(Don’t worry folks, your regularly-scheduled Saturday post is still coming, but since everyone and their mother is watching DisneyPlus today, I had to get this out there and off my chest)
After first approaching it with caution, by the end of its first season, I was 90% on-board with The Mandalorian…all the way up until the last shot with that stupid ‘darksaber’ (Pete the Retailer agrees). Then earlier this year, I started seeing second season rumour-mill headlines that Lucasfilm was bringing in Temuera Morrison to play Boba Fett, while all signs were pointing towards Rosario Dawson (of all people) playing a live-action Ahsoka Tano. A few weeks later, a rumour that they were also looking for a live-action ‘Ezra Bridger’ (whose SWarsy naming-game I’ve always thought was amazingly weak) from Rebels. WHY?
Author: A.H.
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:
Upgrading the Rebel persona: captured armor
When I started putting together a Rebel partizan impression a few years back, I initially had the idea—inspired by real-life guerillas’ practice of appropriating enemy equipment—to include a piece or two of captured Imperial hardware in the kit. I was very aware of the temptation to overdo it…too many cosplayers let their imaginations run wild and pretty soon a simple ‘Rebel fighter’ costume becomes an unrealistically fully-armored supertrooper. Since s Alliance doctrine holds that “complete freedom of movement is more useful than the dubious protection provided by armor—which rarely stops a blaster bolt anyway” (WestEndGames, Rebel Alliance Sourcebook, p99), we don’t have a ton of examples of Rebels wearing extensive armor; even this more modern source depicts a Rebel ‘heavy’ gunner with only an arm’s worth of armor:
I reasoned that while a Rebel partizan would probably do most of their shooting from a prone position, anything to give an advantage in taking a stable shot would be desirable, so with this in mind (and to keep things simple), I decided to order a single Stormtrooper shin/calf from Walt’s Trooper Factory, along with a ‘sniper’ knee plate: Continue reading “Upgrading the Rebel persona: captured armor”
Building the Inner Persona: Similes
In this installment of the Inner Persona miniseries, we’ll continue to expand our mental ‘word-hoard’ by adding some galactic similes – phrases that compare things using like or as:
“as acquisitive as a Neimoidian” (Darth Plageius chapter 5)
“as ostentatious as a Hutt” (ibid)
“as slippery as a greased Dug” (Outbound Flight)
“as nervous as a Trandoshan in a wallet factory” (Outlander part 1)
“slick as a slime toad” (Jabba’s Game Galaxy)
“Green as a monkey-lizard” (ibid)
Continue reading “Building the Inner Persona: Similes”Staying true to the aesthetic
(I had originally scheduled this to post a few weeks from now, but since writing it the pitfalls described below keep popping up on my feed, so I couldn’t hold my tongue any longer.) After seeing more than my fair share of Star Wars costumers and their outfits online, I’ve noticed a particular trend in the last year or two across various social media platforms, mainly in the case of the Galaxy’s Edge-inspired/Batuu-bounding or OC crowd:
The desire to slap a Rebel Alliance starbird, Jedi crest, Sith symbol, Mickey Mouse, or Aurebesh letters on bloody everything seems very strong with this segment of the fandom, and the big driver of this, I think, is of course the consumer market. As a quick test, let’s do a image search for ‘Star Wars backpack’.
Continue reading “Staying true to the aesthetic”Galactic Style Guide – Vests I
Welcome back to the Galactic Style Guide, our monthly series in which we break down the ‘Star Wars aesthetic’ in order to create a more authentic ‘outer persona’! This time around, we’re looking at a key element introduced by the very first non-droid Star Wars characters ever seen onscreen:
Yes, we’re talking VESTS! Since they are so prevalent and we have so many examples to discuss, we’ll be devoting two entries to them. Original costume designer John Mollo had a pretty simple reason for giving the Rebel ‘fleet troopers’ (and many other characters) vests – visual interest! “‘The waistcoats look a bit more businesslike and give them a bit of texture,’ he says. ‘They would have been a bit boring if they had just been wearing a gray overall suit.’” (Alinger, Star Wars Costumes – the Original Trilogy. p 22).
If you’re behind the times, please note that the screen-used Rebel Fleet Trooper vest auctioned in 2017 boasted a whopping ELEVEN pockets, most of them entirely pointless or impractical! (As they say, go big or go home.):
We’ll continue with vests used by the Rebel Alliance.
Continue reading “Galactic Style Guide – Vests I”
Upgrading the Rebel persona: uniform tunic
Over the years, I’ve acquired a number of different ‘in-universe’ garments. Some are based on examples from film or print sources, some are extrapolations based on planetary styles, some are just attempts to apply the generic ‘galactic aesthetic’ to my everyday wardrobe.
But so far, I haven’t tried to outright copy a specific example…the closest I’d come was the ‘bib’-front shirt I whipped up for the debut of my ‘Citizen Olis’ persona in 2017, meant to be a local take on the style worn by the Rebel ‘fleet troopers’ and Yavin communications officers seen in Episode IV:
Building the Inner Persona: Jokes!
In this installment of the Inner Persona miniseries, we’ll continue to expand our mental ‘word-hoard’ of in-universe phrases. In addition to the everyday words we use for things, the jokes we use can also be a great way to do this!
“What’s the last thing to go through an Imperial scout trooper’s head when he hits a tree? His afterburner.” ―Joke told by Rebel forces on Endor (New Essential Guide to Vehicles & Vessels)
“What do you call someone who speaks three languages? Trilingual.
What do you call someone who speaks two languages? Bilingual.
What do you call someone who speaks one language? Human.” (Empire Blues, Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina)
“What’s the difference between a lightsaber and a glowrod? A lightsaber impresses girls!” (Legacy of the Force: Invincible) As we will see below, it seems Jacen was still making dumb jokes even into adulthood. Continue reading “Building the Inner Persona: Jokes!”
Galactic Style Guide – Flightsuits and Jumpsuits
Welcome to your monthly installment of the Galactic Style Guide, where we break down the ‘Star Wars aesthetic’ to help you create a more authentic ‘outer persona’! This time around, we’re taking a look at the kinds of flightsuits, jumpsuits, and utilitarian coveralls typically worn by mechanics, pilots, spacers, and other common types of citizens.
Considering the ‘spacey’ and often militaristic setting, it should come as no surprise that the inhabitants of the Galaxy Far, Far Away frequently wear these kinds of garments. And why shouldn’t they?: space is cold, and maintaining spacecraft is dirty work! However, in the original Star Wars, we don’t actually see any examples until we reach the Cantina, which is fitting as it’s a style associated with pilots. Let’s start out with some actual spacesuits:
Continue reading “Galactic Style Guide – Flightsuits and Jumpsuits”
Finding Your Place in the Galaxy
I was recently sent this video of the ‘Mando march’ parade held at Star Wars Celebration ’17. Since social gatherings are now few and far between in these days of COVID, I wanted to share it with you here, not only as a visual aid for my points in this essay, but also just for a vicarious dose (albeit virtual) of the con experience for which many are currently in withdrawal.
After watching, I had two (okay, three) reactions:
1) Man, the Mando costuming community is bloody Inclusive. There are folks of ALL ages, abilities, body types, and (I’m guessing, since they’re all helmeted) races, genders, and sexual orientations on display in that parade, all with their love of all things Klingon Mandalorian proudly on display. Good on them! With that said, though… Continue reading “Finding Your Place in the Galaxy”
Living History in the Star Wars Galaxy 