Coming soon: a new way to exercise your ‘Star Wars eye’

Whenever I go to the thrift store, I usually cruise the racks on the lookout for certain materials—chiefly linen, wool, and silk—to be cannibalized into items for my various reenacting kits. After years and years of doing this, I can often identify a piece’s fiber content just by walking or thumbing past it, with no need to check the tag. When I go thrift-shopping with my wife, she will often remark and wonder on how I’m able to do this, and the answer is simple: trial and error, reinforced by years of practice. It’s a kind of exercise, and I’ve simply trained my ‘fabric eye’ to recognize one cloth from another.

(This is the same type of practiced skillset that allows me to go into the woods with the Middle-earth Reenactment Society and confidently pick a stalk of nettle or milkweed out of a thicket of other dead, gray plant stalks when we’re in need of some wild cordage on a trek).

When I was first toying with the idea of starting the Galactic Style Guide, one of my motivations for the series was to help readers learn to do something similar. By highlighting a wider selection (beyond that of the same old main characters) of in-universe clothing and gear, and pairing this with notes to draw attention to the important points or recurring elements, I hoped to help folks exercise their own ‘Star Wars Eye’. In other words: to learn, over time, to recognize what elements contribute to the ‘Star Wars look’, and what authentic Galaxy Far, Far Away clothing and gear really looks like. Once this discriminating ‘eye’ has been developed and you know what looks right, it becomes much easier to distinguish quality costuming from, shall we say, subpar costuming.

All of which is to say…:
Starting in a few weeks, I’ll be rolling out a ‘flip-flop’ approach to my monthly GSG posts – alternating between the standard GSG, and a ‘counterpoint’. In the latter posts, we’ll examine some common gaffes I see frequently made, break down what makes them not work, and – most importantly – explore how to correct or avoid them! In other words, while the GSG is all about laying out themed in-universe examples of something, in the off-months we’ll look at themed examples of things that can make an impression less in-universe.
Since the nitty-gritty ins and outs of accurately replicating face characters are covered in-depth by the CRLs of the Rebel & 501^st Legions, this series is especially geared towards those creating ‘OC’ (original character), ‘Batuu-bounding’, or Galactic Starcruiser outfits or personas, who might not have specific examples to look at and base their kits on, and for whom a little ‘free rein’ can be a slippery slope.
We look forward to bringing you these new bimonthly entries, and hope you will learn something and enjoy reading. In anticipation of the first installment, I’m sharing a bit of visual ‘homework’ shortly after this post drops. Check it out, and I’ll see you in a few weeks!

Researching, compiling, and writing this site takes a lot of time and energy. If you’ve enjoyed reading, please consider supporting my work with a small donation below! Thank you!