Welcome back to another installment of the Galactic Style Guide, where we break down the ‘Star Wars aesthetic’ in order to help you create a more Galaxy-accurate ‘outer persona’! For this month’s installment, now that midsummer is here (for us in the Northern Hemisphere at least), I wanted to take a look at examples of T-shirts and other short-sleeved or sleeveless tops. What more can you say about them? On modern Earth these are among our most casual clothing, which puts them at odds with the galaxy’s overall space-fantasy aesthetic, but as we’ll see, they do occasionally show up in the EU as everyday clothing.
Short-sleeved T-shirts: Luke (Splinter of the Mind’s Eye), Dass Jennir (Blue Harvest, Out of the Wilderness), Aegis crewman*(Razor’s Edge), Dexter Jettster; NEGtAS Besalisk, Janks, Bandomeer prisoner (Dark Times #15), Duro in the big city (Langdon Foss), Ruusan lookout (Jedi Knight). Voren Na’alContinue reading “Galactic Style Guide – T-shirts and tank tops”
Hello readers! I wanted to give a heads-up that the next few months will see a slight change in the posts being published here at the Star Wars Living History blog. At the time this post goes live, my wife and I are on our way to Mt. Katahdin, Maine, and as of 7 June 2021 will be southbound on the Appalachian Trail, hiking 2,200 miles to Springer Mountain, Georgia…which will make it very difficult to keep up with writing and maintaining a blog! (I’ll be checking in along the trail on my facebook page and my Instagram feed, so be sure to ‘Follow’ for those who want to keep tabs on our progress vicariously!)
However, this shouldn’t mean a lack of content for our readers and subscribers: In addition to some guest pieces contributed by members of the SWLH facebook community, I’ve scheduled new installments of the Galactic Style Guide to continue to drop on the last Saturday of the month, with other articles rolling out on a bi-monthly instead of weekly basis. In other words, excepting August (AUREBESH MONTH!!!), expect two posts per month instead of four.
While I wish our hike could be done with more GFFA style, old-school canvas backpacks are heavy and don’t hold nearly enough stuff for a thru-hiker, while most modern ultralight gear is way too colorful to match the galactic aesthetic. But we will see. I’ve been kicking ideas around with a couple of high-caliber galactic ‘reenactors’ about the possibility of organizing a Star Wars ‘ruck’ hike. I would love to do a true long-distance trek using Star Wars gear, or for more of a challenge, with my Middle-earth kit (all organic, handmade, and essentially Iron Age), but I figure I should get thru-hike #1 under my belt first 🙂 Nonetheless, as you can see above, I’ve still tried to inject at least a little GFFA style into my daily hiking outfit: Alderaanian fleet trooper with Donovian Rainman footwear, and I’ll be rocking a moisture farmer bucket hat for at least the first leg of our journey! I even made a point of choosing a shirt without proper buttons 😉
Wish us luck, MTFBWY, and I’ll see you (Force willing) in December!
Welcome back to another installment of the Galactic Style Guide, where we break down the ‘Star Wars aesthetic’ in order to help you create a more authentic ‘outer persona’! This month we’re wrapping up our look at in-universe lower-body garments, both long and short.
When the subject of non-cargo kinds of pockets comes up in costuming circles, I’ve seen some people try to argue that hip/slash pockets don’t exist in-universe. Based on our sources I can say that slash pockets do exist in the GFFA, but they aren’t appropriate for all impressions. Rebel soldiers, agents, or operatives frequently wear pants with familiar pockets.:
Pants with hip or rear pockets: Rebel specialist (Battlefront2!2017, Dresselian (NEGtAS), ‘Cassian Andor’, human male Jaden Korr (14 ABY), Kyle Katarn (12 ABY).
It is worth noting that the distinctive hip pockets-and-belt-loops of the Specialist appear to be inspired by surplus Austrian M75 pants (though those also have thigh cargo pockets).
Near the end of last year, while scrolling through some Star Wars groups on facebook I came across someone showing off a bunch of white and fluorescent orange plastic blaster props made by Rubies. While otherwise just another pointless ‘hey look the stuff i ordered got delivered’ post, one of them was something I had no idea even existed in a mass-produced form—the Merr-Sonn Q2 hold-out pistol. (Fun fact: supposedly this blaster was designed by George Lucas himself, and was prototyped from sketch to prop in just one day). While it wasn’t made by them, as a pre-teen in 1999 such a weapon is permanently associated in my mind with Padme Amidala and the planet Naboo, especially given its decidedly un-militaristic Art Deco styling. Seeing that such a replica existed (and was readily affordable!), I realized that including a Q2 in one of my Naboo-based impressions would be a great way to better connect kit and homeworld—especially since those ‘outer personas’ diverge from what most people think of when they picture Naboo style (the typical ‘Renaissance’ style is really a nobility thing).
Since this model blaster is only ever wielded onscreen by Padme or her handmaidens, I had always assumed it was a specially-made pistol just for Royal use. However, skimming through some RPG materials I came across the Q2 included in a listing of common blasters of the Galaxy, where it was listed as acceptable for use in the pre-Empire, Imperial, and New Republic periods—perfect for any of my needs!
