Cosplay DC Woodlawn House (December)

Back in December, I participated in one of the Cosplay DC events, which was at the Woodlawn Mansion in Virginia. It was tough coming up with what to wear because I’d have an hour drive, maybe no place to change, and no will to do complicated hair and make-up.

http://www.woodlawnpopeleighey.org/

This mansion has some interesting history - it was originally a part of Mount Vernon (Washington’s plantation) but was subdivided in the 19th century by abolitionists to demonstrate the viability of a free labor system.

The house itself dates to 1800-05.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodlawn_(Alexandria,_Virginia)

Anyway, the docents at the house were very nice and knowledgeable.

Costume-wise, I ended up going with my Arwen Mourning gown since I hadn’t worn it in years and I had never really gotten photos of the 2nd silk velvet version of the gown. Both versions of the gown were created in the very early digital days, so I thought it would be something that would work. I drove in something I could wear under the gown, and just had to have someone help me zip it up.

I was really happy with a lot of the pics that I got - I ended up spending most of my time hanging with Mike and Gloria (because I don’t get to see them nearly enough) so I only worked with a few photographers. Though I wish I had tried to work with more, I’m glad I got to see Mike and Gloria, and I also enjoyed talking with the people working at the house. We talked about maybe doing other events there, but then, well… 2020 happened.

Anyway, here are the photos.

This was one of my fav from the shoot - I thought the harp and the curvy furniture was vaguely Elven and I like how I look (amazing!) and it shows off my costume nicely. This is by Alicyn Drew:



She also took this one:



I also loved the pics Mike/Gloria/In The Long Run Designs got of me outside!



I also broke out the crown and veil!



More behind the cut.

Arwen

My mom did another mini costume painting, this one based on my Arwen costume!  Thanks, Mom!

Arwen Mourning Gown painting

Since I've been posting a bunch of the recent little costume watercolors my Mom has done, I thought I'd post some of the older ones.   The current ones have all been done in a little notebook - the ones she's done in the past are much larger.

Here's one she did based on a photo of me in my Arwen Mourning gown. I think she's so talented. But then, I'm biased!

Lord of the Rings Eowyn Shieldmaiden Gown

I loved this costume right away and when I found the perfect crinkled jacquard silk for the skirt and sleeves, I knew I had to make it! The corset and vest are made of a brown suede fabric. I quilted the corset, and trimmed it and the vest with two different trims to give the effect of the embroidery. The corset was modified to be an over-the-bust corset, rather than an under-the-bust one like the real one. The undergown is made of china silk that has an embroidered and pintucked neckline. The lower sleeves and overskirt are made of the crinkled silk jacquard. The lower sleeves are gathered and tied with cord, and braided trim wraps around the upper sleeves.

Here is the web page for my costume with my research and more photos:
http://costumersguide.com/maggie_costumes/my_sm.html

Two of these are SisterSola's pics, and one is Kaydee's.

 

Lord of the Rings Eowyn Green Gown

This gown was made from a green moleskin fabric. The yoke, sleeve lining, undersleeves, underskirt, and skirt panel are made from a green brocade. The yoke was quilted by me. The trim lining the collar is exactly the same trim used in the movie costume. The yoke trim is a similar bullion trim, but not exact. The belt was bought at Target and repainted gold. The front over the overskirt pulls up and is tied at the waist.

I'm actually selling this gown. More information here. If anyone is interested, let me know!

Here is the web page for my costume with my research and more photos:
http://costumersguide.com/maggie_costumes/my_green.html

Lord of the Rings Arwen Dying (BR) Gown

This was the first Arwen costume I saw when the first movie images came out, and the last one I made! I used midnight blue silk velvet for the jumper, navy china silk for the underdress, and I hand-dyed silk velvet for the lower sleeves. The upper sleeves and the band on the jumper are made from a paisley fabric I found at Joanns. The trim is a bullion trim I bought on ebay from Suomynona Couture, who was kind enough to overdye it for me.

Here is the web page for my costume with my research and more photos:
http://costumersguide.com/maggie_costumes/my_br.html

I really need better pics of me in it. I don't love the ones I have.

Lord of the Rings Arwen Requiem Gown

I decided to make this one after seeing the real one at the Boston Exhibit. I hand-dyed silk velvet for the jumper, and silk satin for the underdress. The uppersleeves are made from silk chiffon overlayed on china silk. I embroidered them with the flower pattern seen on the real costume, and hand beaded them. The lower sleeves are silk jacuard. The trim on the underdress and jumper is a silver trim with bullion and sequins. It's not exact, but a decent match for the real trim.

Here is the web page for my costume with my research and more photos:
http://costumersguide.com/maggie_costumes/my_requiem.html

Lord of the Rings Arwen Mourning Gown

I adored the gown Arwen wore in Elrond's vision of her future, where she mourns Aragorn's eventual death. I made this gown from a midnight blue rayon velvet, with red thai silk for the sash and neck inset. The sleeves were lined with navy china silk. The buttons were bought from the company that supplied them for the movie, so they are exactly the ones used on the real dress. I had to age them myself. I made the trim from scratch, embroidered red fabric with chenille wool, seed beads, gold thread, and bullion appliques cut to make the right shapes. The edges are all loops of bullion, individually sewn down. The veil is navy silk chiffon, and the crown is made from gold foil, which I embossed with the tree of Gondor. I redid this gown in silk velvet, because rayon velvet creases way too easily and is so easily wrecked. Silk velvet is less stiff and more drapey and doesn't seem to crease as badly. I reused everything else from the original gown.

Here is the web page for my costume with my research and more photos:
http://costumersguide.com/maggie_costumes/my_mourning.html

Here are two arty shots I just love of this costume - it's version 1.0 though.

Here's version 2.0 in silk velvet.

Lord of the Rings Arwen Riding costume

This is the first Lord of the Rings costume I made. I redid parts of it after seeing the real one on exhibit. It was made out of a greenish gray suede fabric that I found on ebay. The collar decoration was done by hand with puffy fabric paint, and the princess seams are over stitched with a baseball stitch, like the real costume. My costume zips up the front with an invisible zipper and is laced with a gray china silk sash that threads through the sculpey buckle that I made to match the real one. The undersleeves are made from metallic crinkle silk organza, and a very close match to the real costume.

Here is the web page for my costume with my research and more photos:
http://costumersguide.com/maggie_costumes/my_chase.html

My friends and I did a skit for Balticon called "Lord of the Box" office, which went over really well. We added to it, and then did it at the DragonCon 2003 masquerade. We won audience favorite! Here's a picture and a video.