This armor was my first cosplay at all. I often wear it to Medieval markets and festivals. Although the movie may not be very popular, it was my favourite one for a lot of time. The story is based on an old legend written down in three variations in medieval Europe, the “Nibelungen Sage”. In German, the DVD ins named “Die Nibelungen – Der Fluch des Drachen”, in English „Dark Kingdom – The Dragon King“. The presented character Brunhild is Queen of Iceland, who fights like a man and therefore wears her armor or at least a part of it all the time. Therefore, the armor has a quite feminine look, which I really like. I also did some show fighting with a one-hand-sword in it and horseback-riding. My version of the costume is made of leader and took about three months to create, because I had to do a lot of research and drafted the pattern myself. I used calf leather for the basic structure and a thicker one for the about 200 darker squares. The undertunic is made of goat leather. All in all, it took about 800-900 rivets and 10 meters (11 yards) of leather ribbon to connect all the pieces. The armor closes in the center back with a lacing. It is not heavy at all and very comfortable in contrast to metal armors or a chain mail. But since the movie includes fantasy elements such as dragons and magic, the costumes are not historically accurate. In addition, archaeologists could not find any full leather armors.
You can read a detail making-of story on a second page.
