Sethesa the Listener
Skyrim Dunmer Dovahkiin
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Monday, October 13, 2014
Battle Elsa
Battle Elsa
Debut: July 25, 2014
My original plans for Elsa was back in
December 2013. I wanted to just make a standard, simple Elsa costume to
wear to conventions, have fun and do shoots with. But when I sat down
and started working out her design, I realized that I wanted to do
something unique and different. A two month project turned into a 10
month project totaling at 1345 hours of work. I recorded my hours
through movies and tv series (all the Hobbit and LotR marathons!!!). She
went through 15 different designs until February, when I decided to
take my armour making a little further. I had been seeing so many
beautiful Elsa’s, but I really wanted to see what happened to Elsa three
years later. I pictured her older, more mature but still fighting that
little bit of fear. However, she was a Queen, and a queen is able to
protect her people. I wanted armour. I wanted to create something
entirely new that had not been done before with the new Frozen
franchise. But I wanted a design that was practical, visually appealing
and unique but still captured Elsa’s character. I wanted everything. A
realistic frost effect (which I used ground glass for), airbrushed
details, a lovely paint job, resin cast jewels, and I wanted to glitter
like a crazy person all over. Elsa has been my most ambitious project
to date.
The armour from top to bottom tells various aspects of the Frozen storyline. Each piece incorporates a theme from the film either obviously or subtly.
BRACERS:
The bracers have resin cast gems that are two different colours in my tribute to the film. The darker blue represents Elsa’s magic in the movie Frozen. Its darker because of her fear. The lighter gem represents the love she has for her sister.
CHESTPLATE:
There are over 250 (because I lost count and wasnt going to count each one again XD) individually cut and placed scales along the bottom of the corset and painted with white illuminating highlights. The painting has been done to give a “battle worn” impression. The jewels are resin cast. There is also a lovely tribute to the film again on the bust and sides. These are taken straight from Elsa’s coronation gown!
DIADEM:
One of my favourite pieces. This piece tells us how afraid Elsa is because of her ice magic. She hides from her sister because she is afraid to hurt her. The diadem’s shape around the face offers that sense of “hiding behind something”. and for my armour I wanted some of that element. Instead of going full blown helmet, I went with a diadem that could also be a crown instead. The snowflake center is one of the main flakes from the movie and I chose it because the element of ice is vital to Elsa’s character.
SPAULDERS:
I love spaulders. This is probably my favourite piece of Elsa’s costume. I wanted to have a very unique, icy and appealing design. I went with fractals along the edges because how much icier can you get?! There is also a nod to the Frozen movie in the upper spauler, which not only uses one of the Frozen snowflakes, but also has a fractal just below it that is roughly in a heart shape (I know it looks like a “V” but it isnt!). This heart is symbolic for the armour and for the movie, as it is representative of the “Love Thaws” theme in the storyline. Elsa’s love for Anna and vice versa made Elsa able to control her powers, and learn that she doesn’t have to be afraid. This was very important to me to put into the armour.
GRIEVES AND SABATONS:
Once again we are seeing the coronation design. From top to bottom (from knee to feet) we see a large snowflake, the coronation motif, and a smaller snowflake. These two pieces are painted in a rough, almost aged manner. It is completely different than the rest of the armour. This is because these two pieces are the turning point in Elsa’s life, where she decides that she should be who she wants to be. Yes, these are the pieces that represent “Let it Go”. The snowflakes encompass the swirls, showing us that her magic is powerful but also that she shouldn’t be afraid to be herself. Becoming Queen (the coronation design) but being discovered, she walks (or runs) from Arendelle in fear (the smaller flake), but rises in strength at the top of the North Mountain (the larger flake encompassed by shining star bursts).
CAPE vr 2:
Although my Elsa is ready for battle, I didnt want her to lose that classic Elsa. No matter what, she is still Elsa. The cape is not only iconic, but is a part of her character. For the cape, I wanted to change some of the design but also keep key elements. Such as the blue paneling in the center panel, the larger snowflake in the bottom center panel, and other mini snowflakes across the cape. This version of the cape uses glitter and diamond dust for the frost effects. The first version of the cape (still a work in progress) uses beads, glitter, and other elements to create the designs and is white instead of blue chiffon.
