MORE ABOUT ROGUE COUTURE

After getting majorly into The Adventure Zone and Critical Role over the course of 2016 and 2017, I have had so many ideas for different Dungeons & Dragons inspired garments and costumes. However, not so much the funds to create every idea in my head. So instead of making all of them, I've created a few D&D cosplays here, but I channeled an absolute ton of love for D&D into this look, Rogue Couture.

This look ended up being inspired by what was my first favorite D&D class, Rogue, a class typical of assassins and thieves — although Monk has currently stolen my affections. While looking into that archetype I saw a lot of grungy themes and black and gray color schemes, so I decided to try to challenge myself by creating a crisp and clean silhouette enhanced with some brighter colors. I thought it would be interesting to try to still create something that read intrinsically as a Rogue, and yet wasn't what you would think of off hand. It was my first time tailoring a jacket and there are some tweaks I would make were I to do this project again (I super ran out fabric but I especially wish the hood was bigger), but I'm still happy with the results!

The jacket is created from a beautiful dark red wool and silk dupioni that I ended up hand dying red to match the wool more precisely. I created the pattern from scratch and used traditional tailoring techniques like a horsehair interfacing understructure, copious amounts of pad stitching, and a lining with couture finishes, to make the final garment crisp as possible. The undergarments are a floor-length skirt made from a poly wool blend with a pleated accent panel in silk dupioni to match the accents on the jacket, and a hooded crop top that ties up the front with grommets and lace. This look heavily features pleating, piping work, and a pair of antique scissors as a unique front closure.