Female Legolas Costume for Cosplay and Halloween
This costuming guide will help you to put together a really cool looking female Legolas costume. It takes you through all the steps you need in order to get the right look for this character.
I've seen quite a few Legolas Greenleaf inspired outfits and the very best ones are always rocked by women.
The Elves from Tolkien's Middle Earth fantasy world are portrayed as being rather effeminate and therefore seem to work particularly well as costume ideas for female cosplayers.
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Detailed Guide to a Female Legolas Costume for Cosplay and Halloween
Image Credit: Cropped image by Vincent Lee on Flickr with a CC License
Tolkien's elves are beautiful, human-like beings who are graceful, slim, poised and very light of foot. They look so delicate and willowy but are also pretty mean fighting machines and you ignore this factor at your own peril.
⭐ There are complete outfit sets to buy which normally come made in men's or kid's sizes. But you can probably put together something much better than these yourself. Here's a look at the clothes you need to get the styling right for cosplaying this LOTR/Hobbit character.
Part 1: Female Legolas Cosplay Costume Rundown
Legolas Greenleaf is a gorgeous Elven prince, no wonder you want to rock his look. Here's loads of info on getting the style right.
UK Readers get a Legolas Costume from Amazon.co.uk
Why drool over Orlando Bloom dressed as a Tolkien Elf when, with just a bit of effort, you can look just like this yourself. Create your unique spin on dressing as Legolas with ideas enclosed.
Image Credit: Shared by Ian Aberle on Flickr with a CC License
⭐ 1: A Silver-Gray Color Long Sleeve Shirt or Top
Legolas wore a beautiful silken dress shirt under his suede jerkin tunic. You don't see very much of this except for around the elbow area of the arms. If you have a gray or silver color long sleeve top or shirt already in your closet then this will do just fine.
⭐ 2: Woodland Green Suede Jerkin Tunic
The jerkin is made of suede and is in two tones with a lighter shade of green on the bottom section and also a darker green/brown shade on the top part which has some beautiful scroll detailing. The sleeves are cut before the elbow on this top and the bottom edge is cut down into a pointed shape.
You can see illustrations and details about the Lord of the Rings Legolas tunic. You can make something similar to this either by sewing up your own or finding a green or brown suede coat (try local thrift stores) and adapting it.
Simplicity pattern 4942 has a Legolas elf tunic that you can use for a commercial sewing pattern. You may find this on amazon, ebay or etsy.
You can cut the sleeves down, sew the bottom edges into a point and also draw on the Elven scroll patterns with a fabric marker or permanent silver pen. GlitzyGeekGirl shows how she made her really cool custom jacket.
⭐ 3: Arm Armor: Bracers Vambraces
Legolas doesn't rely on using a whole lot of body armor but the one thing he does wear is some brown leather arm bracers also known as vambraces. These protect his lower arms when fighting at close quarters.
These also have delicate Elven scroll patterning on. You can see photos of the replica movie versions over on Weta Workshop.
You can buy some brown leather vambraces and decorate them yourself by painting or drawing on the delicate scroll patterns. Or you could make a much cheaper cheats version sewing a pair up using brown faux leather fabric or using a no-sew option of acrylic felt.
⭐ 4: Pants and Long Brown Boots
Knee High Faux Suede Brown Boots from Amazon.com
UK Readers get some Brown Boots from Amazon.co.uk
If I was to dress up in a Legolas girl costume, I'd want to wear a pair of pretty cool looking boots. I love the look of this faux suede pair of knee high boots with buckles.
I can imagine a modern version of a Tolkien Elf wearing something stylish like this. This character wears almost knee-high boots over soft gray pants. You could wear green, gray or brown pants tucked in - any more natural look and woodland colors to suit this Mirkwood Prince.
⭐ 5: A Long Hooded Cloak Perfect for Your Adventures
This one from Amazon is a brown hooded cloak. It's not the gray-green color worn in the LOTR movies but it's not a bad look. It is also in keeping with the whole color scheme for this woodland Elf character.
If you have plenty of time and want to make your own cloak there is tons of information and photos on the Making Rivendell blog for you to follow.
Don't forget the leaf clasp brooch pin that went at the neck of this cloak if you are going for the Lord of the Rings look. These leaf clasps were given to the Fellowship members by Lady Galadriel. Legolas did not have this item in The Hobbit movies which pre-date the LOTR.
⭐ 6: This Elf is a Great Shot with a Bow
The main costume accessory needed for this character is his bow and arrow. Legolas is a mean shot with an arrow and it is his weapon of choice. You can buy expensive movie replica versions or opt for a less expensive prop. This prop looks pretty cool. It is a Halloween or costume prop however and not suitable if you actually want to use it.
You could also make your own version of a bow. If you're doing that, there's stacks of photos and info on his bows, quivers and arrows on the Leaves of Lorian blog.
⭐ 7: Your Makeup for a Female Tolkien Elf
This is my favorite ever tutorial on how to get Elf ears for your costume. This shows you how to apply latex ear tips and make them look good with your outfit. There are other ideas that you can find for getting the pointy eared look including using sellotape to shape your ears into a point but this is a little tricky to do well plus I find it uncomfortable to wear.
My other favorite option is to get yourself some pretty and decorative metal elf ear cuffs. These can look really cool and give you the look in a really bang up to date and modern way.
Legolas or Orlando Bloom who plays him has a very natural look in terms of actual makeup, except for the ears! The main thing that stands out is that he has very blonde hair but dark eyebrows. So you might want a brow pencil to color those in darker.
Image Credit: Shared by Chip York on Flickr with a CC License
If there are a couple of you why not dress up as Legolas with best LOTR pal Gimli the dwarf? I think this is a really cute idea and fun. If there are lots of you, you could turn yourselves into more of The Fellowship of the Ring or even The Hobbit characters. Legolas and Tauriel also make a great duo for female cosplayers.
Part 2: Lord of the Rings Legolas Hairstyle
One of the main things that you need to get right is the hairstyle for Legolas. There are pre-styled wigs you can buy for this character but if you have long hair, why not style it yourself.
This Elven prince played by the dishy Orlando Bloom had lovely long blonde hair, but no reason why you have to as well. I always believe that real hair almost always looks better than any wig unless it happens to be a very expensive and well fitted one.
⭐ Summary of How to Make a Legolas Hairstyle
1: You need long straight hair to work with. Brush it all smooth.
2: Separate out the whole top section of your hair from about an inch or so above your ears and pull it all to the back of your head in the middle like you are making a ponytail.
3: Braid this section of your hair right down and tie off. You can do a simple plait as an easy version or work a slightly harder fishtail braid which is the actual style for this character. You may also see it phrased as a herringbone braid.
4: If you have any loose bangs at the front of your hair, smooth them back and pin into place.
5: Push the loose hair at the sides behind your ears. Take a small amount of hair from the front of one side and plait it. You want a long thin plait. Repeat on the other side then admire your cool Elven hair.
Video Showing Another Way of Doing the Elven Hair
This video shows how to make the hairstyle but she starts with braiding the side plaits first before moving on to the fishtail at the back. Either way works just fine.
Image Credit: Original image shared by OpenClipart-Vectors on Pixabay with a CC License
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