FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
The Witch-King in Angmar
(click images to to enlarge)
Other Credits
Photographer: @martjaspers (Instagram)
Outline the story …
Entry inspired by the Witch-King of Angmar from The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien.
"It was said all was lost suddenly the Witch-King himself appeared, black-robed and black-masked upon a black horse. Fear fell upon all those who beheld him..." Return of the King Appendix A, page 331.
The man who became the Witch-King of Angmar was given one of the Nine Rings of Men, which gave him great power at a high cost. Each Man given a ring became over time a wraith: a formless, evil spirit, neither living nor dead, controlled by the Dark Lord Sauron. The Witch-King became their captain, as he was the most powerful among them. The Nazgul, as they came to be known, did the bidding of Sauron across Middle-Earth for thousands of years during its Third Age. As he sowed dissent and waged war from his realm Angmar in the north of Eriador, the leader of the Nazgul became known as the Witch-King of Angmar. This interpretation of the Witch-King is based on that period, which is detailed in Appendix A of the Return of the King.
For this interpretation, I wanted to go beyond the tattered black robes typical to depictions of the Nazgul. Inspired by the robes worn by Slavic nobility, the Witch-King wears a fitted robe inspired by Polish zupans under a loose, delia-like coat. The zupan's green-black hue is a nod to boreal forests, while the black elsewhere is faithful to Tolkien's description of Nazgul clad in black. To give his invisible hands and face shape, he wears gloves and a black veil.
Outline the construction…
I used green and black two-tone polyester taffeta for the under layer, black polyester dupioni for the over layer, gloves and to cover the crown, black lace for the veil, cardboard and wood skewers as the structure of the crown, and 1-euro coins covered in lace as buttons. I made everything except for the pants, boots and ring visible in the pictures.
Everything was sewn and finished entirely by hand (including the crown). I was familiar with all the stitches I used, but I was unfamiliar with the fabrics. I based my pattern drafting off images on the mood board for the gloves and zupan, and drafted the crown and overcoat out of triangles and trapezoids respectively. I printed the zupan pattern off a website that is no longer online, but was luckily able to find it elsewhere on the Internet.
While I'm happy with what I managed to do, I was missing some crucial elements. This is because shipping is incredibly slow across Europe right now, so a package I ordered for the beginning of January still has not arrived. This package included buttons and ribbons intended to function as closure systems, as well as clay, paint, and silver foil to make a crown. All nonessential businesses are closed, so I got creative with household items. I made the buttons out of 1-euro coins and spare lace, and the crown out of cardboard, skewers and dupioni. If the package ever comes, I will make them as I originally intended!
Love the colour palette! great work!
Now I want to watch LOTR again. This is great!
I love the slavic inspiration, it really gives that air of power and nobility! The result is terrifying in the best way possible 🙂
it’s really cool and creepy. The veil works out super well !
Very successful silhouette! It photographs well in different poses.
Effect achieved! This ensemble is definitely creepy.
Fantastical and wonderful! Excellent attention to detail. You could really imagine this costume thrown right into the movies.
Wow! That is definitely an outfit fit for a witch king, the crown and veil and the creepy gloves are just epic! You look ready to hunt down some hobbits!
Such a great concept! I love the veiled crown.