it in plain 2D, so I can completely focus on the story, then I'll go see it again in 3D high-frame-rate. That's my reasoning, anyway. ;)
   c) Are you going to a midnight showing? (YEESSSSS)
   d) Are you planning on going with a group of friends or fly solo? (I'm going with several friends - and le parentals, of course. ;)

2) I know many of you are making your own Tauriel creations, so a couple questions concerning costumes:

   a) Are you going to dress up for the premiere? (I AM!)
   b) If so, what/who are you dressing up as? (You all know my answer to that. xD)
   c) If you're going with a group, is anyone else planning on dressing up? (All my peeps are going to dress up as well. Actually, the girl who was featured in my last blog post is one of them!)

And one bonus question:

3) I've been trying to decide what I should do about Tauriel's arm bracers. I can leave them plain, or add stitching around the edges, or maybe do something else entirely...?? PLEASE GIVE ME YOUR IDEAS! I NEED HELP!!! :D

So, pleaseeee leave a comment with your answers to my many questions! I would love to read them and see what your plans are for the premiere! :D (And hear your ideas for my bracers, too!)

And one last thing before I head... just because I just have to... a little teaser:

Tauriel Cosplay - Dress Partly Completed

Hullo all my lovely friends!

I have been quite busy as of late. But I better start from the beginning...

So, first of all, I have successfully altered the color of the leather bodice! It is now a gorgeous and pretty much perfect color, darker than the original. How did I achieve this, you might ask?

My secret weapon: black shoe polish. Shhhh... don't tell anyone... ;D But hey, it turned out great! I think it has faded some by now, as I did it almost a week ago... but I could be wrong. If it has indeed faded, that's easily fixed; I'll just touch it up a couple days before the premiere -- which is, by the way, only THIRTY FIVE DAYS AWAY!!! :D :D :D

(And also btw, has anyone checked out my snazzy little countdown over here? <<< :D)

Top right... that was my hair during this process. Like the pencil? xD

Next... do you recall the fabric I mentioned in my previous Tauriel cosplay update? That I didn't think was quite the right color? Well, after much improving the color of the bodice, (which btw now matches my boots almost perfectly!) I decided this fabric doesn't look nearly as bad against it. So, I decided to go ahead and make the dress with this fabric! So far it has turned out lovely -- but you can judge for yourself of course. ;)

Of course I couldn't be wearing it for the picture! Saving that for when it's finished... not to say I haven't tried it on yet of course! ;)

Like I said, the color isn't exactly perfect, but I still think it's very "Mirkwood," and it compliments the bodice color really well.

So, that's how it's going so far!! I'm so excited for you guys to see it all completed... but that's still a little ways to go. I need to hem the skirt, sew it to the bodice, alter the sleeves (they're too big. :p), and then put a zipper in the back. And I still need to make those alterations to the leather bodice... but anyway, I'll save that for another day. ;)

Tauriel Cosplay - Bodice Complete! (Mostly)

Hullo peeps!

It's been wayyyy too long, I know, I know. I don't really have an excuse, except that I wasn't feeling motivated to work on le Tauriel costume... xD

So, here's the story. ;)

The leather bodice has been at a state of half-finished-ness for the past several weeks. The only work done on it in those weeks was about 2 weeks ago, when I sewed the back sections on. But I just left it at that.

The days ticked by... until... last night.

It's about 8 o'clock, and I've got nothing of real importance to do. So, I'm like, mkay. I need to just sit down and finish this thing. My reasoning: I've only got a month and a half until the Desolation of Smaug premiere. (EEEEPPPPP!!!!) If I want to be done by then, I should probably finish this bodice now, before I start work on the dress. (Which I still don't have fabric for.. :p)

So, here's the result of last night's work. :D

It looks kinda bad in the pictures, but I promise it looks much much much better in reality. :D

The only things left to do on it are the grommets for the lacing in the back! Oh, and I'm gonna make the sleeves just a bit shorter/thinner, and the neckline lower as well, I think. But I'll make those adjustments after I make the dress, so I can see what looks right.

So yeah! See ya'll on the flip side! (or until my next post. ;)

Tauriel Cosplay - Leather Bodice Progress!

Hey friends and followers!

