Arwen – Lord of the Rings (Original Design)

Made for: Return of the King Opening Night

Background: I decided for the Return of the King opening I would design my own dress for Arwen, taking elements from various other elvish costumes from the movies.

Journal Entries: Read more at my Arwen white tag

Related Costumes: Arwen Hope Dress, Arwen Chase Dress, Arwen Blood Red Dress

Patterns Used:
Simplicity 9891

Underdress:

I used a white matte satin for the underdress, and used the Simplicity pattern above, altering the sleeves to make them fitted and pointy, and to make the skirt panels much longer and fuller. The silver trim around the neck I got from Calontir Trims and sewed on, and I added pearls onto it. I painted a silver design on the sleeves of the dress – it’s based on one of Elrond’s art nouveau-esque tabard designs. I sewed pearls onto the sleeves around the design as well.

Robe:

The outer robe I never got fitted the way I exactly wanted. I used one pattern for the upper section (the Simplicity pattern above), and a different skirt pattern for the lower section (not sure what that one was though :(). The top section just never laid right no matter how many times I tweaked it. It has a small collar, and each sleeve has two large sleeves coming from the elbow, one of the silver and one of the white satin from the dress. I put horsehair in the hem and it created a wavy effect – I hadn’t intended on that – I just wanted to make the hem a little stiffer, but I ended up really loving it! I also sewed more pearls onto the collar of the jacket.

Tiara:

The crown was made for me by Atelier des Elfes – I gave them a basic idea of what I wanted, and they turned it into something beautiful! I sewed chiffon onto the back as a veil, and more of the silver trim from the dress along the bottom edge.

Accessories:

The wig I bought on ebay, ears I already had. I wore the costume Evenstar necklace with it. The belt was just a simple thing, also made of the same velvet, and I painted another design on the front in white paint, and, again, more pearls.

History:

I wore this several, several times and loved it. Sadly the white satin of the main dress is deteriorating so I retired it before it could get worse.

I did get it out in 2016 to shoot on the white backdrop with new Arwen wig, but since then it has only been seen on my dressform, I don’t want to stress the dress out trying to get back into again when I know it doesn’t fit me well anymore!

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