Happy to get so much feedback so quickly! A great community is what I'm seeing.
Elleth wrote:I assume the green sleeves and the lone green "tails" under your jerkin are the same garment? A long open-front tunic of some kind?
You are absolutely right. Bit difficult to see in these photos, I suppose (more will come). I'm not really sure what to call the garment, as it is both tunic and coat-like.
Taurinor wrote:Any chance we could get a breakdown of the different garments? Keeping it under $100 is quite an achievement, especially with the layers and apparent length of some of the garments! Do you have any tips or tricks you used to make/assemble your soft kit on a budget?
I'll get some more pictures up soon to show the different layers so you can see what's going on. Main inspiration was definitely Faramir's rangers (I intend to make the tabard as well), with plenty of weird in-the-moment customization.
As far as keeping to a budget, that was my main concern all along. I'm not one with much money, so I make do with making things myself. The cloth pieces are sewn from linen, the jerkin is a higher-end upholstery vinyl (much more believable than costume vinyl). The vambrace and arm guard are made from scrap leather (Joann's and Michael's have scrap bags of off-cuts for both soft and hard leather, $4 with a coupon, and plenty of leftovers). The base layer shirt (which you can only see at the elbows) is just grey sweater. The bow is actually an old fiberglass bow from the 70s which I've painted darker to make more discreet. Its a very good bow, and I was fortunate enough to buy it from someone who didn't know what they had for the low, low price of $5.
The kit is low cost and low authenticity, but it gives me something to wear while I slowly replace the pieces throughout the years.