It’s been a while since our last Artifact ID post, but early May always makes me think of the Prequels, and in a bit of serendipity I was able to identify an obscure Episode I artifact while exploring an awesome plant nursery last weekend. Browsing through a display of seed packets, I noticed this gourd looked subconsciously familiar:
If you’re a Prequel aficionado like me—and have spent way too much time poring over DK’s Episode I Visual Dictionary — you might know where this is going.
In an earlier post, I wrote that I like to play a little game whenever a ‘custom Mandalorian’ costumer comes across my feed. The game is called ‘how many mythosaurs will this costume have?, and which pieces of kit will they randomly adorn?’ Unlike the ur-Mandalorian example (Boba Fett) who bore a single small mythosaur on a pauldron, the ‘custom Mando’ crowd seemingly can’t help but slap them everywhere: side of the helmet, on their cape, covering their entire chest armor, on their blaster stocks, on their belt buckle…sometimes all of the above??? What does this have to do with a truck covered in bald eagles and American flags? I’m glad you asked!
Welcome back to the Galactic Style Guide, where we break down the ‘Star Wars aesthetic’ in order to help you create a more authentic ‘outer persona’! In this month’s installment we’re starting our look at lower-body garments.
While most humanoids in the Galaxy Far Far Away dress practically and wear long trousers of some sort, because layering is such a large part of the general galactic aesthetic we usually don’t get a good look at most characters’ legwear. If you plan to wear a longer outer garment like a tunic, there’s no need to be picky about your pants—as long as they’re solidly made and able to stand up to authentic use: for example, Luke’s farmboy trousers were just bleached Levis! As a rule of thumb, most in-universe trousers are nondescript but as we will see below, there are a few ways to dress them up for more visual interest.
Han Solo (Episode IV-VI), Luke Skywalker (medal ceremony), Mos Eisley extras, Jarin Flast (WEG SWRPG 2nd Edition)/generic Human (New Essential Guide to Alien Species)Continue reading “Galactic Style Guide – Pants I”
It’s been awhile since I’ve checked in on this project, which was stuck on the back burner for much of last year but has been moving forwards slowly but surely. Inspired by a description of typical spacers traveling the spacelanes with a sturdy duffel bag (FFG Edge of the Empire: Enter the Unknown p.53), my goal is to create an in-universe ‘steamer trunk’ covered with souvenirs of galactic travel for use with my New Republic Archeological Corps impression.
Before getting too carried away with the weathering and distressing, I wanted to first add a few in-universe patches! A brief browse through Etsy or facebook’s SW Patch Collectors group will reveal a mind-boggling number and variety of Star Wars-themed embroidery, but somewhat unsurprisingly the vast majority are not suitable for living history purposes: face characters, divergent stylistic interpretations, pop culture mashups, event commemoratives, and general ‘novelty’ designs (i.e. things that make me ask, “WHYYYY?”) abound. If that group is any indication, lots of folks want patches that let others know they are a Star Wars Fan, but not so many are interested in authentically inhabiting the Star Wars setting…disappointing. However, a few daring individuals have been producing patches that actually reflect an in-universe style!
As I closed a previous ‘prop philosophy’ post last year I said, “If research and authenticity aren’t kept at the forefront, it is all too easy to fall into the pit of reenactorisms…” However, I realized that while I refer to the concept here from time to time, the term reenactorism may not be well-known to the average reader, so I wanted to use a post to explore what reenactorisms are, their pitfalls, and a few examples from the history of Star Wars. So: what does the word mean? F.L. Watkins, writing in The Reenactor’s Encyclopedia (2004), describes reenactorisms as practices or items which are “incorrect and have no documentation but are commonly believed to be correct and are widely used”. In other words, it’s when one reenactor copies another reenactor’s mistake—acting under the assumption it is accurate—and thereby perpetuates an inaccuracy. Almost always this is the result of not doing one’s own quality research and assuming others have. A reenactorism is the Costumed Arts version of the ‘telephone’ game, where one person whispers a phrase to their neighbor, who whispers what they (mis)heard down the line, usually mutating the phrase with each iteration and becoming unrecognizable by the end. Whereas those playing the game could easily check if the phrase being passed down is correct by asking the speaker, ‘What did you say?’; in reenacting, we can prevent reenactorisms by asking for evidence or documentation.
For example…quick: what color is a standard Rebel Fleet Trooper’s helmet? If you said ‘White’, consider this:
In the course of my research on real-world historical partizan kits, I’ve found the most common items carried by WW2 guerrillas are binoculars, grenades, and knives or bayonets. Since I’m always trying to improve my Rebel partizan impression, I thought having a bit of ‘personal artillery’ (Rebel Alliance Sourcebook, p100) would be a fun way to add some authentic weight to a vest pocket, giving a better living-history understanding of what it would feel like to be equipped in-universe. Around the same time, KR Sabers released an all-metal thermal detonator kit. It was a thing of beauty…but it also cost $200+…and I simply could not justify spending that much on something that was just for looking shiny on a display table or taking up space in a pocket. (Plus, for some reason, high-end propmakers always insist on including things like explosions or character voice soundclips in their electronics, which actually decreases the immersion for me. Anyone else feel the same way? Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts!). Since I couldn’t justify the cost for something that didn’t do anything besides look cool and flash lights, how could I add some authenticity to my kit without breaking the bank?
Living History in the Star Wars Galaxy 