Dark Crystal Age of Resistance is out, and we all want to do costumes from it. I wrote a short article a while back about Gelflings, Gelfling Ears, and Gelfling costumes, but I wanted to touch base again as we have had an influx of questions.
So what Aradani Elf Ears are best for Gelfling Ears?
TL;DR – Use our Faun Ears for the foreseeable future, especially Halloween 2019.
Yes we know that the faun ears are not perfect, but then again we often have to make small sacrifices to make a costume in real life right? I mean Gelflings are puppets, and we are not. So the question is, do we want a hyper real replica of exactly what we see on screen, or a close approximation?
If we go hyper accurate, the only way to go is to sculpt a full mask, and with that we have to be careful that it doesn’t get too creepy.
I have seen masks out there that are really good for gelflings and if you go through route you should sculpt your own ears so that the color and texture match the mask.
I plan on not having a gelfling mask, but I still want accurate ears.
So there are a couple of issues with trying to make gelfling ears line up with your ears. Here is a quick sketch to show the placement of human ears as compared to gelfling ears (it is also a great comparison of how much you would have to sculpt to make a mask line up with a human face.
Besides the obvious change in the jaw line, gelfling ears sit high on the head and point out and up. One of the biggest challenges of making elf ears, is having them a universal fit for all the different shapes and sizes of ears out in our world. but one thing we can’t control is how the elf ears accentuates your ear. Does your left ear stick out more than your right? Well adding another 3 inches to your ear will make that difference even more evident.
You can try and change the position of the ears on your ear, which can give it more of an upwards angle, but if your ears are flat to your head, it will be really hard to get them to point out!
You could get our ears and attach them to a head band to lift them up and out, but it might be easier to make your own ears from rolled felt if that’s what you plan to do!
Too many choices!
All the new characters each have distinct looks and distinct ears. which is great for building a living world in Thra, but hard for the perfectionist cosplayer.
Aradani can sculpt custom ears for people. It takes time, resources, and planning. To make custom ears, it has an overhead of around $2000, so the answer is yes, we can make custom ears for you that look like a specific character. However, custom ears will cost 2K and will have to be made during our slower times of the year. August through October is our busiest season, shipping ears to wholesale customers, packing online orders, and bringing them in person to you at GenCon, DragonCon, and the Ohio Renaissance Festival.
Make-up for Brea
So how do I make my gelfling costume?
Do a search for gelfling costumes. There are a ton of great ones where people use make up and ears to transform themselves into these beloved beings. When I did the Fauno from Pan’s Labyrinth, I chose the path of making a living costume that could be worn to con, but was not an exact replica. and everyone was delighted at my effort.
Our faun ears will work great for your gelfling costume, and with a little tweaking should look especially close to the show!