Collected References – Page 8 – Living History in the Star Wars Galaxy

Galactic Style Guide – Belts of the Galaxy

Welcome to the first installment of the Galactic Style Guide, a monthly series in which I will be collecting and curating many visual examples of a single type of in-universe item. Why am I doing this, you ask? Besides having a lot of time on my hands in quarantine, too often when we think of ‘Star Wars’, we limit ourselves to thinking only of the main cast of characters, with secondary or background characters falling by the wayside. In this series, I hope to turn an analytical eye towards the incredible variety that collectively creates the larger ‘galactic aesthetic’. To my knowledge, this sort of project has never been done before, and I suspect will likely prove very useful to those of you heading (once they reopen, post-pandemic) to Disney’s Galaxy’s Edge parks, which are becoming very accommodating of GFFA-style outfits (provided they don’t stray too close to those of main characters). By shining a spotlight on previously-overlooked designs, I hope OC cosplayers and potential ‘Batuu bounders’ will see that there are many more options for Star Wars style beyond copying Han, Luke, Leia, Lando, etc.
With that out of the way, for our first installment, we’re looking at BELTS. Let’s get started!

Rectangular plates:Ben Kenobi, Shaak Ti (22 BBY); Luke Skywalker, ‘Galen Erso’; Dannik Jerriko

Building the Inner Persona: Vocabulary

Updated terms in italics
One of the later steps (#7 of 8) in Townsend’s Getting Started series is the process of further developing one’s persona through building of the ‘inner persona’. This means going beyond the superficial outer persona (one’s clothes and gear), and better inhabiting the mental headspace of your chosen individual. One great way to do this is through the words we use for things.
For example, if I were portraying an American settler in the early 1700s, referring to the indigenous population as “Native Americans” would smack of modern political correctness; but to refer to them as “savages” or “naturals” would be quite appropriate. Likewise, to greet someone with the postmodern “Whatsup?” in a 19^th century reenacting context would be quite jarring! Continue reading “Building the Inner Persona: Vocabulary”

Step 7 – The Inner Persona

quimeditate

Hopefully you’ve now had a chance to take some time to Reflect and inhabit your impression. Ask your persona questions, and try to answer as they would. You may be surprised at what you learn!—people in the GFFA may hold different opinions than you!
I have found that persona-building questions such as those below are very useful tools to help more fully flesh out an impression. Hopefully you’ve followed best practices in living history and kept your persona ‘common’, but these will help fill in some blanks. Continue reading “Step 7 – The Inner Persona”