Polgara the Sorceress

So I did the worse possible thing I could do when supposed to be focusing on a task: I opened a book. All right, in my defense I started going through it for cosplay research- but I was quickly distracted.

Polgara the Sorceress, written by David and Leigh Eddings, is one of my absolute favorite books ever. It's safe to say that the title character, Polgara, has had more influence on my life than any other fictional character- barring a couple from Lord of the Rings, mainly because I was aware of LotR since the age of three. The first time I read Eddings' books I was about fifteen years old, and read them out of order. Polgara is a companion book to The Belgariad and The Malloreon, and technically should be read after them. I read her first, and it was supremely easy in my adolescent years, to identify with the young Polgara. A decade later and nothing has changed.

But still, the book is over 700 pages long and I spent several evenings, when I ought to have been sewing, with my nose buried amongst words. On the positive, accomplished side, I did spend a day cleaning my house from top to bottom. Not that it was dreadful, but it was worth the hours I spent paying attention to it.

Polgara the Sorceress describes in detail less than a handful of Polgara's outfits and I think it's safe to assume that she did not wear the same three or four ensembles for 3000 years. This gave me some room to work with things as I would and design something I found fitting. I pulled up all the official images I could find (that is, pictures used for cover art and/or commissioned by the Eddingses) for inspiration, but most of what I chose rests firmly on what I wanted. It's a simple enough, Medieval-style gown, but I feel it is in character. My brother, (who lists The Belgariad and accompanying stories as his favorite series), and I discussed at some length what we thought she should wear. Our visions coincided in that we believed one of her dresses would be elegant, but not flamboyant; that she would not be prone to wearing much jewelry; and that "The white lock doesn't need any help to make [her] pretty" (to "quote" her mother). He approved of this design when I sent it to him, so I can now proceed.

I have most of the fabric needed for this dress already, and it won't take much to manipulate a few patterns. And princess seam dresses are a snap to put together. Barring any major unforeseen events (or the picking up of more books), it shouldn't take me long to whip her out.