Arwen-inspired garden elf wedding gown

This interesting spin on Arwen’s “blood red” gown (the difference between this and the requiem is the lower sleeve shape) was for a garden party wedding.

As usual, the main body of the outer gown is velvet with a long train, but in a creamy white with blue trim instead of brocade.

The undergown trim is like a bed of petals over the shoulders and around the arms, with strands of sequins wrapped in for a little sparkle.  I used brocade for the upper sleeves, and a textured crepe for the lower sleeves.

 

More photos are in this Facebook album.

 

   

 

Lord of the Rings: Requiem

More photos of this gown are available in my Facebook album dedicated to this gown.

This Lord of the Rings Requiem gown (one of Arwen’s) is a custom version for a wedding. Among the changes are the type of velvet used (notice the crushed quality, though this is NOT costume panne) and a bustle.

Also while the original is two pieces, and this gown was made as two pieces, they have been tacked together to make getting into and out of it easier (try wrangling those full lower sleeves through the armhole of the overgrown when the strap is a 3/4″ piece of beaded sheer ribbon!), and to keep the straps perfectly placed. The outer gown is full-skirted with the aforementioned beaded ribbon straps that actually go around the entire neckline.

The real detail work on this gown is the under gown that is nearly knee-length for easy of movement. The under gown has a neckline of much wider beaded and sequined trim (my daughter kept trying to “help” by handing me beads), and the join between the upper and lower sleeves has the same trim. This beading and sequins are very, very dense. Beneath the trim at the neckline is matching blue flannel for comfort. The upper sleeves are a beautiful silk duping beaded with tiny cupped sequins and custom-dyed to get a wonderful color. My hands were blue for a few days afterward! The lower sleeves are a sweet rose brocade, white with shimmery silver thread. They have the film-correct top seams that are on the outside of the sleeve rather than the front. The train has three sets of hooks and eyes with the eyes on the underside of the train but the hooks on the under gown to prevent unsightly pulling that would happen if the hooks were higher up in the train itself. The middle set has an additional hook on the train so that the bride can decide if she would like a sweep train or none at all. These photos were taken during a very brief sun break before it went back to being dark and overcast. Sorry they’re not the greatest!