Winter Adventures - ArmStreet Coat Impressions

Good evening!

Before we get started, please excuse the weird, inconsistent font sizes of my text and spacing. Blogger is on the fritz again.

Tonight will be another post dedicated to sharing costumed photos. I'll have some a set of illustrative designs to share here with you very soon, but in the meantime you can catch them one at a time by following my Facebook Art Page, Instagram or Tumblr.

Anyhow, at the beginning of winter I was introduced to the ArmStreet online store and naturally I fell in love with a great number of pieces there. 

ArmStreet artisans create medieval and fantasy style costumes, authentic handmade footwear and LARP boots and shoes, leather and brass accessories and, of course, our armor including a new line of lamellar armor suits, gothic armor, and regular heavy-combat armor. All our products will be custom-sized and shipped directly from workshops in Russia and Ukraine.

Since my biggest interest was to create a winter friendly wardrobe for fantasy photo-shoots, I decided to invest in a wool coat which I thought looked rather elvish. And once I saw that there was discount code for free shipping, I took it as a divine sign to proceed. =)

The chosen coat was called the Long Woolen Gothic Coat "Blackbird". It could be custom made to my measurements and there were a number of colours to chose for the fabric and accents. I chose the burgundy and silver motif.

Buntzen Lake, BC. (That satin sure is shiny.)

Technically, this coat is made of pure woolen cloth. Its hard to recognize, but you need really tones of wool for it's wide sleeves and long skirt. Coat is decorated with silver lace and silver color clasps. It has lacing on the back which can be used for slim waist fit. Coat is lined with black satin.

Source: https://armstreet.com/store/medieval-clothing/long-wool-gothic-coat-blackbird

Technically, this coat is made of pure woolen cloth. Its hard to recognize, but you need really tones of wool for it's wide sleeves and long skirt. Coat is decorated with silver lace and silver color clasps. It has lacing on the back which can be used for slim waist fit. Coat is lined with black satin.

Source: https://armstreet.com/store/medieval-clothing/long-wool-gothic-coat-blackbird

This coat is made of pure woolen cloth. It is decorated with silver lace and silver color clasps. It has lacing on the back which can be used for slim waist fit. The coat is lined with black satin.

I ordered it on December 4th, 2016 and it arrived on January 19th, 2017. I though this was a reasonable wait time taking into consideration the holiday season and the of course the custom work.

With the power of my bell sleeves, I try to summon snow!

When I tried it on, I was very impressed with the great fit and quality. Very figure flattering and very warm! I couldn't wait to go out and give it a test drive. I hoped to find some snowy woods for a shoot on a rain free/snow free day, but alas, though it was originally forecasted to be clear, rain did set in. But we decided to proceed anyway, since all the hair, make up and so forth had already been done and should not go to waste.

The strategy was to bring umbrellas and shoot deeper in the woods where the trees would provide cover from the rain. We ended up shooting at Buntzen lake and around the hiking trails of Westwood Plateau. 

On this day I wore the same outfit (minus the cloak) as in the previous costumed photo-shoot I shared. I just added the coat on top and put gloves on in some instances. It was around 5 degrees Celsius outside and the coat kept me very warm. My only struggle was continuously lifting it off the ground while moving from spot to spot so that the bottom wouldn't get dirty. I did wish the hem was just a touch shorter in that moment.

Coquitlam, BC

The following week it snowed and my winter wonderland wishes had been answered! Not only that, it was precipitation free long enough for a few hours of shooting on my day off. Well, almost. There was a bit of snow falling from the sky but it was the dry, whimsically floating kind. 

So, off to Burnaby Lake Regional Park we went, as I had been dreaming to shoot there again since the previous snowfall. 

This time under my coat I wore a wonderfully medieval looking, velvet burgundy dress I found at Value Village (which sadly can't be seen), warm leggings, and more winter appropriate boots. It was around 2 degrees Celsius this time and I'd say the coat kept me pretty warm again. Only my toes got chilly after a while. 

"I'm journeying to Winterhold!", I say, knowing that my joke is outdated. It's about time for a new Elder Scrolls game though, in my opinion. Please Bethesda, make it happen.

Looking for my forest bird and squirrel friends.

Photography: Seth Rutledge
Styling, make-up, and photo editing: yours truly
Wig: 'Lani' style wig in 'white' by Mythril Wigs
Coat by ArmStreet 

Well, that's it for now. I give the coat a 5/5 and look forward to getting more things from ArmStreet in the future!
Now, I'm off to use these photos for my art studies. Till we meet again, friends!

medieval and fantasy style costumes, authentic handmade footwear and LARP boots and shoes, leather and brass accessories and, of course, our armor including a new line of lamellar armor suits, gothic armor, and regular heavy-combat armor. All our products will be custom-sized and shipped directly from workshops in Russia and Ukraine, as usual.

Source: https://armstreet.com/

medieval and fantasy style costumes, authentic handmade footwear and LARP boots and shoes, leather and brass accessories and, of course, our armor including a new line of lamellar armor suits, gothic armor, and regular heavy-combat armor. All our products will be custom-sized and shipped directly from workshops in Russia and Ukraine, as usual.

Source: https://armstreet.com/

medieval and fantasy style costumes, authentic handmade footwear and LARP boots and shoes, leather and brass accessories and, of course, our armor including a new line of lamellar armor suits, gothic armor, and regular heavy-combat armor. All our products will be custom-sized and shipped directly from workshops in Russia and Ukraine

Source: https://armstreet.com/

medieval and fantasy style costumes, authentic handmade footwear and LARP boots and shoes, leather and brass accessories and, of course, our armor including a new line of lamellar armor suits, gothic armor, and regular heavy-combat armor. All our products will be custom-sized and shipped directly from workshops in Russia and Ukraine

Source: https://armstreet.com/