Some quick pics of my LOTR Aragorn Halloween costume :)

We had a great showing for Halloween at work today: We decorated the studio... people came in as Harry Potter, a Samurai, V, a Tusken Raider (godzilla kit&#33... We spiked and warmed some cider... Everyone put candy out on their desks... Good times! In any case, my friend Kurt was kind enough to snap some pics of my Aragorn costume. I'd like to take some better pics of certain parts, but here are the handful he took today:



The tunic and the jerkin were made by our very own Shadow Dale Creations. The jerkin is near perfect. I'll probably weather it sometime in the future; I didn't have time before the holiday. There are a few details missing from the tunic, but we're going to try and collect all of the reference we can to try and nail that piece on a second version... Hopefully they'll decide to offer these items on their site once they're completely worked out! The belt is from "theheraldsden" on eBay; they call it a Scout Belt but the stamping is the same diamond pattern as the one on Strider's ranger belt.



The cloak is from Stansborough Fibres in New Zealand; they wove the wool for the cloaks for the films. Their sheep has been designated as a unique breed for their color, and the weave of the cloth is what gave the films' Elven cloaks their swirls and texture. Stansborough got the license to do a run of 500 numbered cloaks... They also do replicas of Pip's travel scarf and some Narnia items (another film which they worked on with Weta).






Fellowship Leaf Clasp and Evenstar from the Noble Collection:



Unreal gauntlets, crafted by Scott Maple's shop/ Kropserkel. I can't say enough about their service and quality... I made the fingerless glove based on the few screen shots I can see any details in. I wish I'd used a thicker thread; maybe this will warrant a version 2 as well!



Boots made by Jim McIntosh, "the Bootmaker," in Wellington, New Zealand. Jim made the boots for the film, and makes these ranger boots from the same patterns. The only difference is a lining in the replicas; the originals had none. I'll have to replace the lacing with flat laces, and get some twine to tie around the tops. Laces tied around for now.



Knockoff sword/scabbard/dagger, knockoff Ring of Barahir:





United Cutlery's Elven hunting knife. This is a great piece, and makes me want to replace the knockoff ranger sword with UC's version. It clicks satisfyingly into its sheath - very nicely made!



I'll have to get some pictures of the duster when I take better pictures as well. It was a licensed piece by Legendary Heroes back when Fellowship came out; I think they've been discontinued for quite some time. I had to modify it quite a bit (it had zippers&#33, but the overall construction is pretty damn good/accurate! It has some very inaccurate "X" stitching (see my unmodified waist) but I'm replacing it with proper baseball whipstitching (see the redone shoulder seams). The side splits have been extended; the edges of the bottom and the cuffs have been frayed.

Thanks all I have for now... If you'd like a specific shot or information on a piece you're interested in, let me know. Thanks for looking - Happy Halloween!

- Douglas

well done!

Fantastic! One of the best I've ever seen!!

Fantastic -- and you really fit the outfit well. Yet another guy for my hot men with props page.

<div class='quotetop'>(juno &#064; Oct 31 2006, 09&#58;53 PM) [snapback]1348459[/snapback]</div>

Fantastic -- and you really fit the outfit well. Yet another guy for my hot men with props page.
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THERE&#39;S A PAGE?

<div class='quotetop'>(juno &#064; Nov 1 2006, 03&#58;53 AM) [snapback]1348459[/snapback]</div>

...my hot men with props page.
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Hey&#33; There IS a prop site I don&#39;t visit regularly&#33;

Thanks for the comments, everyone - I&#39;ll try to get some better pics up soon. I have to take pictures of Julie in her Arwen dress as well...

- D

<div class='quotetop'>(westies 14 &#064; Nov 1 2006, 09&#58;29 AM) [snapback]1348639[/snapback]</div>

<div class='quotetop'>(juno &#064; Nov 1 2006, 03&#58;53 AM) [snapback]1348459[/snapback]

...my hot men with props page.
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Hey&#33; There IS a prop site I don&#39;t visit regularly&#33;

Thanks for the comments, everyone - I&#39;ll try to get some better pics up soon. I have to take pictures of Julie in her Arwen dress as well...

