The Blog
Costume Breakdown:
Saruman The Saucy
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Saruman the Saucy was originally concocted as an April Fools joke.
I’m not sure what sparked the idea beyond abandoning reason for madness.
(sorry, not sorry. I had to).
I have seen plenty of naughty Nazgul’s, and even the occasional sexy Gandalf, but let be honest; If there was a real secret freak in LOTR, it was definitely Saruman. Thus, Saruman the Saucy was born; quoting the fallen wizard while strutting like Frankfurter.
And weirdly, I felt more confidant “acting sexy” for shooting this joke than I had in any previous shoot. Its amazing the effect a “Mask” (well, a beard in this case) can have.
As the shoot was primarily a joke, and I had no concept of whether it would be actually funny or horrendously terrible, I wanted to limit avoid spending much on this shoot and use primarily pieces I already owned. In this regard, the resulting concept evokes the feeling of the original characters regal layered white robes without being particularly accurate or costly. In the end the only pieces purchased specifically for this shoot were the beard, the staff, and a cardigan; all other pieces were repurposed.
While Saruman the Saucy was originally intended to be a one time thing, the response was so overwhelmingly positive that this may be a reoccurring cosplay for e going forward.
Element Breakdown
Ash Gray Wig
by K’ryssma
This wig was originally purchased for a shoot I did for another model. I have this as well as a black one from the same brand on Amazon and they are quite good. Both were extremely tick and needed a bit of thinning out prior to use just for the sake of realism.
The wigs are lace-front and the hair is synthetic, but soft, and can be styled with steam or low heat.
Prosthetic Beard
by Halloween Party Online
I admit it, I got a bit picky about the beard.
I wanted something a little more ‘uncanny valley’ realistic than the super generic beard wigs that loop over the ears and have a straight edge for a hairline. What I didn’t expect while looking was that apparently there is a whole dang market for high-end beard prosthetics that can cost hundreds!
Anyways, after more searching around than I care to admit, I settled on this (thankfully quite affordable) ace beard wig from Halloween Party Online. The original beard was designed as a chin-strap, but I removed a few stitches in the chin and cut a mouth hole so the beard could be worn higher on the face and have a built in mustache. I was also able to use extra cutout hair lace to make the fluffy eyebrows.
The beard did come with some double sided adhesive strips to hold it on, however It can also be attached with SpiritGum or any other cosmetic adhesive.
Huntress Maxi Chemise
by Holy Clothing
This Chemise is a favorite base garment that can be spied in several of my shoots. Its extremely thin, light, and flowy with sleeves that can be left long such as in this shoot or scrunched & secured further up the arm with some functional pull strings.
Altered Maxi Cardigan
by Lady LeananSidhe • Cardigan on Amazon
I wanted to evoke a similar feel to Saruman’s layered white robes without spending much for this particular shoot. So I opted to get this basic floor-length, white cardigan to layer over the chemise.
I cut the arms off of the cardigan to allow the long sleeves of the underdress to flow freely and used the removed material to create the waist belt cinching in the dress.
Honestly the cardigan itself was super cheap and rather nice. I am totally tempted to get another in black just to wear normally.
Chiffon Cape
by Jeca Bridal
The chapel length sheer hooded cloak here was actually from my wedding attire and was purchased from the same maker as my dress.
Perhaps a story for another time, but in-short, these garments were from a Chinese maker pretending to be Australian online. Overall the garments were beautifully handmade to my specifications and I would recommend the maker, however they no longer seem to be online.
Staff of Saruman
by Swords Kingdom
To be blunt, this staff is not a great quality replica and the listing for it is also rather misleading; however, it did photograph well and some slight changes can fix it up rather nicely.
The staff is 70in of painted steel and comes in two pieces which are threaded together after arrival. The thin metal decorative pieces at the top are a bit flimsy, but fine for display purposes.
The main “disappointment” with this replica is in the orb; while the listing says “Shiny Crystal Ball”, its really a hollow plastic thing with an obviously glued seam. In these photos, I replaced the orb with a decorative cloudy resin orb we already had. Fortunately that fix worked extremely well.
Silver Sparkle panty set
by SavageX Fenty
This was my first set of lingerie ordered from Rhianna’s Savage X Fenty and I was pleasantly surprised to find the unlined, glitter laced, garments far more comfortable that I expected.
I originally got theses to use in my “Winter Queen” photoset, but the look just fit here as well.
Silver Sparkle panty set
by Long-Perfect
There isn’t much extra to say about these; I just wanted something to match the silvery panty set above. These were nicer than expected stocking’s overall.
Knee High Heeled Boots
by Wild Diva
I was pretty surprised by the number of people who asked about the boots in this shoot. I’m pretty sure I probably got these on Amazon while I was in college, so they have been around a good long while and I unfortunately cannot find a link for them to share 🙁
I have not tried any other shoes by the Wild Diva brand, So I cant comment on the consistency of quality, but I did use these for regular wear for a few years and they have been some “costume go-toos” since.