Introduction

This blog is a place to explore and document my attempts to apply the methods of ‘living history’-style reenactment to the fictional setting of the Star Wars galaxy, or as I’ll usually be calling it here, the GFFA (Galaxy Far, Far Away)!
While the idea of GFFA ‘reenacting’ originates with my buddy J. Book, I was encouraged to start this blog after completing the ‘Getting Started in Living History’ course from Jas. Townsend. While Townsend focuses on the ‘flintlock era’ of American history, the methods laid out in the series are absolutely applicable to any setting, historic or fictional—I’ve even successfully applied it to my other ‘period’, late Third Age Middle-earth. Because of this, I strongly encourage anyone with even the slightest interest in reenacting to check it out.)  My GFFA application of their ‘reenacting roadmap’ can be found collected at the FIRST STEPS page.
A note up front: although it falls under the larger umbrella of the ‘Costumed Arts’, and you may see posts here tagged with the term, I feel that there is more to what we discuss here than simply ‘COSPLAY’. We are Not talking about costumes made of foam and vinyl pleather solely to copy the look of an onscreen costume, artificially weathered to ‘look nice’ for a photo shoot and be worn once a year in the climate-controlled comfort of a convention center. Per our vision of the GFFA as a setting for serious reenacting, we are dealing with practical clothing and actual gear made of authentic materials, used in as authentic a manner as we can manage.

Another note up front: the term “Reenactor” first shows up (according to Webster’s dictionary) in 1980,where it is defined as “A person who participates in the reenactment of historical events.”
Right off the bat, most folks would say we’ve hit a wall in these ventures— because, as sub-created fiction, the events depicted in Star Wars never took place—but to them I would submit those magical blue words:
There you have it! A long time ago would imply that the events have already happened, so suspend your disbelief with this framing device, and let’s get started!