The target: DragonCon 2008.
The goal: I want to do something fantasy-related for DragonCon. I play a lot of clerics. In fact, I've drawn so many of my characters that I have a pretty good idea of what I want a cleric costume to look like. And by that I mean, this:
Yes, I freaking realize it isn't a realistic drawing, and that my mileage will vary once I actually get it done.
Pieces:
Robe. Ideally, this should be white or off-white. Chad's suggestion was off-white just to make it look more "accurate" (whatever that means in this context); I agree. If nothing else, I don't want to look like Jen's pre-painted white mage robe, because that might get me killed by an angry mob with pitchforks and torches. Or it might make an angry mob follow me around with pitchforks and torches. I don't like either option.
Found some heavier cotton material at Walmart that has the right texture and color, but it's pretty thick and $5/yard, so we're looking at about $30 worth of fabric off the bat, and that's assuming I don't screw anything up.
Fortunately, the pattern pack Jen used for her robe contains a separate version of the robe with the capalet. I think I may modify the capalet a bit, but this gets me most of the way there if I sew it up like she did hers. I just won't be including the hood in this version; to compensate, I may want to increase the height of the collar.
Tabard. Original character drawings didn't include this, but I decided to add it for two reasons. One, it makes the white robe look less plain. Two, I saw a guy with a robe like this in a shot from last year's D*C, and he had a tabard which looked pretty cool. Despite Chad's insistence that this be bright, I'm looking at making this a darker blue.
Belt. This I'm not certain on. My first instinct is just to get a really plain looking standard belt, but I found a couple of more "authentic" belts here. The ring or double wrap belts look like they might do.
Pouches. Found a couple of places that sell belt pouches here and here. If I can find a secure way of putting it on the belt, I think it might be funny to strap a PHB to my belt like spellbook as well. (Not pictured, but I can sketch out the concept if you're curious.)
Staff I need to get some sort of staff for this. I think we have one here at the house that would work.
Holy symbol? You might note that there is no holy symbol on my drawing. At this point I don't think this costume would pass for a wizard, so I maybe should have one, but I think I could get by without it. My problem is this: all the holy symbol designs are too complicated for what I want (4e less so than 3e, but still). The strange two-ended cross that the Church of the Light uses in WoW crossed my mind as it fits the "simple" requirement, but I don't have that much of an attachment to WoW anymore, so... no. And actually wearing a cross as part of a fantasy costume seems sort of sacreligious, so that's out as well.
