Tutorial: Legolas Cosplay

Since The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug is coming out next week, I wanted to post how I made my costume for my Legolas cosplay! This was not too difficult to make.. but very time consuming getting all the pieces together. I wore this costume to Dallas Fan Days 2013. I started making it right after I saw the first trailer for the second Hobbit movie!

The first item I looked for was his tunic. I really enjoy recycling other items. So I found this vintage suede jacket on Etsy, and I just knew it would be perfect!!

All it took was trimming the shape into Legolas’ tunic. I cut off the collar, shortened the sleeves and angled the bottom.

The next part was SO MUCH MORE DIFFICULT! LOL … I spent ALL DAY adding the brown suede to the top of the tunic. I am sure there are patterns out there somewhere, but I decided to make my own and “just wing it.” .. In the end it came out exactly how I pictured.

To go along with my “wing it” philosophy.. I freehanded the swirlies with a silver sharpie. I was pretty nervous about this, but had a reference photo (seen here by Alley Cat Scratch) right next to me so I could redesign it.

I also freehanded the swirlies on the back and sleeves based on this reference photo. It’s too bad no one ever saw this since I wore a cloak all day. But I wanted it to be there so it felt complete 🙂

Next I made the quiver.. I just used a cardboard poster tube and wrapped it in some extra brown fabric I had. I used hot glue to attach it to the cardboard.

The arrows were wooden dowels that I painted brown.

And I added convention-friendly arrowheads. These are just pencil erasers painted silver then you glue them to the end of the wooden dowel.

For the other end of the arrows, I cut feathers in half and glued them to each side of the wooden dowel. This was messy because bits of feathers got all over the place.

Here is a finished look at the quiver, bow, and arrows. Also on the quiver I freehanded a swirly design with a gold sharpie (Legolas has a beautiful peacock design on his), and I attached a brown belt to the back. The bow was not made by me.. It’s an officially licensed Legolas bow made out of plastic.. but I thought it looked great! I got mine on eBay for only $10 but they seem to be sold out now.

The cloak was handmade by CloaknDragon, but I had to add a hole in the back so the quiver could go through it.

This wig is the same one I used for my Sailor Venus cosplay. It’s an Eowyn in the color Titanium Blonde by Arda Wigs. I braided it myself!

For the day of the convention, I pinned the two side braids up with bobby pins so they would look more like Legolas. This also helped my elf ears (by Aradani) show better. I did my makeup myself, too.

My leggings were handmade by Wrecking Crew Creation to fit my measurements, and the grey long sleeve shirt is from American Apparel. My boots were from Walmart, and the brown belts were from Target.

The brooch I wore on my cloak was from eBay and can also be worn as a necklace.

And my beautiful bracers were made by RenManLeather .. He customized these to fit my wrist and match the design to Legolas’ actual bracers. These are super high quality; I cannot recommend him enough!

The only thing I wish I had done differently was research how to properly hold a bow and arrow ^.^

I have never used one before and looking back in my photos I realized I wasn’t holding it quite right. So if you decide to make this outfit be sure to look that up!

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I loved wearing this costume at Dallas Fan Days (see that full post here), and I can see myself wanting to wear it again and again. It was pretty comfy and I felt like a magical elven warrior. I am not sure if I’ll get to wear this for The Hobbit premier, but I am definitely excited to watch the new movie and see more Legolas action!

What character from The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit is your favorite?

Will you go see The Hobbit in theaters?