As a reminder, at the core of the ‘Steen Olis’ persona is the idea of a Naboo academic who has taken up arms and headed for the hills in order to harass the occupying Imperial forces – using a mix of local planetary style and Alliance-issued gear, inspired by narratives of Second World War resistance groups, such as Belorussian otriad as well as the UK’s ‘Auxiliary Corps’ and Gubbins’ SOE.
Outer layer:
This is my second attempt at a Naboo-style tunic. Full details on the design and construction of the Mk2 here.
The overall color palette for this kit was provided by the various branches of the Royal Naboo Security Forces and Hangar Engineers, and several insights from the development of the Prequels that I found very worthwhile:
“Each of the major planets in Episode I has its own set of colors, which are most evident in the costumes worn by that locale’s inhabitants. These colors symbolize the planet’s role in the film and its environment. Naboo’s colors are primarily greens and golds.”
Episode I Insider’s Guide CD-ROM
While I don’t really see much green in the Naboo costumes of Episode I, between my tunic and trousers here I at least got their intentions covered at least!
“The Naboo Army personnel in Episode I ranged from officers in the royal household such as Captain Panaka and the palace guards, to footsoldiers, pilots, and air crew. The group had to have an over-all cohesive look, and apart from being aesthetically pleasing—Naboo was a planet of artistic beauty, peace, and tranquility—their clothes need to be functional.”
Trisha Biggar, Dressing a Galaxy, p 71
“We had designed Naboo more or less around Art Nouveau (we called it “Space Nouveau”), which was based on organic, plantlike forms. The costume ideas looked gorgeous on the women, but when you put guys in them, they didn’t look very tough. I eventually found something analogous in the Wild West: chaps and gunbelts and things that gunfighters wore seemed to work beautifully for the Naboo military.”
Iain McCaig, quoted in Dressing a Galaxy, p 72.
Pants:
Trousers are (or should!) be the most nondescript part of one’s galactic kit, so in these pictures I’m wearing simple OD high-waisteds, with a conjectural Naboo bloodstripe added down the sides; this pattern comes from the trim of Padme’s Episode II dressing gown:
Footwear:
-Finnish milsurp jackboots ($70 Varusteleka)
Headwear:
The N1 pilot’s helmet is one I made in a burst of post-thruhike creative energy…only to pop it on and realize that while I’d made it as close as I could get to 1:1 scale, I probably should have scaled it about 95% in order to fit myself 😦
As it is, it’s a bit too ‘bobblehead’…but it was a lot of work to create so I’m hesitant to simply toss it out (the ol’ sunk cost dilemma). I’ve considered trying to sell it to help cover the costs of making a second helmet, but I don’t know how much interest there is in Naboo gear. The screen-accurate earmuffs I used last time are also discontinued – but I have managed to find a Husqvarna model that are the same!
Realistically, long-term I think I will wind up remaking it (ideally with an actual leather shell, and non-removeable earmuffs) – especially as I realize that a lot of the difficulties I had last time would be ‘lessons learned’ that would go smoother the second time around, and a leather shell would actually be a lot faster to make, compared to the marathon of sanding and filling and sanding of Pepakura. Now, if I could just figure out what was used for the onscreen seams (since I don’t think they were actually stitched)…
-The other option would be to wear some sort of local (non-helmet) hat, but Naboo headwear tends to be SUPER goofy. Any ideas?
Belt/gear:
This belt is nothing fancy, a plain black full-grain leather with an oval Tandy buckle blank (I think the oval is more in line with the curves of Naboo’s “Space Noveau” than a more OT/militaristic rectangle buckle)
This is used to hold up a set of canvas Soviet-style ‘Y-straps’ (made from a pair of Mosin-Nagant rifle slings dyed brown), which carry various leather ammo pouches, containing blaster magazines and emergency supplies (ration bars, first aid, etc)
One of my goals with this kit/persona is to show the progression of time: not by building a bunch of separate sets of clothes, but by keeping the same set of base clothing and subtly leveling up Steen’s loadout:
-V1 is pretty much all culturally-Naboo gear (tunic, helmet, classic oldschool jackboots, and a Q2 pistol) – think of this as the ‘bug out with what you already have’ stage.
-To reflect a transitional stage, I can upgrade to a DH-17 blaster, camouflaged ‘swoop’ helmet(?), and add gloves, or a piece of captured Imperial armor (repainted).
-Finally, to show final evolution and success as a partizan (with Alliance SecForces materiel support), we can potentially add a ‘donut’ helmet, a ‘Scout’ vest, another piece of armor, an ‘Endor style’ soft pack, and a heavier A295 blaster rifle.
So there we go – that’s where things stood a few years ago. Drop a comment with any constructive critique (always welcomed!) or ideas of things I could upgrade or switch up! Any clue what Naboo ‘pocket trash’ might look like? I’m all ears!
Living History in the Star Wars Galaxy 