Oversized boots for a Dwarf persona

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Bumr Blackbrand
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Oversized boots for a Dwarf persona

Post by Bumr Blackbrand »

Hey all. In a book referencing props used in The Hobbit, the propmaster mentions he had custom boots made to make the Dwarf Cast's feet look large, as they would be on a Dwarf. Are there any alternative solutions to this aside from having totally custom boots made? I don't have access to a custom cobbler, and I imagine having custom boots like this made would be incredibly expensive.

I've also seen these boot caps on Etsy that look like a decent solution. If anyone has any better ideas, though, I'm all ears.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/126818701/ ... ck=1&pro=1
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Greg
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Re: Oversized boots for a Dwarf persona

Post by Greg »

Boots are just part of the problem of looking like a Dwarf rather than just looking like a Tall Rus-lander. I guess the first question is...how tall are you? If you're wanting a functional kit, bulking up all your clothing for looks will make you miserable on-the-go. Oversized boots won't help you seem shorter, and I'm not sure those are designed for oversized footwear either. That's a tricky topic, and why I never pursued a dwarf persona myself...I'm just too tall!
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Bumr Blackbrand
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Re: Oversized boots for a Dwarf persona

Post by Bumr Blackbrand »

I'm 5'6", so not a super tall guy. I have no intention of putting on the fat suit or the nose/ears/beard, but layering up is an option.
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Iodo
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Re: Oversized boots for a Dwarf persona

Post by Iodo »

Bumr Blackbrand wrote:Hey all. In a book referencing props used in The Hobbit, the propmaster mentions he had custom boots made to make the Dwarf Cast's feet look large, as they would be on a Dwarf. Are there any alternative solutions to this aside from having totally custom boots made? I don't have access to a custom cobbler, and I imagine having custom boots like this made would be incredibly expensive.

I've also seen these boot caps on Etsy that look like a decent solution. If anyone has any better ideas, though, I'm all ears.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/126818701/ ... ck=1&pro=1
Those boot caps are very cool, I might just have to make some at some point :P

Anyway, back to your question, it's important to remember that there's a big difference between a movie prop and a functional item, over size boots look great but would be cumbersome and difficult to wear, it all depends on what you want out of your kit.

To make my feet look large in dwarven cosplays, I've had reasonable success with wearing my leather steel toe cap work boots (which have a bulky look) along with fur lined leather gaiters but on the trail I've never worn anything other that my trusted walking boots.

The main difficulty here is that Tolkien mentioned the term "Dwarven boots" several times, but he never gave a description of what that meant. At one point he said that hobbits wear them in very muddy and cold conditions so we have a different interpretation of dwarven boots from Udwin in his hobbit bounder kit, here's a link:
http://www.middleearthrangers.org/wiki/ ... :_Soft_Kit

As far as height is concerned, it may sound stupid, but it's possible to dress short without pudding and such. If you've ever watched a borrowers movie you'll notice that the characters dress small by wearing fabrics with a thick weave and unnaturally large thread and stitching, it's all about optical illusion and size by association. Here's some of the most basic methods for dressing short:
- Thicker/stiffer fabrics
- Larger decorative borders and detail round the edges of tunics
- Wide belt
- Almost knee length tunics/coats
- Baggier trousers (not to extreme)
- Almost Knee height gaiters
- Wider looking shoulders (can be achieved with pattern and cut, without padding)
You'll recognise a lot of this in the movie costumes, the reason it works is that your reducing the plain fabric distance between costume details and that creates the illusion of a shorter person

Ringulf is a master of this:
https://www.middleearthrangers.org/foru ... ulf#p42447

Hope this helps :P
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Elleth
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Re: Oversized boots for a Dwarf persona

Post by Elleth »

Hunh - how cool! Who'd have thought there was such a study of looking dwarvish? How fun! :)

If Iodo's not yet mentioned it, another place to look for inspiration is Turner Mohan's deviant art: he's got quite a few neat dwarvish images.
Some is still a little too WETA for my taste, but generally remarkable stuff! :)
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Iodo
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Re: Oversized boots for a Dwarf persona

Post by Iodo »

Yeah, I totally forgot, TurnerMohan's work is amazing:
https://www.deviantart.com/turnermohan
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Aragorn: It's the beards.
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Re: Oversized boots for a Dwarf persona

Post by Nemo of Calh »

So unfortunately I don't have any pictures cause I rushed a pair out for a specific event and they look terrible and I haven't worn them since, but I made a pair of bulky, very Dwarven looking boots by just covering modern hiking boots in leather. I did it using this method: http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB3/ ... +turnshoes .

The turnshoes in the tutorial tun out nice and streamlined and good for a medieval human persona, but using hiking boots (which will give good traction and support as a bonus!) makes them very bulky and makes your feet look huge. Well, mine at least since I have flat feet and always need wide fit shoes.

The general shape of hiking boots will make your feet look more round and wide, and the bulkiness of the top part vs. a single layer of leather on a traditional pair of leather shoes or even on a pair of cleats or sneakers really gives the illusion that the leather is laying on top of very large feet. You just need baggy pants and to add some padded uppers to the top of the boots and you're set. I still need to get back onto doing that myself, but the pair of boots I used was old and worn out so I was ok with experimenting on them. Gotta try it with a new pair and take my time with it.
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Iodo
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Re: Oversized boots for a Dwarf persona

Post by Iodo »

Wow, cool idea :P Thanks for that
Gimli: It's true you don't see many Dwarf-women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they are often mistaken for Dwarf-men.
Aragorn: It's the beards.
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