WIG:
The wig is an Arda Suzi lace front in Platinum blonde. I sewed in extra wefts to give length, thickness and a more realistic definition. Real hair has a mix of colour into it and is not purely one single tone. The wefts were Arda Ash Blonde that I sewed through out the wig on every 3rd line. Because my Elsa is older, I wanted longer hair.
The snowflakes above are cast in resin with diamond dust on them to give them a frosted look.
The armour from top to bottom tells various aspects of the Frozen storyline. Each piece incorporates a theme from the film either obviously or subtly.
BRACERS:
The bracers have resin cast gems that are two different colours in my tribute to the film. The darker blue represents Elsa’s magic in the movie Frozen. Its darker because of her fear. The lighter gem represents the love she has for her sister.
CHESTPLATE:
There are over 250 (because I lost count and wasnt going to count each one again XD) individually cut and placed scales along the bottom of the corset and painted with white illuminating highlights. The painting has been done to give a “battle worn” impression. The jewels are resin cast. There is also a lovely tribute to the film again on the bust and sides. These are taken straight from Elsa’s coronation gown!
DIADEM:
One of my favourite pieces. This piece tells us how afraid Elsa is because of her ice magic. She hides from her sister because she is afraid to hurt her. The diadem’s shape around the face offers that sense of “hiding behind something”. and for my armour I wanted some of that element. Instead of going full blown helmet, I went with a diadem that could also be a crown instead. The snowflake center is one of the main flakes from the movie and I chose it because the element of ice is vital to Elsa’s character.
SPAULDERS:
I love spaulders. This is probably my favourite piece of Elsa’s costume. I wanted to have a very unique, icy and appealing design. I went with fractals along the edges because how much icier can you get?! There is also a nod to the Frozen movie in the upper spauler, which not only uses one of the Frozen snowflakes, but also has a fractal just below it that is roughly in a heart shape (I know it looks like a “V” but it isnt!). This heart is symbolic for the armour and for the movie, as it is representative of the “Love Thaws” theme in the storyline. Elsa’s love for Anna and vice versa made Elsa able to control her powers, and learn that she doesn’t have to be afraid. This was very important to me to put into the armour.
GRIEVES AND SABATONS:
Once again we are seeing the coronation design. From top to bottom (from knee to feet) we see a large snowflake, the coronation motif, and a smaller snowflake. These two pieces are painted in a rough, almost aged manner. It is completely different than the rest of the armour. This is because these two pieces are the turning point in Elsa’s life, where she decides that she should be who she wants to be. Yes, these are the pieces that represent “Let it Go”. The snowflakes encompass the swirls, showing us that her magic is powerful but also that she shouldn’t be afraid to be herself. Becoming Queen (the coronation design) but being discovered, she walks (or runs) from Arendelle in fear (the smaller flake), but rises in strength at the top of the North Mountain (the larger flake encompassed by shining star bursts).
CAPE vr 2:
Although my Elsa is ready for battle, I didnt want her to lose that classic Elsa. No matter what, she is still Elsa. The cape is not only iconic, but is a part of her character. For the cape, I wanted to change some of the design but also keep key elements. Such as the blue paneling in the center panel, the larger snowflake in the bottom center panel, and other mini snowflakes across the cape. This version of the cape uses glitter and diamond dust for the frost effects. The first version of the cape (still a work in progress) uses beads, glitter, and other elements to create the designs and is white instead of blue chiffon.
WIG:
The wig is an Arda Suzi lace front in Platinum blonde. I sewed in extra wefts to give length, thickness and a more realistic definition. Real hair has a mix of colour into it and is not purely one single tone. The wefts were Arda Ash Blonde that I sewed through out the wig on every 3rd line. Because my Elsa is older, I wanted longer hair.
The snowflakes above are cast in resin with diamond dust on them to give them a frosted look.
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