Costumes to Make or Buy for Queen Elinor from Brave

Dang. None of these are out just yet, but I'll have them when they are!

Every scene we have of Queen Elinor so far shows her in the same outfit. I guess a lady looks her best no matter what the situation. Makes it easy to decide how to play this one though.

Color

Elegant green shade in the main fabric, very cool and calming. Darker than kelly, leaning toward olive range, actually, with a lot of texture. Makes me think of duponi silk. The color has flecks of gold, blue and maybe a lighter green. 

The undersleeve and the skirt middle section are of a darker green, more forest in shade. The undersleeve peeking out is satiny and darker green, and based on some of the images I've seen, definitely an undersleeve, not just a border on the edge of the main sleeve. The skirt contrast is solid, but with a jacquard kind of texture to it.

Trims

The detail in this dress is mostly the fabric. She does have a dark green edging around the neckline (same color as the skirt contrast) and gold ribbon trim around the edge of the undersleeve. And that's about all you have to worry about. 

Accessories

Elinor has two accessories - a gold tiara with a green stone and a gold chain belt. The tiara has sections that ... wave up, for lack of a better term. From the front, it looks like a crown with points sticking up. But the points are curved and not like what you think of as a crown.

The belt has solid circles around the waist, a huge open circle at the center, then a string of small, fine circles hanging down to a bit above the floor. (I count 14.) Whole thing is worn over the hips and low in the front.

I tried tracking down green gowns that would work for Queen Elinor. Tough! You have to get the drapey sleeve and the color and it's just not easy.

It may be a while before we get Elinor costumes commercially available. And even then, they might not be your size or you might not like the fabric. So here are a couple of options to help you in making your own Queen Elinor dress.

View A looks like a good option as the dress is all apiece rather than separate bodice and skirt. Alteration would include adding the contrasting panel in the front of the skirt and the border around the sleeve edges. Oh, and maybe raising the neckline once you take out the extra stuff there.

Simplicity 4940

The neckline and sleeves are wrong for this, but you could put the bottom half of this one with the top half of the one above to get the right combo.

Simplicity 3782

There aren't a lot of details to Elinor physically. Given the time period, there isn't any makeup to worry about, other than what you need to get that flawless skin.

Elinor's hair is a medium-dark brown (call it chestnut) and I have yet to see a picture that shows us just how long it is. Dang. (Although I did read a tid-bit that said it was six feet.) But given the time period, the longer the better, probably. She has a gray streak running through it on her right side, just back from her face. (Mom of a teenage girl, after all!) It is pulled back off her face and bound up in a criss-cross fashion into one long tail with what looks like gold ribbon.

Other than that, I'd suggest making sure you carry yourself with Elinor precision. Glide and always have great posture.