Female warriors have always been beloved characters in history and fantasy, portrayed with a plethora of facets. For this project, Sophie Pusch of “Finarfel Tawarandís - Fanciful Costume Art” meticulously transformed a set of Burgschneider’s Viking garments into an outfit for a noble female warrior. With her creative mind, Sophie impressively proves how versatile historically based garments can be - even for fantasy costume-making. Patient handcrafting and great attention to detail show a huge effect on the final garment.
What was changed?
Burgschneider provided me with a foundation consisting of an A-shaped woolen coat, a heavy linen tunic, a light undertunic, leg wrappers, and heavy woolen trousers—all in a Nordic style. Every single piece is quite lovely, and their colors match perfectly, but Nordic characters are really not my thing. So it became pretty clear that I had to come up with an entirely different idea that did a better job of reflecting me, my preferences, and the character of my dreams.
I envisioned an adventurer from Dol Amroth, a character originating in the Tolkien universe: a woman from a good house, whose garments exhibit the typical characteristics associated with that kind of background. I set out to change the Burgschneider outfit completely in just one week—during the evenings, while I had some free time.
Since the foundation was already provided by Burgschneider and I could therefore skip the protracted sewing process, I had more time to focus on customizing the cut, individualizing the garb with various little details, and tailoring it to my purposes.
- Shortening the coat’s sleeves.
- Unstitching the coat’s side seams.
- Attaching mid length sleeves.
- Adding a new, high-necked collar to the tunic.
- Attaching buttons, braids, and leather elements.
- Transforming the leg wrappers into a cummerbund.
- Creating leather bracers adorned with the distinct winged escutcheon of Gondor/Dol Amroth.
The final result
About the creator
Sophie Pusch
My name is Sophie Pusch, but I am more commonly known as “Finarfel.” This is the name of my first elvish Live Action Role Play character as well as my Facebook page, on which I talk—as frequently as possible—about my work in progress and give advice about garb and decoration, as well as publish pictures of my garments and my LARP group “Eryn Galen.”
In 2013 I discovered my passion for tailoring and costume design. With some help from friends, I learned how to sew. Since then, I have been designing and crafting fantasy and medieval-themed garments, which is now taking up almost all my free time.
I am particularly intrigued by elvish garments inspired by the Lord of the Rings saga, but I am also constantly honing my skills and trying out new designs—and working creatively with my hands is a nice change of pace from my office job as well. I started tailoring simply because I always have a very clear vision about what I want my characters to look like, but since I could never find the right garments I decided to make them myself.
I can only tell you: be bold and just try it—that’s the only way to learn!
Contact me:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Finarfel/
Instagram: sophie_elbentochterr
