The Hobbit - Bifur

I just got home from seeing The Hobbit for our 10pm opening night (which sadly featured no other costumes but my own) and I'm still very much on a Middle-Earth high. Oh my Gandalf, it is a-fuckin'-mazing! Seriously, it's one of my top favourite films ever. And as of writing this, I'm going to see it again tomorrow in 48FPS 3D AVX! Once is not enough. Nor is twice or thrice or... oh who am I kidding, I'll see it a half dozen times before the year is through!

With that said, I feel like some of you might be interested in what I wore for the premiere. The axe in my head prevents me from saying this but:

"Bifur, at your service."

Being a huge Tolkien fan and even bigger Ringer, I felt it absolutely necessary to wear something special for The Hobbit's premiere. If you know me well enough, you'll know that I do tend to favour dressing up as a baddie but what I saw of the baddies consisted mainly of orc and goblin grotesqueries that were completely out of my league. On the side of good, I lack the quaintness of a hobbit, the ethereal aura and beauty of an elf and am nowhere near the stature and wisdom of a wizard, so I ultimately chose to be a dwarf. But which one?

Could I emulate the child-like nature of Ori? The badassery of Dwalin? The wisdom of Balin? Perhaps the smoulder of Thorin Oakenshield... or girth of Bombur? It was not an easy choice and my decision to dress up was set just weeks before opening night. Then it hit me. Like an axe to the head. I shall become the salt-n-pepper braided, spear-wielding, grunting, inarticulate yet magnificently tough cousin of Bofur & Bombur: Bifur.

So my costume journey began.

Just a week and a half before premiere night, I bought different fabrics and materials for making what I thought would be a simple and basic costume. A nice tunic with a belt and some gloves maybe. Haha, nope. I started sewing the tunic and as my eyes zipped back and forth from reference photo to reference photo, I wanted to add more and more details. Soon I found myself adding a fur trim to the shoulders and base, diagonal designs to the front and even non-functional button latches.

Then came the cloak. "Oh," I thought to myself "I'll just drape some fabric over me and safety pin it together. I guess that didn't suffice because I sewed a proper button in place and added a capelet thing because that's what I saw in the reference pic. I have to stop looking at these photos! The details are killing me!

The spear! Oh man, the spear! It's so distinct, yeah? Besides the head-axe and beard, his preferred weapon is very much a big part of his signature as a dwarf design... and so I crafted one as best I could out of cardboard, paper mache and paint. I did the same for the axe which I cleverly affixed to my head using garment elastic.

In between, I worked on gauntlets, some fake boot covers, a false belt and of course, the beard, which was originally a cheap long and black one that I modified with some trimming, white hairspray, and pieces of paper as braid ties.

After several days listening to the online streaming Hobbit soundtrack at my crafting desk, sewing and cutting painting and gluing and sewing some more and cursing because I sometimes get a needle in my finger, it was finished! And how I love it!

Before wearing it for opening night, I fixed my (normally straight and heavy) hair up by teasing the living fuck out of it and hairspraying it until it was the scraggly 'do you see on Bifur himself. I also added a touch of white hairspray near the axe-side for increased accuracy.

Despite being 5'10" and not as stout as Bifur is in the film, I feel proudly dwarfish and mighty when I rock the spear and the beard.

So you know... Bifur has a couple of pretty fun moments in the film. Beyond that, the entire film is enjoyable from beginning to end. If you're a Ringer, I couldn't recommend seeing it more!

I am convinced that I am the first ever recorded Bifur cosplayer in the world. I'm curious about why there aren't more Bifur fans. He *IS* pretty goddamn awesome.

This is easily in the running with my Nazgul look as my favourite costume ever. There's no doubt that I'll be Bifur again in the future. Maybe you'll see this dwarf at a con some time next year (and definitely at the next Hobbit movie's premiere!). I'm really pleased with how it turned out and I hope you think kindly of it too! As usual, all comments are welcomed and appreciated! Thanks everyone!