On Instagram, Alice as catinawitchhat styled a series of everyday outfits inspired by Middle-Earth. (She also pulled all the outfits together for a slideshow for those who prefer moving image.)
My favorite of Alice’s four collages is the first. It shows her versions of the Shire, Gandalf, and Erebor:
The Lonely Mountain Dwarf ensemble is fantastic: the little touches of fur in her boots and the edges of the vest, the embroidery on the tunic, the warm-looking leggings, the knit armwarmers and chunky cardigan, they all contribute. Add to those the puffy shorts (or skirt?) plus the fairly simple leather accessories with brass-colored metal accents and visible, chunky topstitching. Very nice!
The third mashup is also very neat, with the three principal human cultures of the Lord of the Rings—the rangers, Rohan, and Gondor:
Gondor is perfect, so austere and bleak. Her version of the rangers I find too dark for my liking—not a fan of black, even if it has its uses—but the profile I agree with.
Alice reminds the readers that her outfits aren’t cosplays, but her styling the contents of her wardrobe. And why not, if you can do it this well! While at times I don’t have exactly the same readings of the various Middle Earth cultures as she does, I do appreciate the combinations of elements from our mundane world and the suggestions she’s able to create through the careful selection of details. Makes me want to look at my closet with a new eye. 🙂
For more detail, visit the individual outfits in their own posts: The Shire. Gandalf. Erebor. Rivendell. Mirkwood. Lothlorien. The Dúnedain. Rohan. Gondor. Rhûn (Easterlings). Harad (Southrons). Mordor.
Images by Alice on Instagram
In Making Stuff we share fun arts and crafts done by us and our fellow geeks and nerds.
Co-Geeking 
This is some pretty brilliant work. I’m particularly impressed by the Gandalf outfit–it doesn’t look like it’s trying to be a cosplay, yet the details are so perfectly evocative of the character.
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Yes–the Gandalf one is fantastic, too! 🙂
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