Making Lord of the Rings Costumes

Now if you want to dress as an elf, you have a lot more freedom. You can watch the movies to get some general ideas, and go from there. Since the elves are close to nature, nature is reflected in all of their surroundings, from their clothing to their homes and accessories. Note the difference between their at-home clothing, like all the flowing, stunning gowns Arwen wore, and their adventure clothing. In the first movie Arwen wears her riding outfit, similar to Legolas' outfit. Legolas' outfit consists of a silver under-tunic which is flowing and beautiful and embroidered. You can see this undertunic in The Fellowship of the Ring when the party spends the night in Lothlorien. Over this is his forest-green tunic with a darker overlay. This one is also beautifully embroidered, although obviously not as delicate a piece.

Aragorn in LOTR was a Dunedain Ranger. His costume in the movies is a cross between medieval and 1800's style dress. The secret to his costume is layers. First he has a grayish long-sleeved tunic. Over that he wears a long, brown leather sleeveless-type waistcoat. Over that he wears the long-sleeve 1800's looking duster coat, and lastly he sometimes wears a cloak over all. You can buy leather coats and jackets from the thrift store, and cut these to be the sleeveless vest, or cut and put pieces together to make into the duster coat.

The culture of Gondor had a grander, more civilized feel to it, when compared to the other human cultures of Middle Earth. But the clothing-style was similar to that of Rohan, minus the celtic knotwork. Think general medieval-style clothing. I especially noticed the prevalence of the colors white, blue and gray. Faramir wore a dark forest green ranger's outfit, which is more akin to the favored colors of Rohan, while his brother Boromir, had a beautiful burgundy-red tunic. Of course, the distinctive symbol of Gondor is the White Tree.

While the hobbits costumes range from our history's 1700s - 1800s-style clothing, the LOTR movies depicted a very medieval Saxon style for the culture of Rohan, mixed with lots of Celtic knotwork. It was absolutely stunning. And note that Eowyn only wore fancy clothing while at home, but for the walking trip she had to make to Helm's Deep, she wore a practical, simple outfit: a simple gown with a simple over-tunic. She looked beautiful. The gown was of a shorter length, perfect for walking. The fabric was rougher, fine for being exposed to the elements and keeping her warm. A key to this simple medieval style, for men and women, is layering. Wear a long-sleeve tunic or gown, and top that with a shorter-sleeved tunic or gown (the length of the tunic/gown itself can be shorter, too), and top that with a sleeveless surcoat or tunic, or a medieval hood, and/or a cloak. Be sure to wear comfortable boots or sandals-no modern tennis shoes!

You might also want to add the distinctive celtic horse symbol if you can, anywhere you can. The Rohan style had horses everywhere.