I am starting on a new project.
So, I'm building a set of costumes for my wife and I. We are both HUGE "Legend of Zelda" fans and so I had the idea of doing a costume set for us... I am basing this on the "Twilight Princess" episode of the series, because, well, they have the best set of costumes thus far; I like the departure of the cartoon-like appearances and into a grittier setting. They seem more "realistic" than ever before. Ocarina of Time was close but event still pretty cartoon-like. "Twilight Princess" is pretty darned gritty though, and I LOVE that.
So here's the deal: One Link and one Zelda outfit coming up. But first, some assertions/assumptions:
1.) No cheesy lame "halloween cosutme" crap. So many costumes are made of thin, lame, non-durable material. I'm a former SCA member and have been to Renaissance fairs and have REAL swords and some armor. Real suede jerkins and boots, etc... so... I want that level of quality. No compromises.
2.) This will not be "pixel perfect". Many game designers try to go after some loose version of real medieval equipment and they know not what they are doing. Big gaudy or physically improbable designs that so not really lend themselves to any sort of practicality. While this will be a fantasy set of costumes, I'm trying to do my best to maintain some level of realism. I'll tell you right now, the maille is not historically accurate (to any medieval era), but then again, virtually NONE of it is... riveted mild steel or not... it's all inaccurate, just a matter of to what degree. Maybe I'll cover the details of why that is true in a later post.
3.) I'm taking some license with Link's costume. While some elements I like; some are less than ideal. Tights would NOT have been used, folks. Link is an adventurer and would be using gear that would hold up to the elements. Cotton tights and a thin tunic is uhh.. no. Just no. His tunic would have been made of dyed suede or wool... the under shirt is flat-out a gambeson, as he's wearing maille. The pants are more than likely also leather or suede. Hylians are also some sort of blend between Elven (Tolkien) and Aztec/Mayan in design and fashion; I like Tolkien's Elven universe a lot too, so I'm going to swing the pendulum a bit more in that direction, while still being very recognizable as Link.
4.) I recognize the limits of my own ability. Due to assertion #1, that means no resin crap. I'm no blacksmith so I cannot forge my own sword. Replicas currently made are a joke; so I'm having a Master Sword commissioned (I will post acknowledgements and equipment/component sources later). I'm going to do some of my own work (most subsequent posts will cover topics such as fabricating my Hylian shield; I am doing that myself based on an SCA shield blank). I have already met some great people and will also cover them in later posts. Many articles I have spent time scouring for the right items; and those I'm purchasing. This constitutes the majority of the costumes; some articles have a base component and I'll embellish myself; others are completely commissioned.
So that's it. The first post of me bringing to life the Zelda universe in a Link and Zelda costumes that are going to be EPIC!
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