So, as I said in my last post, some fun stuff has been happening lately in relation to my Tauriel cosplay. About a week ago, I received the faux leather vinyl for the leather bodice/armor, and I've been doing some work on it! :D

The leather I bought is actually upholstery-grade, but it's turning out really well. I decided to buy that kind because it's thicker than apparel-grade leather (and cheaper :p), so it'll look more like real leather (without having to use craft foam underneath.) But let me tell you, though. It is a pain to work with... my sewing machine hates it. xD

But, like I said, it's turning out pretty well! Here's what it looks like so far:

Yes, obviously it still needs some work done to perfect it. (Oh, and btw, the actual color is closest to the top right pic.) The princess seams are a little off, it's an inch or two too long, and also a bit too large overall. I also need to figure out what I should do about the edge... "To hem, or not to hem. That is the question." ;)

So, yeah! That's what's been going on lately in my little world of cosplay. ;) I have the two back panels cut, and so just need to sew those onto the front, make the minor adjustments I mentioned previously, and then of course add the grommets and lacing in the back. I'm getting close! :D

And one more thing before I head off - DID ANYONE ELSE PRACTICALLY DIE YESTERDAY DUE TO THE NEW DESOLATION OF SMAUG TRAILER THAT RELEASED????? EEEEEPPPPPP!!! :D :D :D It was just so good. Oh. my. word. :D My very favorite-est part of the entire trailer? "Well, thief. Where are you? Come now. Don't be shy. Step into the light!"

Tauriel Cosplay - Updates and Accessories

Ok, let me just admit it: I haven't done much work on my costume. There. I said it. Moving on! ;)

I have been rather busy with a few other things, though... Getting ready for my second dual-enrollment class that starts tomorrow... and slowly but surely starting all the other subjects. (I'm homeschooled, if you haven't guessed by now, so that's how why my school schedule sounds so odd...lol!)

But, don't worry - I won't be *nearly* busy enough to forget about this blog and my latest adventure! :D

So, just yesterday, I started working on a PVC pipe bow using this tutorial, which is specifically for re-creating Tauriel's bow! I'm really excited about making it and how it will turn out. :D However, this project has gone on hold for a little while as my helper (my dad!) will be working for the next couple days. But, hopefully, the bow will be done soon! :)

A few other items regarding my Tauriel costume that will (hopefully!) happen over the next couple of weeks:

I plan on ordering some gorgeous faux leather that is a *perfect* match to the boots I purchased several months ago for the costume... (pictured above - aren't they just superb? :D)

Another thing that will (most likely) happen is a shopping excursion for the fabric to make the dress portion of the costume.

And one last thing: to the left is the finishing touch to my Tauriel cosplay - elf ears! :D

Tauriel Cosplay - Dress Mock-Up #2

Well lookee here, I got Tauriel's dress mock-up fixed! Not that you ever thought it wouldn't happen, right? Of course not. ;)

So, this one turned out *much* better than the first mock-up. Of course, there's still a couple little things I would need to do to perfect it, I'd say it's close enough... :)

The majority of the dress is just pinned together, but I ended up running out of pins so I had to hand-sew the sleeves... which wasn't exactly fun. :p Needless to say, I appreciate my sewing machine (which I unfortunately couldn't fit in my suitcase.. xD) much more after that... ;)

Not sure if you can tell very well from the pictures, but I did end up making those alterations I mentioned in my post about the first mock-up: the taller collar (hehe rhyming.. :D), different bodice seams, and then of course the added sleeves. These changes really made the dress look a whole lot better. I am *much* happier with this version! :)

And of course I couldn't help trying the mock-up on with the leather armor/bodice mock-up... ;) With the right fabrics, I'm thinkin this'll turn out pretty cool... :D

There's really nothing else I can do on this costume until I get the real fabrics... so that's the next thing on my to-do list! Hopefully it won't be too long before that happens. :) Oh! and when I get home, I'll post some pics of the epic boots I got for the costume about a month ago. They are *perfect.* :D

Until then! :)

Tauriel Cosplay - Leather Bodice Mock-Up

Tadaaa!! Let me just say, this mock-up turned out 100% better than the dress mock-up I did a couple days ago - this is, of course, due to the fact that I spent a whole lot more time on this one, but regardless, here it is. :D (click image for larger view)

I'm seriously getting really excited about this costume. If all goes as planned, I think this thing is gonna turn out pretty epic... :D But anyway, back to the mock-up!