- D
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Same here... and how come i have not been asked to be on it&#33;
Great costume Westies&#33;

Fantastic costume&#33;

thats just amazing. nicely done&#33;

Muchas GracÃ*as&#33;

<div class='quotetop'>(westies 14 &#064; Oct 31 2006, 07&#58;24 PM) [snapback]1348442[/snapback]</div>

Knockoff sword/scabbard/dagger, knockoff Ring of Barahir:




United Cutlery&#39;s Elven hunting knife. This is a great piece, and makes me want to replace the knockoff ranger sword with UC&#39;s version. It clicks satisfyingly into its sheath - very nicely made&#33;



- Douglas
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Sweet gear, man&#33; Very effective look, nothing too costumy about it. Looks nice and lived in. Don&#39;t bother with the sword, you have the nice scabbard and the only difference between the UC and the knockoff is &#036;200

The scabbard is actually a knockoff too - they came together. The sword doesn&#39;t really fit well into the scabbard; it kind of stops half an inch from "in." I dropped it in really fast once and got it stuck in the scabbard; took a hell of an effort to get it out. Also, the "gold" details on this knockoff are sloppily painted on. I cleaned them up a bit, but it&#39;s not perfect. Just looking at the quality of the UC knife, I can imagine there&#39;s a world of difference between these pieces... You can find the UC version on eBay for &#036;170 or so... I may trade up someday, but I&#39;m in no rush. This definitely worked for the costume, and was a cheap alternative.

<div class='quotetop'>(westies 14 &#064; Nov 1 2006, 01&#58;54 PM) [snapback]1348841[/snapback]</div>

The scabbard is actually a knockoff too - they came together. The sword doesn&#39;t really fit well into the scabbard; it kind of stops half an inch from "in." I dropped it in really fast once and got it stuck in the scabbard; took a hell of an effort to get it out. Also, the "gold" details on this knockoff are sloppily painted on. I cleaned them up a bit, but it&#39;s not perfect. Just looking at the quality of the UC knife, I can imagine there&#39;s a world of difference between these pieces... You can find the UC version on eBay for &#036;170 or so... I may trade up someday, but I&#39;m in no rush. This definitely worked for the costume, and was a cheap alternative.
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I agree, buy the UC. Regarding the scabbard, yes... I too struggle with my knockoff Anduril and plain leather scabbard. They are the biggest dissapointments in my eBay buying life cause the guy posted pics of a nice custom made version for the auction and i "buy it now" for &#036;70 total. Comes to my place... one big P.O.S. wallhanger comes out of the box, obviously he was trying to get rid of this one so he can display the nice one in the acution pics . But anyway, the thing that bugs me the most (especially when I go to costume events as some random non-canon immortal from the Highlander movies/series, very last minute cosume IMO) is when the sword tip gets stuck and it becomes a big pain in the tail to get out, then I got to beat the hell out of the scabbard to get that safety tip thing out because it got wedged too deep in the scabbard tip. I&#39;m with you, I HATE most knockoff swords.

In keeping on track with the topic posted, That is a great costume&#33; Better than something I can come up with&#33;

Seth

Excellent job&#33;&#33; Outstanding attention to detail&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;

Thanks - the credit for most of the "attention to detail" belongs with a lot of people, as many contributed to this costume. As for our own members that made some pieces, I highly recommend working with Shadow Dale Creations (General Mayhem) and Scott Maple (Kropserkel). I would have had a lot of trouble learning to work with leather as well as the Kropserkel shop before Halloween&#33; The gauntlets are three-tiered leather; the upper heavy piece slides over the quilted softer piece. Beautiful work.

Holy cow. Great pics. Wonderful costume&#33;

I know you guys have seen my page already:
http://www.curiousgood.com/men/

Excellent job, I love the collaboration of all the bits and pieces together and the attention to detail...well cool&#33;

Wow&#33; Very well done&#33;

Thanks again, everyone&#33; I hope to have better detail shots of each piece for review soon, as well as photos of Julie&#39;s Arwen Chase outfit. For a preview of that, you can head over to the costuming forum - Shadow Dutchess posted some images of the pewter buckle and the dress on a mannequin late last week.

Thank you for the photos&#33;
You were a true pleasure to work with.
I never had a chance to photograph the jerkin and tunic after I made them and the whole outfit is brilliant.
Some amazing craftspeople really put their heart into those pieces with the bracers, the duster, the boots, cape etc..fantastic&#33;&#33;
I hope you two had a phenomenal time&#33;

Shadow Duchess

<div class='quotetop'>(westies 14 &#064; Nov 2 2006, 03&#58;26 PM) [snapback]1349500[/snapback]</div>

Thanks again, everyone&#33; I hope to have better detail shots of each piece for review soon, as well as photos of Julie&#39;s Arwen Chase outfit. For a preview of that, you can head over to the costuming forum - Shadow Dutchess posted some images of the pewter buckle and the dress on a mannequin late last week.
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This deserves a bump. BEST Aragorn other than Viggo!!

Thanks Tim! Here's one more that I just saw in the "Halloween Costumes" thread where Kurt posted it:



(Kurt's in the tusken outfit)

Julie and I finally sat down to watch the Blu-Ray Extended Editions that have been sitting on my shelf for a couple months now. I think I need to re-do this costume...

- D

Bloody brilliant. Love the look of everything!