HOW TO: Collar conversion

Even if you’re fairly keyed into the intricacies of clothing in the Galaxy Far, Far Away, there’s one easily-overlooked element that plays a major role in helping separate our own modern fashion from that of the Star Wars galaxy: collars!

When he first began designing his world, we read how Lucas “made pronouncements of a general nature” and that he wanted “the rebels, the goodies, to look like something out of a Western” (Rinzler: The Making of Star Wars, p.130; quoted slightly modified in Alinger’s SWCOT, p15). This is an important distinction, as it was one of the broad styles John Mollo used to sort his character designs : “peasant costumes; Western/U.S. cavalry/motorcycle looks; Nazi-style uniforms/armor/cloaks; space technology-type outfits”, etc. (Alinger, p16). More on these categories later!

As something so mundane as the collar on a shirt or jacket, it’s likely you may not have noticed the fact that fairly few characters in Star Wars actually wear shirts with modern-style ‘fall collars’. Of course, we do have a few examples, but by-and-large, most characters who wear collared garments wear ones with some form of ‘stand collar’, and quite often these are full-on Mandarin collars.
After thumbing through my reference library, if I had to spitball some numbers, I would say that well over 50% incorporate some form of upright collar, perhaps 20% are collarless, and less than 5% are fall collars – really, the characters above are pretty much all I came up with.

I hope you’ll note that of our samples, the majority of them are Rebel Alliance ranks or ‘character classes’ (officer, fighter pilot, fleet trooper, communications tech, etc.)! Ergo, judging by our samples, the fall collar is generally a good way to give ones’ impression a touch of Rebel Alliance-style militarism, but if you’re portraying an unaffiliated galactic citizen, something that says ‘slightly exotic’ like some flavor of stand collar may be the way to go.
Luckily, most modern shirts with two-piece fall collars are readily adaptable to a more upright style with one easy tweak!

For this tutorial, I’m modifying this H&M button-up I found at the thrift shop for a few dollars. It’s not very SWarzy as-is, but I also didn’t get it with the GFFA in mind (I was looking for something sturdy and nondescript with a bit of a D12 Panem vibe) so you’ll just have to ignore the button closure; in this case, we’re just focusing on the collar!

This little retooling trick is very straightforward. First, use a seam ripper to carefully open up the upper edge of the collar stand.

Once that’s done, simply remove the fall section of the collar. Unlike the stand itself (which is ~banana-shaped), the fall is usually rectangular, so we unfortunately can’t use it to make a Mandarin collar, but it’s perfect for making a pocket flap or two, or spare material for patching holes.
Next, pin the upper edge closed, making sure everything is tucked in. Finally, stitch it shut (hand or machine sewing, doesn’t matter!) about 1/8th inch from the edge. Be sure to tie off and feed your thread-ends inside the collar, but otherwise, That’s all there is to it!

While not as exotic as a true high Mandarin collar, I feel this subtle modification does alter what is otherwise a familiar silhouette to add a bit of ‘non-modern’ style.
In our following tutorials, we’ll take the next logical step and learn how to cover up buttons! Don’t miss it!

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