Costumes - NarniaWeb Forum

Jadis' Charn attire in Magician's Nephew

icarus — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 23:10:51 +0000

I've been looking at lots of pictures of Jadis recently in the original Pauline Baynes illustrations, and I'm struggling to place the underlying design aesthetic.

Maybe that's what makes it so captivating and memorable as a costume design, in that it is eerily familiar to some sort of real world history, but yet still completely other-worldly and new.

What sort of design language would you use to describe Jadis' Charn attire in the Magician's Nephew?

What sort of real world design inspirations would you start with?

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/vsbattles/images/7/7f/WitchProfile.jpg

Archenlanders

Jasmine — Fri, 10 May 2024 00:15:09 +0000

I don’t believe there’s been discussions about ideas for Archenlander costumes. They have a role in The Horse And His Boy, and are mentioned in some other books.

I imagined they would look similar to Narnians, though their styles could be different.

Any ideas?

Will Jacqueline Durran be the costumer for Greta Gerwig's Narnia adaptations?

The Rose-Tree Dryad — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 21:50:32 +0000

Not a rumor, but pure speculation! Jacqueline Durran was the costumer for both Little Women and Barbie, and it seems there's a decent possibility that she and Gerwig will team up again on Narnia.

I started thinking about this because I remember some of the criticism that the costumes in Gerwig's Little Women received about being too historically anachronistic. I can see the problem in a period piece, but historically anachronistic fashion would fit in just fine in Narnia! It's a mishmash of mythologies, cultures, time periods, and even worlds.

Besides her work on Gerwig's films, Jacqueline Durran has also worked on films such as Pride and Prejudice (2005), Atonement (2007), Anna Karenina (2012), Macbeth (2015), and Beauty and the Beast (2017).

Victorian London

Jasmine — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 00:58:38 +0000

The setting of The Magician's Nephew is during late Victorian period. It sure makes you wonder what Victorian costumes would look like in a MN movie or series.

Perhaps something that you see in an Anne of Green Gables movie or production or from Sherlock Holmes.

Any ideas for Victorian costumes?

Calormenes

Jasmine — Sun, 02 Apr 2023 23:54:28 +0000

So what would Calormenes wear in a film or series adaption?

They would have to find a way to distinguished the upper class and the lower class. A Tarkaan was known to wear a gold ring on his arm (it's probably a brace or something).

Aravis has different outfits: a warrior, peasant clothes, imperial dress.

I actually envision Lasaraleen wearing something bright and carrying a fan.

The Tisroc could almost look like a sultan.

Rabadash should have a jeweled turban, as described as in the book.

I can almost picture Rishda wearing the gold ring on his arm, given that he was a Tarkaan and some kind of sash.

I even picture Emeth wearing something similar except for the sash.

What are your thoughts on these ideas? Do you have any of your own?

Susan’s Red Battle Dress (PC)

Jeweled Triumph — Fri, 02 Dec 2022 23:15:38 +0000

Hello!

I will be building Susan’s red Battle dress from Prince Caspian in the near-ish future, but found that the page detailing it has no photos? Is there a place I can find the pictures for this? Or more details on the materials and the embroidery on the skirt?

http://costumes.narniaweb.com/caspiansusanbattle.asp

Thank you!

—)-Nicole

Where do you wear your costumes?

Geekicheep — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 04:04:20 +0000

This question is just out of curiosity, because as an adult I find there isn't much opportunity to wear stuff like I see around here. Like okay, I just got a shield that bears a striking resemblance to King Peter's. It's awesome, but it will probably stay on my wall for many years to come. Not that I wouldn't love to find a strap for it, find a good fake chain mail shirt, and use it for Halloween some year... but Halloween is really more a kids thing, so...? I would absolutely LOVE to be in a Narnia play, but if we're canceling arguably much less controversial stuff like Mr. Potato-Head and Dr. Seuss, I doubt I'll see any plays about Narnia anytime soon (not to mention {corona}). I guess I'm just surprised that this section of the forum even exists - like what, do you throw Narnia-themed parties or something? Obviously, as a huge Narnia fan myself, I'm just curious what kinds of excuses... I mean events... there are where you wear this stuff. :)

Narnia Samurai Style Costumes

icarus — Fri, 22 Jan 2021 22:43:56 +0000

Just a random thing i found on the internet, its costume designs for the characters from Narnia, except all in a Samurai sort of style. Weird, but interesting:

https://linndeng.com/narnia-1

https://linndeng.com/creatures

Crowns and Jewelry in Netflix's Narnia

The Rose-Tree Dryad — Sun, 27 Dec 2020 20:52:43 +0000

Since the old Narnian Jewelry thread had gathered quite a lot of dust and broken image links, Meltintalle gave me the go-ahead to just reboot the thread. {ym}:smile:

The crowns in the Walden version of Narnia were lovely, but what will the Narnian royal finery look like in the upcoming Netflix adaptation? What other kinds of jewelry and shiny things might we see?

One thing that comes to my mind is how popular LotR-inspired jewelry was following the success of those films... I'm not exactly sure what the Narnian equivalent of an Evenstar necklace would be, but I am sure that Netflix would like to sell one. {ym}:giggle: The the nearest thing in the books that I can think of is Lucy's cordial, but that's more of a cosplaying item than a piece of jewelry.

Narnia's New Look

The Rose-Tree Dryad — Sat, 18 Jul 2020 02:35:27 +0000

I've been thinking about how effective the costume design for the Lord of the Rings movies was... to this day, there is a style of dress that comes to mind when you think of LotR, trademarked by the trailing sleeves. I would love it if Netflix's adaptation inspires an idea of a Narnian dress; that the costumes of Narnia have a truly distinctive look instead of "run-of-the-mill medieval fantasy." (There are already so many of those!)

How would they achieve this? I'm not exactly sure. {ym}:giggle: I do think there are a lot of cultural influences within Narnia for a costume designer to play with, beyond the familiar medieval attire:

The Victorian fashion that King Frank and Queen Helen left behind.
The ancient Greek people of Narnia (gods and nymphs).
The "Nature" peoples of Narnia (wood and water gods, dryads and naiads).

As much as I love many of the costumes from the Walden movies, Netflix only drawing inspiration from the medieval ages of our world feels like a misstep. We know Mrs. Beaver has a sewing machine, for instance, which is a huge technological leap. The collapsible umbrella is a surprisingly old invention, but according to my research {ym}:nerd: they weren't a typical medieval accessory for men in Europe and didn't become popular in England until after the 1700s, which gives Tumnus a more 1800s aesthetic. And if Disney's Cinderella taught me anything, it's that mice and birds can really put the finishing touches on a dress. {ym}:giggle:

I recently ran across this ballgown (larger image here) from 1905-1910 that belonged to Queen Maud of Norway, and while I'm not saying that Narnia style should be like it specifically, I was really struck by it — I don't think I've seen anything quite like it before. I can definitely imagine Queen Helen wearing something like it at her coronation: