Arwen's daughter
Half-elven
This dress is very similar in shape to her green gown. The main change is in the style of the collar. Here, we have a standing Mandarin style collar. The sleeves are slightly different in shape, as well. But again we have a long, cotton velvet dress, with a brocade underskirt and collar. There are very likely matching tight undersleeves, but I don't have any pictures to confirm one way or the other. The front of the dress is split open to either side, creating a front panel that she could tuck up into her belt (like with the green gown) except that she never wears this dress like that. There is a gold or taupe pattern printed on the velvet, very likely custom done in Ngila's studio.
This gown was on display at FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising) as part of their yearly display of the best in film costumes. I think this picture really shows the printing on the dress best.
Kathy S. drew up the design for those trying to replicate this costume. It might be a little clearer for some.
She wears the same belt as with her green gown.
Over this at the funeral, she wears a large wool mantle with embroidered trimming along the front opening. As with many of the other cloaks we've seen, this one is a large half circle of fabric that's draped over her shoulders and pinned onto the dress.
This shot not only shows you the pins used to hold it to the dress (those large medallions on either side), but it's also a great shot of the collar. If you look closely, along the lower edge of this brocade you should be able to see some gold lace, though it's the same color as the collar fabric so the two tend to blend together. This is also a great shot of her necklace. You'll see this brooch again when we talk about her traveling coat. This is also a great shot of the embroidery on her cloak. Can you see the five pointed "Flower of Rohan"? It's a design that Ngila created for Eowyn. It repeats in her circlet, in the flower necklace she often wears, and on the embroidery of Eowyn's riding gown and coronation gown.
And a picture of her "wound" hair, just because I love it. [cool] You'll see that she's wearing the same circlet she wears with her coronation gown.
If you'd like to learn more or see more images (or even just the same images, but bigger!) I urge you to pop over to The Costumer's Guide and Alley Cat Scratch for more details.
So, any thoughts on this dress?
Did You Ever Notice? is a running series taking a look at some of the details in LOTR one costume at a time. It appears on no particular day and follows absolutely no order. Look for me when you see me. In the meantime, you can always find previous discussions over at my Costume Discussion Archive.
]. The filmmakers deliberately distressed the green gown a lot further than most of her other costumes to show how Rohan was deteriorating. While the contrast between that dress and this one isn't huge, I do think it's neat. 