One Last Time

First off, a heartfelt thank you to all of you who took the time to leave such encouraging and helpful words on my last blog post. It's good to hear from so many of you that things get better -- if so many of you are saying so, it must be true -- and I'm grateful to all of you who encouraged me both here and on IG to go ahead and dress up for BotFA. I don't think I would have made the effort to figure out logistics and deal with the aftermath (modified bedtime routine! engorgement and potential for a clogged duct! pumping! a lot less sleep!) otherwise. It was so nice to not be a mom for an evening and get all dressed up and be goofy with my sister, and even if the movie itself was goofily excessive, it felt right to put on a costume one last time to round out four years* of Tolkien/PJ movies.

I'd been wanting to do a Smaug costume since oh, about two hours after seeing DoS last year, but once I found out that I was pregnant and would have a three-month-old for BotFA, I knew I would have to scale my grand plans waaaay back. Forget making a whole leather Smaug headdress/mask, or a scaled corset, or huge wire wings, or clawed gloves...I wasn't even sure what shape I would be or if I'd be able to go, so whatever I did had to be fairly low-commitment, adjustable in size, and low on the time investment. So I settled on a horned headband and purchased eye mask, craft foam bracers, and reusing old costume components. I figured I could repurpose my MuLoki cape as a suggestion of wings, and since Smaug's signature line is "I am fire, I am death," I could wear my Girl on Fire dress, which is definitely adjustable, seeing as how the waist definition is all based on an elastic belt.

Heeeey Thorin, I've got your Arkenstone! Nyah nyah nyah!

My sister Emily, who is my cosplay buddy, decided that a fitting companion to Smaug would be his treasure hoard. Thanks to Bayfair Mall's ghetto fabulous stores, we had a plethora of cheap be-sequinned dresses and huge fake gold jewelry to choose from; she also hot-glued plastic coins to her leggings and shirt to complete the pile o' gold look. Her costume ended up being a huge hit and everyone wanted pictures with her!

Thorin is filled with lust for gold!

There was a much more serious Thranduil there than my last year's version. 

The whole group of dressed up people. I didn't know any of them before the movie, but found out about the group thanks to TORn's line party page. 

While it was fun seeing the movie with other dressed up people, I am sad that I didn't get to see it with Elaine. We've seen every Tolkien/PJ movie together (and some multiple times) since first squeeing over the FotR trailer as freshmen in college, and now that the last one is really over (as opposed to fake over, like with RotK), it definitely feels like the last goodbye. Even though I know I'll still cosplay and be goofy in the future, it's just such a huge contrast with my entry into this magical, beautiful world with FotR. Back then, we were still students with no responsibilities; now,we're both married, I'm a mother and a teacher and Elaine has her Ph.D and is helping people get their lives back together. It almost feels like saying goodbye to being a kid and stepping fully into adulthood.

Holding onto my carefree former life pile o' gold for dear life?

And in case any of you are wondering, I do intend on writing a how-I-made-it post for the bracers and headdress, so stay tuned!


*I didn't know about dressing up to see movies when I first saw FotR and TTT, so RotK was my first time dressing up for a midnight premiere.