Q: What Do Tolkien’s Elves Wear?
ANSWER: Many readers ask if the Elves in Middle-earth, as depicted by J.R.R. Tolkien, wear special clothing or clothing that is somehow different from the clothing of men. In the Peter Jackson movies the Elves wear robes and long gowns.
In the books the reader encounters various characters who wear robes: the Nazgul, Gandalf and Saruman, Éowyn, and the dead Southron who fascinates Sam in Ithilien are all examples of characters dressed in robes. However, Tolkien used the word “robed” in a more general sense, as when he says the guards of the tower in Minas Tirith are “robed in black”, and that the members of the Fellowship are wearing the “grey robe(s) of Lorien”. Were their cloaks the same as robes? In some cases that seems to be so.
It is a curious thing that Tolkien only uses the word “shirt” in The Lord of the Rings to refer to mail-shirts or leather shirts (used as padding under mail). Tolkien does use the word “tunic” a few times, mostly to refer to Frodo’s own attire; however, he and Sam disguise themselves in Mordor in Orc tunics and breeches.
The hobbits all wore breeches, and when Aragorn leads Frodo and his companions through the midge-water marsh the narrative says the bugs crawled up their sleeves — so presumably they were all dressed similarly. In fact, Tolkien depicted Bilbo fully clothed in several illustrations he made for The Hobbit, including a pair of boots made for him in Rivendell. But none of these references to clothes mention Elves.
Of Elven attire Tolkien says very little. For example, when he introduces Legolas he says only: “There was also a strange Elf clad in green and brown, Legolas, a messenger from his father, Thranduil, the King of the Elves of Northern Mirkwood.” We do know, however, that “the Elf had no boots, but wore only light shoes, as he always did, and his feet made little imprint in the snow.”
When Aragorn is introduced all that Tolkien mentions of his attire are his “high boots of supple leather” and his “travel-stained cloak of dark-green cloth”. Gimli and Gandalf also wear boots.
Of course, as has often been cited, Tolkien specifically addressed the issue of clothing in Letter No. 211, in which he said:
Question 4. I do not know the detail of clothing. I visualize with great clarity and detail scenery and ‘natural’ objects, but not artefacts. Pauline Baynes drew her inspiration for F. Giles largely from mediaeval MS. drawings – except for the knights (who are a bit ‘King-Arthurish’)† the style seems to fit well enough. Except that males, especially in northern parts such as the Shire, would wear breeches, whether hidden by a cloak or long mantle, or merely accompanied by a tunic.
I have no doubt that in the area envisaged by my story (which is large) the ‘dress’ of various peoples, Men and others, was much diversified in the Third Age, according to climate, and inherited custom. As was our world, even if we only consider Europe and the Mediterranean and the very near ‘East’ (or South), before the victory in our time of the least lovely style of dress (especially for males and ‘neuters’) which recorded history reveals — a victory that is still going on, even among those who most hate the lands of its origin. The Rohirrim were not ‘mediaeval’, in our sense. The styles of the Bayeux Tapestry (made in England) fit them well enough, if one remembers that the kind of tennis-nets [the] soldiers seem to have on are only a clumsy conventional sign for chainmail of small rings.
This passage does not say that any characters in the book were dressed like the people depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry — only that the attire of the soldiers depicted in the tapestry are similar enough to how he described the Rohirrim. One could easily have chosen other medieval or ancient illustrations of mailed warriors to compare them to.
Even The Silmarillion says little about clothing. Lúthien is dressed in blue “raiment” when Beren first sees her as she dances. There are many references to cloaks; but only Eärendil wears shoes in any story, and then only when he walks in Tirion upon Tuna. The details of clothing are unimportant to the stories, for these are not stories about tailors, seamstresses, and fashionistas. But there is one drawing that J.R.R. Tolkien made of an Elf — and we can see from that illustration that he pictured the elf wearing a white shirt, black coat, blue breeches, and soft shoes.
In the scene where Beleg finds the sleeping Gwindor, we are shown an early indication of the types of clothes Tolkien imagined his Elves wearing. It seems reasonable to infer that the Elves probably wore a variety of clothing styles, but most often they would have worn shirts or tunics paired with breeches, covered by long coats or robes, especially for protection while traveling outdoors. They most often wore shoes but may have had occasional need for boots. At the very least Elrond’s people in Rivendell had the ability to make boots.
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