"Here was one with an air of high nobility such as Aragorn at times revealed, less high perhaps, yet also less incalculable and remote: one of the Kings of Men born into a later time, but touched with the wisdom and sadness of the Elder Race. Pippin knew now why Beregond spoke his name with love. He was a captain that men would follow, even under the shadow of black wings."
Again, my heart sank with the thought of handing the leatherwork pieces of the costume over to Reg, but at this point I didn't have anyone else who could do leather. I would also be starting nearly from scratch at this point, since I couldn't reuse any of the items from the other costumes, with the exception of the green cloak.
So I screwed my courage to the wall and started lining up my vendors:
- Andrea - shirt and tunic
- Reg - cuirass with quilted sleeves, pants, bracers and belt and sword
- Toughgloves - gloves
- Caboots - boots
I still wasn't sure from whom I was going to get the quiver; I had ordered an extra belt buckle and aglet from Doug Strong (just in case!).
Shirt and Tunic
Two of the easiest pieces first. One call to Andrea and we were all set. We decided on a cotton osnaburg fabric for the shirt and a sturdy cotton twill for the tunic. If you visit Andrea's LOTR portfolio, you'll see the pieces in their glory!
Gloves
Again, an easy call. Or rather web order. Toughgloves had the same tight deerskin gloves that I used for Aragorn and Boromir, but in a neutral color. I knew I could Fiebing dye the gloves to the right color.
Boots
Again, an easy purchase. I gave a call to Joey Sanchez and we discussed the boot design. Since I was sort of a "trendsetter" for Joey, he was more than happy to take on the project. The boots took about 10 weeks to build and felt great when I put them on, but they were this nasty, butter-brickle color. Rather than wait another 10 weeks for corrected pair, I Fiebing dyed them along with the gloves. I'd say they turned out rather well...Leathers
I finally gave Reg a call and explained what I wanted. I also found out at that time that Larkin was expecting, so I thought, "Oh, crap ... it's gonna be a few years for this to get done..." At that point, Reg was also expanding into some related areas, like swords. And quivers. And arrows. He was particularly excited about the quiver. "I can make a really beautiful one! Just like the one he was wearing!!" I relented. Reg promised to have everything completed in 4 months.
He was almost on time - this time. It did take four months for the pants, quiver and arrows and sword. The quiver and arrows were beautiful. And he was right - the quiver and arrows did look just like the ones Faramir was using. The pants were made of this incredibly soft leather (I know it wasn't lambskin or deer, but I don't know what he used) and fit perfectly. The sword was nicely detailed and well-balanced. However, it did have a black pommel and black pleather scabbard. (I'll talk more about the Faramir sword in another post.)
It took another three months for the cuirass, bracers and belt. Reg was trying to convince me to leave the tree design a natural color, rather than silver. No. No. NO. Absolutely NOT. That's when I found out about Angelus Leather Paint from a theatrical supply store. I bought a bottle of silver and shipped it to Reg.
It took another month after that to get everything correct on the cuirass, bracers and belt.
The cuirass needed some leather behind the side lacing, which wasn't too bad an alteration. The belt and bracers, though, were an eye-blinding bright green. I very gently explained to him that the leather was a bit on the "vivid" side, and I was looking for a more muted, mossy green. Reg re-dyed the leather and I was happy with the deep muddy green that eventually was returned to me.
So ... another great-fitting and -feeling costume was done, albeit taking longer than I wanted.
What next?
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