White Council Costumes for Hobbit Premere(Gandalf, Radagast, Galadriel, and Saruman)

A group of friends and I decided we wanted to make costumes for the Midnight Premiere of the Hobbit. There will be 4 of us and we have decided to go as Saruman, Radagast, Galadriel, and Gandalf The Grey. I am new to these forums but decided this was a good place to post pictures, talk about ideas and hopefully get some advice.

I plan on posting picture of the costumes as I go, but for now I am just opening up this form with my basic ideas and what I already have.

I will be going as Saurman because he is one of my favorite characters and I am a fan of Christopher Lee. My costume for him has been heavily influenced by another forum i found on this website. I liked the design on that from and figured it was fairly easy to recreate. I have a wig and beard i plan on wearing(I will post pictures latter most of these things are not at my house now), but would really like to find a better set because they aren't the greatest. If anyone knows a place to get a good beard for Saruman online i am all ears. I have searched heavily on ebay already. I also have his staff, but it isn't the official one because i don't have the money for that. It looks nice and i was pleased with the price. I also plan of getting a palantir look-a-like stone or crystal ball somewhere.

Gandalf and Radagast's costume will start off as simple robe made in the correct fashion. Gandalf will have a simple belt and we are using some sort of rope for Radagast's. I already have got beards for both of them that i am very pleased with. Gandalf's staff is made of a nice old wood staff a friend got for me at an antique shop and i have ordered a nice quartz to put on top. I would have gotten his official staff but it is to expensive. Radagast's staff will be inspired from the few pictures i have seen from the movie. It will have a greenish orbit set in a it which is on its way in the mail. Gandalfs accessories will include a pipe, bag, narya ring, and his hat. I need some ideas for Radagast's accessories. I am going to attempt to make a hat similar to his in the movie and get a herb bag for him to. I have no other ideas for things for him and willing to listen to others.

I have not much to say about Galadriel's. The group of us are making a white dress based on hers from the movie. She will have Nenya her ring and i will get a fancy looking glass bottle for the Phial of Galadriel again because it is too expensive . I am also looking into find a crown that look something like hers in the movie.

That is all i have to say for now, but will have pictures of the costumes soon because we plan on making them in a week. As i finish the staffs and get the various parts i will post them too. Right now i would like advice on a good Saruman beard and ideas for Radagast costume. Hope they all arrive soon.

Re: White Council Costumes for Hobbit Premere(Gandalf, Radagast, Galadriel, and Sarum

Well, most 'beards' are rather full or at least curly. Saruman's was long, straight, and luxurious. Have you considered making one from the weave strands (2-to-3 ft long) or even real hair? Check out your local Beauty Supply stores.

Don't be reluctant or shy, they've already had our 'type' there before, I promise you!

Re: White Council Costumes for Hobbit Premere(Gandalf, Radagast, Galadriel, and Sarum

Please disregard this post and read the one below it.

Re: White Council Costumes for Hobbit Premere(Gandalf, Radagast, Galadriel, and Sarum

Well I did a horrible time keeping this forum up to date, but I did make all the costumes and now will post the pictures and talk about each one. The work done on each costume was so sporadic that I would have had a hard time posting as i went.

Saruman my costume will be first.
The outer cloak was a bed sheet the was cut and shaped into a cloak. The inner tunic was made of an off white material we bought. There is a V cut in the top and reforms under the belt. The belt in just a white pillow case that has been folded. The wig and beard are the standard Merlin beard you can find anywhere on eBay or Amazon. The wig works fine, but the beard had a lot of work and shaping done to it. It was first trimmed down to size. The mustache top was clipped and shaped to make it more defined. The grey streak was just regular grey acrylic paint. I couldn't afford the official Saruman's staff so got a replica online and that is why the orb is more egg shaped. My palanthir was a Sunset 6" Gazing globe form Amazon because all the black orbs I found would cost $30ish to get here and were only about 2 inches in diameter. My shoes were just black embroidered dress shoes I had.

Saruman Costume

Gandalf's costume is a long grey cloak at its base. The hat was made of the same material and has a paper cone inside to keep it up and a cardboard brim. His wig and beard are the gandalf's beard you can find anywhere online. No changes were made to it. He has a crochet scarf and a grey pouch on his side. His a a black woven belt, i would have liked that to be close to the real thing, but that's the best we could find. His is where black rain boots. I made his staff myself. I found a nice stick and than whittled from there and stained it. Bought a quartz crystal online and just glued it on. I was very pleased with his staff because when we started I had know idea what i was going to do to make it.

Gandalf Costume

Radagasts might be my favorite costume and the hardest in some areas.
His base is also just a long brown cloak made of a rough cloth. His wig was very hard to find. All the brown wigs and beards I found were either bible beards of crazy jungle man beards. I found his on eBay and it is Hades beard and wig from Clash of the Titans the movie. His belt is just standard rope. His has on a pair of high moccasin boats I own and are made of leather. His staff was fun to make. I cut down a small tree in my yard that need to be removed soon anyway. I sanded and stained all the cuts and then set it with a green glass ball. I think i did a good job trying to replicate it from the few picture released of him in the movie. His hat was a mountain hat at base and than covered with fur and had a feather stuck in it. He is holding an ink well bottle filled with food colored water. He has a brown shawl around his neck. He has brown herb pouch at his side we made.

Radagast Costume

Galadreil costume was the one I helped make the least. It was made by a good friend. I don't know much about the making of this one so I can't say a lot. She is wearing a golden Guinevere wing. The necklace she is wearing is a Elessar necklace replica.(I know it might not be correct but we wanted her to have some.)

Galadreil Costume

We also tried to get all three Elvish rings. I wore Elronds ring since we didn't have an Elrond. All are the movies replicas except Narya. We had a falling out with the first seller, and the found another but it didn't show up it time and is still on its way today. The one he has in the picture is a 50 cent toy ring but we thought it looked pretty good.



We wore these costumes and went to the Midnight premiere of the hobbit at the Penn Cinema in Pennsylvania. We had lots of fun and tons of people asked to take picture with us. I you have any questions or comments post them and I will do my best to answer them. I aslo have to give special thank to Janelle for having a large hand in making the costumes. I have several more pictures and also looking to improve the costumes and make an Elrond for nest year. Feel free to post suggestions or improvements.

White Council Picture

Re: White Council Costumes for Hobbit Premere(Gandalf, Radagast, Galadriel, and Sarum

Good job there! Looks like you had fun A couple of the books that are out have some good reference photos and descriptions of how the costumes were made.

Re: White Council Costumes for Hobbit Premere(Gandalf, Radagast, Galadriel, and Sarum

great costumes

Re: White Council Costumes for Hobbit Premere(Gandalf, Radagast, Galadriel, and Sarum

Really nice ! You surely had fun...