Alanna of Trebond and Olau, Alanna the Lioness, King’s Champion. Whatever you call her, she’s awesome.
Throughout the books of the Tortall Universe (her quartet being the Song of the Lioness) by Tamora Pierce, Alanna is a powerful warrior, and in later series an excellent mentor and mother. She’s not a perfect person, but she tries the best with what she has. If you’d like to read more about my love for her story, you can read the original blog post here.
Alanna is a warrior, she has magic, she’s brave but also sometimes vulnerable, but no matter what, she’s herself (with few hesitations… big ones, but few), and that’s nice.
To produce a costume I specifically looked at the last book with the scene when Alanna and Thayet are re-introduced/introduced respectively to the court. In that scene, Alanna wore loose breeches and a long tunic.
Ignoring that the tunic was black in the scene, and opting for red instead, I set to work.
Alanna’s “loose breeches” were made from this lovely fabric from Dharma Trading, dyed to a lovely stormy grey. The pattern is Flint from Megan Nielsen, and they’re so comfy. Read more about them here.
The sword and shield were both built out of mostly plywood, wood filler, sanding, and grunt work. You can read about the sword here, and the shield here.
Then came the tunic and shirt. Both were based on the Onyx shirt, with different modifications for each. I raised the neckline for both, the shirt more than the tunic, lengthened one set of sleeves and removed the others… If you want to read more, here’s my wrap up post for Alanna. It also contains info on the necklace (not made) and the Faithful plushie (bought and altered).
I decided to keep my hair out of my face with a French braid, which was one of the easiest con hairstyles I’ve ever worn… No curls, no muss, no getting it caught under my backpack. Moderately minimal makeup too. Eyeliner, eyebrow pencil, mascara, lip gloss, and that’s about it. Still more than I normally wear.
If you’ve not read the Alanna books, and you like YA fantasy, give them a try!
