Gandalf Costume

I cheated for Bookweek this year. Last year I made this amazing Gandalf costume for my son and he wore it for the Bookweek celebrations at school. I made it extra long in the sleeve and the hem, so when dress-up day rolled around again this year, he was able to wear the same costume again! I consider that getting some good longevity out of a costume!

So... how was it made? I started with a thorough inspection of the costume worn by Ian McKellen when he played Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The main items of his costume include the signature wizard's hat, his cloak, the robe and his staff. I then started to look for appropriate fabrics to make these items. I used an unlined brown curtain fabric for the cloak to try and match the coarsely woven, heavy look of the original costume fabric. I didn't want to spend a fortune on the costume so I just used a plain grey polycotton for the robe and some grey felt for the wizard's hat. 

I have a cloak pattern from my earlier days of historic costume making. I used the hood piece from this pattern and simply cut the cloak as a large rectangle of fabric with a head hole and a slit down the front as the opening. While this design was more true to the cloak pictured in the movies, it didn't sit well on my son and he found it hard to keep on properly. I then curved the shoulders a bit and partially sewed the side seams. It worked much better for him with this alteration. The neck is fastened with a draw string that passes through the hood as well as a tab with press studs that closes a little lower across the chest. 

I used a ladies nightgown pattern as the base for the robe. Most nightgown's have a yoke across the upper chest and back and fall in gathers or pleats to make a loose dress. This design was perfect for the wizard's robe. I made the sleeves and hem rather long as I mentioned before, allowing for nice deep hems and room for growing. I left the front of the robe open from the crotch down to the floor. This mimics Gandalf's robe in the movie and allows for more movement. My son wore long grey pants underneath the costume. I used eyelets and a piece of leather thong to create some fun 'old' detail at the closure of the neckline. The robe is pulled in with a fabric belt that I made using some of the cloak fabric. It is fastened with a double ring belt buckle that I cut off of another old belt that wasn't being used anymore.

The wizard hat was the most challenging aspect of the whole costume. It had to be stiff enough to not flop down in the brim but soft enough to make the gentle curve of the point. I ended up making two hats because I messed up my calculations for the head circumference and the first hat was too small. I lined the brim with a stiff interfacing to help it hold its shape. The curve of the point is created with little pleats at the back of the hat. It was then filled with stuffing to stop it drooping. It's not quite like the real thing, but I was pretty pleased with my attempt at hat-making.

Overall the costume is a great success and has been used many times over the last year as a dress-up. Thanks Bookweek for the costume making encouragement! I guess I'll have to make something new next year.