So, this bodice/armor/whatever-you-want-to-call-it took me about 2 days to complete (obviously I didn't spend all my time working on it, but you get the idea). As I'm currently on vacation and don't have a sewing machine, it's only pinned. Hopefully when I'm back home I'll get around to sewing it... but no promises. ;)

As you can probably tell, it's made of denim, as I figured this would mimic the leather that I will be using for the real bodice better than the thinner fabric I had on hand.

The front is made of 8 separate panels, 4 on each side. The two in the front form princess seams. As a side note, I seriously adore the shape of this... it really is very flattering. No wonder Tauriel wanted to wear it. ;)

Anyway... For the real version, I'll put a corset in the back. I've got a fairly good amount of experience with grommets, as I had to put in alot for an Arwen (fromr Lord of the Rings) dress I made last year... (maybe one day I'll take the time to upload my journal entries for that adventure. Buuuuut not today... ;) I'm not really looking forward to getting acquainted with grommets again, but they look so awesome that it'll definitely be worth it. ;)

Another thing that I'm leaving for when I make the real version is the two little extra panels at the top of the neckline. Not even sure if I'll end up adding those, but we shall see. :)

Tauriel Cosplay - Dress Mock-Up

SOOOO my first draft of the mock-up for Tauriel's dress is COMPLETE. Take a look:

Ok, so, as you can see, this is obviously a very rough draft. Like... VERY rough. I was even too lazy to make sleeves. O.o See, I was really feeling the urge to get something done on this costume, but today I was kind of short on time. As you can see, I ended up doing it anyway. ;)

There's a couple things I plan on changing with the new mock-up:

First, I found a new way to pattern the bodice portion, so that I can get the collar like Tauriel's, which stands up and looks quite nice. Second, I'm going to have a seam between this new bodice piece (and also the back) and the skirt. That sounds kind of confusing...but don't worry, I'll show you what I mean soon. :D

Tauriel Cosplay - Dress Design

This elven princess has been rather busy as of late, so work on my latest adventure (making a costume inspired by The Hobbit movie trilogy's Tauriel) has been slow. Actually, it's been non-existent - hah!

But never fear, I haven't been completely idle in the past month since my decision to make this costume!

Obviously, you can't just jump into the creation of a new cosplay. Well, I can't anyway. ;) Thus, I've been doing alot of research on patterns and fabrics lately.

Research - complete. Yay!

Next thing I needed to do was create an artistic rendition of just exactly what I was planning on making. This always helps me collect my thoughts and get ideas for patterning.

Speaking of patterning, I've decided to free-hand this entire costume. Yup - this girl is sayin' adios to expensive patterns! Oh yeah! :D This will be my first time sewing something without a pattern, so I'm pretty excited - and scared. But that's besides the point. ;)

SO obviously now I've got even more reason to draw out just exactly what I plan on doing on paper - or rather, in this case, computer...

So without further ado, here is my virtual mock-up of the dress portion of Tauriel's costume. Hopefully this will become a reality soon! :D

My Next Adventure - Elf of Mirkwood

First official look at Tauriel from Empire

So, as many of you might already know, Empire Magazine released the first official picture of Tauriel from the upcoming film in the Hobbit trilogy "The Desolation of Smaug" about a week ago. And then, only two days ago, the first trailer for the film was released -- featuring this new Elven guard of Mirkwood! Can you see where I'm headed with this? :D If not, allow me to spell it out for ya...

The idea began to form when the first official picture of Tauriel was released.

I had seen her in the live event with Peter Jackson back in March, but I immediately jumped on the band wagon that so many other people have joined, featuring comments akin to this:

"Why did they have to add her?? So stupid!"

"And she's not even in the book!"

"A female elf warrior? I think not!"

Well, you get the idea.

And this was exactly my mindset until just recently. Then appears this new photo...and I begin to think how much fun it might be to recreate that costume and wear it to the midnight premiere of The Desolation of Smaug in theaters.

But, I kept these thoughts to myself, and decided to wait for the first trailer of the movie to appear so I could see Tauriel in action, and determine whether she would be worth cosplaying.

The trailer releases. And I am totally won over by her sheer awesomeness. :D (I will keep my other thoughts about the trailer to a minimum, but basically, OHMYWORD IT WAS AMAZING I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL DECEMBER EEEEEEEPPP!!!) So anyway.... ;)

So, as you have probably figured out by now, I have officially found my next adventure.

Becoming an elf of Mirkwood.