Login New Account
Cosplayer WindoftheStars > Costume of Aela the Huntress (Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim)

Most Recent Photo
11-07-2013
Series
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Character
Aela the Huntress
Year Completed:
2013
Construction Difficulty:
Difficult
Costume worn at:
FanimeCon 2013
Närcon 2014
Santa Rosa Toy Con 2014
Wizard World Sacramento 2014
Permanent Link:
About this Costume
Construction Details:
When I set out to make this costume, I was very determined to make it look as authentic as possible. I considered using vinyl for the garment portion of the costume, but decided that it would not give the look I wanted to achieve. So I went to Tandy leather and got one of their clearance/cheaper hides for this project. The original color of the leather was light warm red-brown. It was the closest color hide that I could find in my budget. Being as it was not the color I wanted, I de-glazed the hide and re-dyed it a darker color. Since Aela's outfit is so unique, as it is a backless leotard with a four-part loin cloth/skirt....thing, I didn't even try to look for a base pattern to modify. I drafted own patterns by draping spare cotton on my dress form. Aela's 'top' looked like a leotard to me based on how taught it was vertically. However, since she doesn't have a true back to it, just straps, I ended up making a spandex thong that then snapped to straps coming from my waist. The leotard then goes around my neck in halter. For the loin cloth, it really is just a glorified belt with four panels sewed to it. For all the straps on this costume, I glued to pieces of leather together with rubber cement and then stitched them together. The hide I was using was to soft to use on it's own and needed to be reinforced in order to keep everything in place. I used a mixture of snaps and domed rivets to hold all the straps in place. At some joints I did sew it for extra stability.

For the armor I used a new material called Worbla. It's a thermal plastic that is super easy to work with. I got mine from Yaya Han here:http://yayahan.bigcartel.com For the hip armor I used Eva foam for the base, then used strips to do the all the details and googly eyes for the rivets. The plates have snaps on the back and just snap to the loincloth/ skirt. The front plate's base is also eva foam base with details done worbla too. The gauntlets are eva foam bases, with worbla edging and detailing. I used the same re-dyed leather to also cover parts of the gauntlets. Real rivets were used on the gauntlet because I was afraid glued re-painted googly eyes would be too prone to being knocked off. The gauntlets stay closed with lacing on the back. For the arm cuffs, the base is craft foam covered in Worbla. The turquoise gems I got at Michael's, so no clue if they are real or not (I would wager a no on that one! haha). The cuffs just slide up my arm and stay on their own. Chest pieces are also eva foam, covered in Worbla, and detailed with the same gems as the cuffs. They have little loops in the back and piece of leather is strung through it and attached on each side of the top. Similar to how I made the rest of the armor, I used Worbla. For the bulk of it I used craft foam as base, but unlike the other pieces I sandwiched the craftfoam between two layers of Worbla. I did this so it would extra sturdy and because I was going to be attaching more Worbla to the underside. The rings on the back are held in place with Worbla as well. For the front a strip of leather with a snap feeds through the fur to the body suit and snaps in place. All the armor pieces were then primed black, then sprayed with hammered metal spray, then silver spray, then given an black acrylic wash, and then finally highlighted with rub-n-buff.

The chainmaille was made by hand. Wire was coiled which were then cut into the rings. A 4 in 1 weave was used in this maille. The chainmaille is then held in place to the loin cloth/skirt via rivets. If you want a good tutorial on the who process I recommend following this: http://www.instructables.com/id/European-4-in-1-maille-chainmail-speedweaving/?ALLSTEPS

The sword was made by :iconice_Man_props:. I did the detailing on the hilt and weathering of the sword. I also used more craft foam and Worbla to make the scabbard for the sword. It too snaps to my belt.

The shoes were boots that I purchased. I removed the fringe and dyed them a dark brown to match the leather boot covers I made. The boot base helps keep up the cover, but I use a belt too.

The wig is a lace front wig that trimmed up. It was purchased from Internationalwigs.com; the color is 130.

Finally for warpaint I used BenNye creme make up in green and black. I did a layer of black then added a little green to give it that super dark green, almost black, look. It was set with BenNye translucent powder.
Personal Thoughts:
Skyrim is such a beautiful and enjoyable game that it wasn't a surprise that I wanted to make a costume from it. I chose Aela because she was one of the first NPC's that I really liked (character and costume wise.) Her being a badass warrior werwolf was just icing on the cake. I didn't plan to make this costume so soon, but I had a chance to do a snow shoot up in Lake Tahoe with a good photographer friend of mine. Sadly, I had had issues with finishing it in time so I didn't get to shoot. However, I didn't want the costume sitting around with perfectly good snow in Tahoe (which is 40mins from my house) so I braved the snow and cold winds in a loin cloth for photos. SO WORTH IT.
Wig Details
Wig Brand
Sepia
Wig Name
Dahlia
Original Color:
130
Styling Time
30mins
Wig Quality Rating
4 / 5.00
Styling Notes
Trimmed it up. Broke my heart because the length on this wig was beautiful.
Wig Review
Would have gotten a perfect rating if the wig cap wasn't so small. I have an average size head and it was rather tight on me. Wig fiber was lovely and it barely tangled at all while wearing it. Lace is rather thin so it is barley noticeable. Lace is also lighter colored which blends well with the lighter skin tones.
Add a Comment
Photos
  • Photo 1
     Photo 1
    Comments 0 Views 845
  • Photo 2
     Photo 2
    Comments 0 Views 1189
  • Photo 3
     Photo 3
    Comments 0 Views 1324
  • Photo 4
     Photo 4
    Comments 0 Views 768
  • Photo 5
     Photo 5
    Comments 0 Views 1284
  • Photo 6
     Photo 6
    Comments 1 Views 1026
  • Photo 7
     Photo 7
    Comments 0 Views 1170
  • Photo 8
     Photo 8
    Comments 0 Views 734
  • Photo 9
     Photo 9
    Comments 0 Views 1572
  • Photo 1
     Photo 1
    Comments 0 Views 788
  • Photo 2
     Photo 2
    Comments 0 Views 766
  • Photo 3
     Photo 3
    Comments 0 Views 979
  • Photo 4
     Photo 4
    Comments 0 Views 492
  • Photo 5
     Photo 5
    Comments 0 Views 361
  • Photo 6
     Photo 6
    Comments 0 Views 379
Comments

Sorry, you must be a registered user of and logged in to view and add comments. Either log in or register now!