Onen i-Estel Edain, Not All Those Who Wander are Lost

 

The men were still and silent,

The women bowed their heads -

The children were not moving,

Huddled in their beds.

Darkness filled the whole world,

The day would never rise -

Greed corrupted power

And truth gave way to lies.

 

The world was still and silent,

All creatures bowed their heads -

The waters were not moving,

For all things were dead.

Poison filled the whole world,

The day would never rise -

There was no one to answer

The people's broken cries.

 

The hope was still and silent,

The weary bowed their heads -

Despair was all-engulfing,

Following every tread.

Sorrow filled the whole world,

The day would never rise -

Hope came again to mankind

And the sun once more would rise.

 

So this got out of hand rapidly.

 

How did this even begin? There was something about Boromir's Lament, and then I started reading Faramir again, and the reread Web of Treason and Time to Reap and then wanted a Citadel guard uniform and.....  It just went downhill from there, didn't it....

 

Well, this is likely going to go on for a little bit. There are a LOT of characters I can do this for and quite a bit of styles to adapt. My apologies to the Reader.....

 

This is - in the situation where the opening picture did not clue you in - Aragorn's gown. Except, because that just sounds horribly weird, it's Ellessar's gown. Which fits better because it is inspired by and made for the Elfstone.

 

This whole thing started because I have a green stone on a delicate silver chain that I named the Ellessar - and I got thinking about how I'd make a gown for Aragorn.....  As I said: this got out of hand.

 

As far as I know, the Elfstone is not shown in any of the books, and I've really not studied the books recently to tell you if there's a description. That being said, the picture on the right looks well enough for me.

 

It's not ACTUALLY featured in the design, but given that it is the original inspiration I thought it should be SOMEWHERE.

 

 

 

The picture on the left is the actual inspiration for the gown. I'll probably play with it later and see if I can make it...more green - but for now, it works.

 

That is the character of Aragorn that I am portraying: the King, the Ranger, the warrior, the leader, the Dunadain..... An old, regal, yet simple man.

 

I probably failed miserably - but! These are for women! And from High Fantasy! I'm allowed to make them a LOT more feminine....

 I also took a lot of inspiration for this from Arwen and the Eldar.

Sensibly, given he was raised in Rivendell.....

By the way, what IS Arwen's mourning veil made of? It's so pliable, and yet still sheer.....

I want one.

Basically, I want to live in Middle Earth. Or any other Fantasy world.

Why can't I?

Reality is dull....





Anyway!

I also took a lot of inspiration from the Argonath - from their robes and whatnot.

Inspiration for the neckline and decorations came from Aragorn himself - from the garments he wore for the Council of Elrond.

Which is a gorgeous costume, really.

Yes, I say that about most of Lord of the Rings costumery.

Is that a word?



So there's the inspiration.

Really, after Faramir, everything's so simple.....  It's diconcerting.....

Construction at least I know.

This gown I had already basically planned out, and THEN I began documenting it. So.....it's different.

The Ellessar Gown is inspired as much by the Thirties formal wear as it is by Aragorn.

The dress on the left here is perfect if it were solid satin, and if the neckline were high. And if it had sleeves - but we'll leave that for the moment.

The dress on the right is also excellent. Excluding the pleats or seams on the front of the skirt, and the sort of cape hanging behind, that would be what the front view is.

The rest of the gown comes almost straight from Aragorn's Council garments.

The neckline is EXACTLY the same.

The sleeves for this outfit are fitted, and are made of two parts: the sleeve of the main dress which ends at the elbow, and the sleeve of the underdress which ends at the wrist.

Now! On to construction.

These posts just do NOT cooperate with me....

They are too long, or too short, or all over the place......  I don't know why I do this.

I'd say that we're going to start from the top, but I've already posted Aragorn's Council picture here TWICE, and it hasn't changed, so....  We'll skip the picture this time.

The high collar itself is black velvet. The undershirt, or underdress - if you look closely, there's the embroidered collar, and further down there's a deep v-neck and then the velvet turns darker. Well, the lighter velvet would be the undershirt in white satin. The gown itself is simple, emrald green satin.

this satin is definitely NOT matte, although some weight is still necessary.

The overdress' sleeve ends at the elbow and is trimmed with black velvet. The underdress' sleeve ends at the wrist and is cuffed with black velvet overlaid with silver lace.

The v-neck is also trimmed in silver lace.

The white undress' sleeves are also overlaid with a delicate green lace, and the white satin at the neckline is overlaid with a white lace.

Lastly, the sheer black robe that hangs from the shoulders of the gown is made of a layer of sheer black cloth, and the same green lace lain over the sleeves.


This gown also falls into the category of 'things I would give almost anything to make but will likely never get the chance to'.

And! As which each gown before, here is another picture to be the theme of the gown.

I really, REALLY wanted one for Gilraen's quote or even for the Elfstone, but unless I was going to sit down and make one - which I've really not the time for - I'd have to make do with this.

At least it still fits.

I do wonder how far I can go with this - I've an idea for a White Wizard gown, a Pippen gown, and a Thranduil gown. At least. So far.

This ought to be interesting for me at least....

And I'll try to post the pictures for these last gowns now before I design more.....