Outfit for a male metalsmith draws on traditional Uralic and Finnish designs

The costumes flow in folds of silks and velvet, catching the eye with midnight blues, deep crimsons, and flashes of gold and silver. They evoke the brilliance of fantasy, and the grace of Tolkien’s Elves, for whom they were made. But you haven’t seen a Galadriel or an Elrond dressed in anything like this before – with these pieces, honors alum Grace Costello reimagines Elven clothing standards in the First Age of Tolkien’s Legendarium, thousands of years before the events of The Lord of the Rings take place.

Grace Costello started sewing at the age of seven on their grandmother’s black Fleetwood sewing machine and got their very own Singer at the age of 10. Several years of intricate Halloween costumes later, they realized that their love of costuming was more than just a hobby – it was career-worthy. At the U of A, Costello combined their love for design with their interest in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien to create the two pieces on display in Gearhart Hall as part of their honors thesis project.

These pieces reimagine Elven clothing standards in the First Age of Tolkien’s Legendarium, thousands of years before the events of The Lord of the Rings take place. When creating the designs, Costello was careful to avoid the pre-Raphaelite, Eurocentric bias present in most mainstream visual representations of Middle Earth, opting instead to mine the migration and cultural evolution of the Elvish race to create their patterns. Costello was influenced by Finnish and Uralic geography and fashion history but emphasizes that “you can’t just lock in” to a certain fashion history or design inspiration for fantasy worlds. “Tolkien’s work comprises this huge, expansive world. There are so many ways you can interpret it.”

The two ensembles on display were created for a male metalsmith and a female scholar. The cuts of the fabric – T-shaped tunics and tighter-fitting garments that are sewn, rather than draped – are vestiges of the cold climate in Cuiviénen, the Elves’ first home, while the silk fabrics are representative of the climate in Valinor, where the metalsmith and scholar lived during the First Age.

Grace was an Honors College Fellow at the University of Arkansas, where they graduated in 2018 with a degree in apparel merchandising and product development from the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences. Grace works under the name Aubrey Costello; for more information about their work, or to get in touch about collaborations or commissions, visit them at www.aubreycostello.com.