Brave: Hunting Down The Right Weapons

Merida's hunting accessories do say a bit about her. Finding a replica of Merida's bow says a lot about the costumer. I've left off her more queenly attire to review later, as I'll be examining her mother's too, so I thought those two were best reviewed together. Thus, a short review of Merida's hunting attire.

Key to Merida's dress is her belt/thigh quiver. The belt is leather and holds a quiver--but I can't really see the quiver to find a good match online, although there are matching arrows. While I cannot prove it, I am pretty sure that the belt is actually part of a thigh quiver (essentially, that means that the belt and the quiver are attached to each other). This not only makes sense historically, but also aesthetically, since the quiver seems to hang toward one side, and may have a flattened leather look. Thus, ArmStreet's Bowman Leather Quiver in brown would probably be an accurate match. If you are disinclined to wear a quiver, a close (non quivered) equivalent would be Dark Knight Armory's Peasants Medieval Ring Belt in a brown.Incidentally, this is a very handy costuming accessory, since many fantasy, pirate and medieval costumes will use a belt like this one. 

In contrast, Merida's bow is highly practical. it is a standard long bow of light wood with silver and leather accents. Unfortunately, bows can be quite costly and I don't know how often you could get away with carrying one into a theater. On the same note, while you can buy arrows from the Dark Knight Armory, I would suggest not actually carrying any real ones into the theater.

It is relatively hard to find a bow with the light birch. This bow from Dark Knight Armory is a dark wood and gold version of Merida's. The much more accurate (and exceedingly more expensive) Lothlorien Longbow from the same provider is the right wood color with the light detailing. And it is half a grand, too. Pocket change, I'm sure.