I love to have something to do with my hands while watching movies, and this year, I'm making "Hobbitcore clothes" while watching the Lord of the Rings movies.
But what the actual fuck are hobbitcore clothes?
The answer is simultaneously very simple and a bit complicated, because the movement has outgrown the movie costumes to a certain degree. I will choose the simple explanation, however. (This is a case of "ask five people and get six different answers tho.) For something to be hobbitcore, it has to fulfil two important tasks:
Hobbit clothes are Working Clothes
Hobbits and by proxy hobbitcore people are working people. That means that hobbitcore clothes have to be practical. If you can't bend over in your outfit, it isn't hobbitcore. If you can't walk more than a few minutes in your outfit, it's not hobbitcore. If you couldn't sit down and relax in your outfit, it's not hobbitcore. That means that hobbitcore is different for everyone based on their body type, disabilities, and personal preferences. This also means that consumerism is lying to you. You don't need a flowery dress that retails at two hundred bucks to be hobbitcore. A thrifted short-sleeved shirt and Grandpa's old suspenders are also hobbitcore.
2. Hobbit clothes make you feel whimsical
Tolkien was driven by his nostalgia for the English countryside where he grew up and a longing for the simpler times before the industrial revolution after seeing the horrors of what this industrial world could produce. But you are not Tolkien, and you can build your clothes around your own nostalgia. No one else has to like your outfit. Yes, handmade — or at least handmake-able — clothes that are inspired by the 1700s working folks in England can help you feel hobbit-y. But if you feel whimsy in your outfit, then it is hobbit enough for you. Whether this means you want something that would have fit Tolkien's idea, or if mixing and matching things from the store is your cup of tea. My hobbitcore is always a mix of bought items and handmade items. And that's okay. You have to love your clothes and feel hobbity in them. That is enough.
