Construction Details:

I have spent the past couple months working on this. It is made from craft foam, which was coated with school glue to give it a smooth texture. It was then entirely hand-painted, which took countless hours. Painting the chest piece alone easily took 18 hours or more. I had considered making a set of stencils to paint it, but the pattern is different sizes on each piece of the armor, making it more practical to just hand paint the design. The armor is primarily based on Himuruya's illustration of England in this armor, though before constructing it I chose to look up some references of actual armor. I found the suit of armor that it appears that the illustration was actually based on, a suit belonging to Sir George Clifford, a member of the court of Queen Elizabeth I. The patterns on the armor are based on his suit, since it shows more detail than Himuruya's illustration.

Personal Thoughts:

The shoot I did for this armor served as a test run for actually wearing it, and helped me figure out which parts should be adjusted before actually wearing it to any events. I am likely to completely re-do the lower leg pieces. Other than the awkwardness of wearing this costume (I can barely bend my arms, for instance), it is extremely satisfying to complete one of my two dream costumes.

Styling Notes

I wefted some extra hair into the wig since it did not completely cover my own hair. I also trimmed some parts of it and used gel to make it more messy looking.

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