Gandalf the Grey cloak material?

N2darkness

Sr Member
Anyone know where to find some material that resembles Gandalfs cloak/robe? I've already been to a few fabric stores with no luck.
 
Ok, so I found some exhibit photos for Gandalf, and I suggest you head over to alleycatscratch.com/lotr for good research. His robe is most likely a very large weave cotton, but the you'll probably have an easier time finding a large weave silk noil (or raw silk) and the cloak might be that or a linen or wool. The cloak is very nubbly and the dye is uneven, giving it a streaky look. It almost looks like a boucle suiting actually.

One more thing. This fabric has had the crap beat out of it and it has been washed alot. That gives it the nice texture. They did alot of aging of the costumes, so it would look like Gandalf has wore that cloak for the last 300 year, all day, everyday :p

GanHood0246_YukNM.jpg
 
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Thanks for all the suggestions. I have been to Alleycatscratch and checked out there photo's. Doesn't look like something easy to replicate, as I was hoping to just find something off the shelf that was close enough. I'll keep looking
 
All of Gandalf's costume was raw silk. I saw this costume in person at the LotR Exhibit when it was on tour in 2005. The description of his costume was that it was made from nubby raw silk. You could even still smell a bit of the raw silk, as that smell never goes away.

I highly doubt you'd be able to find anything that looks close. You may have to try to have it commissioned for you.
 
The biggest problem with the Dharma Trading Raw silk is that it has alot more threads per inch than the original costume had and therefore a finer feel to the fabric. Gandalf's costume raw silk has a much rougher feel and maybe 1/2 to a 1/3 fewer threads per inch.
 
This is good information considering I was thinking about doing a Gandalf costume for the premier and next year's Comic-con
 
If you go with raw silk I highly suggest Thai silks. They're a great company and I order my silks from them all the time. Good prices and good fabric.

Thai Silks - Fabric » Silk Noil » Raw Silk Noil, 45"

If you dye it yourself you also have options like this:

Thai Silks - Fabric » Heavy and Suit-Weight Silk » Indian Tussah, Natural, 54"

I'd suggest going through all their silks and look for any one that looks rough like his garment. Even if you have to dye it yourself.

Also, I'm pretty sure this info is accurate but you may want to double check but supposedly this is the company that made the hobbit cloaks as well as the Gandalf cloak. According to them it is wool. But this could be some kind of incorrect information that I don't know about.

Stansborough - Cloak & Capes: Gandalf Cloak
 
If you go with raw silk I highly suggest Thai silks. They're a great company and I order my silks from them all the time. Good prices and good fabric.

Thai Silks - Fabric » Silk Noil » Raw Silk Noil, 45"

If you dye it yourself you also have options like this:

Thai Silks - Fabric » Heavy and Suit-Weight Silk » Indian Tussah, Natural, 54"

I'd suggest going through all their silks and look for any one that looks rough like his garment. Even if you have to dye it yourself.

Also, I'm pretty sure this info is accurate but you may want to double check but supposedly this is the company that made the hobbit cloaks as well as the Gandalf cloak. According to them it is wool. But this could be some kind of incorrect information that I don't know about.

Stansborough - Cloak & Capes: Gandalf Cloak

That Gandalf cloak looks like the one he had in The Two Towers as he came out of Fangorn Forrest heading to Rohan.
 
If you go to Weta website they show how most of the Gandalf the grey cloak, etc, was made out of a native wool spun by hand there in New Zealand.
 
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