Galactic Style Guide – Vests II

Welcome back to another installment of the Galactic Style Guide, the series where we break down the ‘Star Wars aesthetic’ in order to help You create a more authentic ‘outer persona’! For this month’s installment, we’re wrapping up our look at sleeveless or vest-type garments.

We’ll start off with some ‘common’ vests:

Note that Noa Briqualon’s second example is more of a proper vest than his third example, which is really more of a sleeveless pullover tunic. I also struggled with including Lobot in this list, as his gray garment is a weird sleeveless coverall that defies identification. However, all of these do serve the purpose of adding visual interest to the character design.  I included Han Solo in this ‘common’ category as his ensemble is denoted in the Visual Dictionary as a “Corellian spacer’s black vest and light shirt”.

(If you’re interested in replicating Han’s various vests, please use these measured drawings by Rebel Legion forum member ‘CaptSolo77’) :

Next, let’s move onto vests as worn by characters in the Pre-Imperial period:

Notes: -Tatooine is represented pretty well here, as it is the only place visited in the Prequels home to a large number of ‘common’ folk. Only in the course of this research did I realize that Cliegg Lars’ vest is actually knee-length.
-The NSF officer’s garment is properly a leather jerkin, and Boba’s is a sleeveless pullover tunic, but I’ve included them here as they still provide visual interest.
-Per Dressing A Galaxy, costume designer for the Prequels Trisha Biggar describes Anakin’s vest as a “double-breasted vest” made of “African mudcloth fabric”.

the New Essential Guide to Alien Species also provides a few examples:

Now that I look at it again, I think that Pruneface’s vest is really some stolen Imperial armor. And the Twi’lek (of course) wins the award for smallest possible vest.

So, what can we take away from all this? In short, vests are very well-represented in the galactic fashion record and are a GREAT way to visually let your audience know that you are portraying a citizen of the Star Wars galaxy! I wish I saw more OC cosplayers move away from armored ‘player classes’ and create immersive ‘common’ characters wearing simple clothing…if you’re up to the challenge, a good pocketed vest would be a great place to start!
As usual, drop any missed examples in the comments, and I’ll see you next month!

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