Project: Adventures in Applied Color Theory!

The color scheme basically was the baddies would be black or gray, with the exception of the stormtroopers, and the goodies should be in earth colors—fawns and whites…Mollo tried to keep the colors muted wherever possible. Color is very, very difficult to use. Bright colors don’t work well on film, particularly reds and blues. George always goes for the authentic….and if it’s all garish color, it doesn’t work.” – Star Wars Costumes – the Original Trilogy (Alinger), p15.

At this point on my journey into the hobby/lifestyle of Star Wars reenacting/living history, I have a number of no-nonsense, generic civilian garments hanging in my closet, and as I’m always looking to Star Wars-ify my everyday wardrobe even more, I’m always on the lookout for things that fit the bill—or could fit the bill, with a little tweaking! Today, we’re talking color, and the surprising transformation seen below:

I snatched up the orange eyesore from my local thrift store for $6 with the intent of using it for layering on cool-weather adventures. Straight off the rack, it would be fine as part of a ‘Disneybound’ Rebel pilot outfit, but I loathe Disneybounding’s myopic fixation on main characters, so we’re going to do this right, with common, civilian style! At first glance, this might not seem like the ideal garment for Star Warsy living-history purposes, but follow my thought process and see the potential:
Pros:
-Ribbed/quilted elements are common in galactic fashion, and having the whole garment be quilted gives great texture for visual interest.
-the tag says 100% silk (although I think the lining is cotton), which has similar properties as wool, but is light enough to wear over an underlayer. Plus, shimmersilk is frequently described in Naboo clothing, and has thus far been absent in my personal wardrobe.
-the sleeves come to a slight point, giving a subtle differentiation of planetary/cultural style.
-it already has a Mandarin collar (which has become my new default for making clothes less Western/Earth-y)
-the cloth buttons-and-fabric loops closure mean I don’t need to do any retooling of buttonholes or side-swapping like I usually do when converting women’s clothing.

Cons:
-Likely designed with Asian grannies in mind, it’s a little short at the waist and cuffs (though the sleeves can always be rolled up)
-it isn’t designed to overlap at the front
-If you didn’t notice, it’s a garish, iridescent ORANGE!

Thankfully that last item, while the most important change to be made, is also the most easily remedied!
Per our opening quote, bright colors are comparatively rare in the Star Wars galaxy; issues of post-Disney ‘Canon’ contradicting the EU aside, the lively color palette is probably the main reason why I’ve resisted watching the Rebels animated series—it’s just too blasted colorful to feel like authentic Star Wars!

Bold colors like this orange shirt are really only seen in Rebel pilot flightsuits, and there it serves a practical purpose: downed pilots wearing bright orange suits are more likely to be seen and therefore rescued by friendly forces. Queen Amidala and Ponda Baba are really the only characters who come to mind as wearers of similar vibrant hues…thankfully, color theory shows us the easiest way to change such a bright color!
Combining two primary colors (in this case red and yellow) gave us a secondary color, orange. Combining any two secondary colors should result in creating a sort of brown. (I could simply overdye the orange garment with brown, but RIT’s Cocoa Brown is much darker and purple-y than the shade I would like to shoot for. Green will have to do!

Before dyeing, I removed the loops and cloth buttons, then stitched the lower front closure and side slits together; the final shirt would become be a pullover, leaving the placket open a la Han’s Episode 4 shirt. With that taken care of, I wet and wrung out the shirt, prepped my dyebath (RIT Kelly Green+vinegar), and dunked it in. After about 40 minutes of simmering and soaking, I pulled the shirt out and gave it a rinse. After drying and ironing (to relax the fibers and hopefully tease out an inch here or there), here’s what I wound up with:
Dyeing is funny like that – the orange+green=brown equation did not exactly come out how I expected! Instead of brown, the shirt’s shell only became a shimmery olive green, while the lining had turned a beautiful tobacco-y, russet-y, light brown. This essentially gives me two garments in one!:

The length is still a little short, but with my high-waisted trousers it should work out alright, although I’m wary of it coming untucked during physical adventures like rock scrambling. However, it still looks pretty good untucked!:

Worn under a vest or jacket, I think this shirt definitely has the right look…if I had plans to visit Galaxy’s Edge, this would be a great element to help blend into Batuu. What do you think? Does it need any other modification? Share your ideas in the comments below, or join the conversation at the SWLH facebook group!

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