Welcome back to another installment of the Galactic Style Guide! We’ll begin with a look at the very first style of shirt seen on-screen in a Star Wars film. This is essentially the same shirt as the double-breasted ‘Custer-style’ we looked at last time, only worn with both layers done up (usually). While I believe it is properly known as a ‘placket’ shirt, this type is commonly referred to in the costuming community as a ‘bib’ shirt. In order to follow Lucas’s ‘no fastenings’ rule, such shirts must be closed via snaps, hidden buttons, or Velcro – or else allowed to fall open and reveal a contrasting inner lining.
Tag: cosplay
Galactic Style Guide – Shirts I
Welcome back to the Galactic Style Guide, where we break down the ‘Star Wars aesthetic’ in order to help you create a more Galaxy-accurate ‘outer persona’! It should be pointed out that it’s often very difficult to determine a character’s base layer, due to layering being such a key part of the galactic aesthetic. I was excited at first to dig through the character portraits in the New Essential Guide to Characters, but quickly ran into this issue. Because I want to include as many examples as possible, our deep dive into upper-body garments will have to be a multi-part entry; I’ve done my best to follow the directions of the original concept:
“[John Mollo] broke down the characters into general costume themes: peasant costumes (Russo-Japanese); Western/U.S. cavalry/motorcycle looks; Nazi-style uniforms/armor/cloaks; space technology-type outfits; ladies’ mock-medieval/Tarzan attire; semi-monsters with armor; and full monsters.” (Star Wars Costumes – The Original Trilogy, 16).
We’ll begin with the so-called Russian/Japanese ‘peasant’ style. Note that these are pretty much all from Tatooine.
Galactic Style Guide – Comm badges
Welcome back to the Galactic Style Guide, the monthly series where we take a close look at the elements that make up the ‘Star Wars aesthetic’ to help you build a more accurate ‘outer persona’!
In this installment, we’re focusing on the little doodads that everyone seems to have on their vests and jackets nowadays. Official sources can’t agree on what they are—the Complete Visual Dictionary refers to them as a ‘rank plaque’, ‘rank insignia’, ‘communications badge’, or ‘command insignia’, while I believe the RougeOne reference guide calls them ‘personal transponders’, so who knows? Despite not appearing in the original Star Wars ’77, these devices have gained in popularity (especially among the ‘Batuu-bounding’ crowd) after frequent inclusion in many post-Disney materials. Since 9 times out of 10 they’re worn by Rebel Alliance characters, we didn’t see Any in the Prequel era (I could be wrong, though; leave a comment below if you know otherwise!)
Only two styles of badge are seen in Episode V. These use easily-castable or vacuformable shapes and components with brightly colored buttons. The first (we’ll call it Hoth #1) is worn by our three lead characters and the hangar technicians, suggesting they are transponders and not related to rank.
Galaxy’s Edge merch: Jedi Field Gear
If you’re tired of having empty resin boxes on your Prequel Jedi utility belt, I guess this is the package for you. This set sells for $30 and contains a Qui-Gon style Imagecaster, Hush 98-style comlink, and Jedi macrobinoculars. Having seen some unboxing reviews, I think 2 of the 3 might make this worth buying. Which ones?
Continue reading “Galaxy’s Edge merch: Jedi Field Gear”
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!
First thoughts on ‘The High Republic’
While I try to avoid association with the post-Disney canon, I feel like the recent announcement of the-project-formerly-known-as-Luminous could prove very intriguing, and I wanted to share my observations and initial thoughts as they relate to our pursuit of the ‘costume arts’ and authentic reenacting in the Star Wars setting. As has been mentioned by many, the idea of a multimedia publishing campaign is nothing new for Star Wars; it’s somewhat reminiscent of the ‘movie without a movie’ approach of the Shadows of the Empire project in the mid-Nineties (games, a comic miniseries, toys, novel, soundtrack). But while SotE filled in the gap between 3-4ABY, the High Republic has a much bigger sandbox to play in… Continue reading “First thoughts on ‘The High Republic’”
The issue of Original Characters
It’s been a while since I’ve done a ‘back to basics’ post, so we’re taking a break from the usual projects-and-research content and taking a turn for the nitty-gritty. The vexing issue this week is that of the ‘OC’, or ‘Original Character’ (differentiated from a recognizable ‘Face Character’). Stick around at the end for a list of character ideas to take your OC to the next level!
After hanging around a popular SW cosplay facebook group for the last few years, I have noticed a pattern that my historical-authenticity-focused mind finds quite aggravating: Continue reading “The issue of Original Characters”
An authentic Medpac at long last!
In the spirit of my New Year, New Gear tradition, I recently finished up an essential piece of my in-universe survival/hiking kit. Some 20 months ago, I made a discovery – I noticed that the health powerups in Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy were essentially the same design as one from an early SWRPG sourcebook:
a bit of digging turned up similar designs in the Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology and the more recent SWRPG Revised Core Rulebook (2002):
As my backpack’s current first aid kit has been stashed in a repurposed extension cord waterproof safety box, I’ve been thinking about what I could use as a container for my medical supplies that would better fit the in-universe aesthetic. Continue reading “An authentic Medpac at long last!”
Project: Adventures in Applied Color Theory!
The color scheme basically was the baddies would be black or gray, with the exception of the stormtroopers, and the goodies should be in earth colors—fawns and whites…Mollo tried to keep the colors muted wherever possible. Color is very, very difficult to use. Bright colors don’t work well on film, particularly reds and blues. George always goes for the authentic….and if it’s all garish color, it doesn’t work.” – Star Wars Costumes – the Original Trilogy (Alinger), p15.
At this point on my journey into the hobby/lifestyle of Star Wars reenacting/living history, I have a number of no-nonsense, generic civilian garments hanging in my closet, and as I’m always looking to Star Wars-ify my everyday wardrobe even more, I’m always on the lookout for things that fit the bill—or could fit the bill, with a little tweaking! Today, we’re talking color, and the surprising transformation seen below:
Continue reading “Project: Adventures in Applied Color Theory!”
Galaxy’s Edge merch: Credit Chip
Unlike the $100 Black Spire Gift Card, this item is simply a $60, heavy lump of metal with a Republic credit symbol (Resh with two strokes) and etched lines on the back side, with only passing resemblance to what has existed for 20+ years: Continue reading “Galaxy’s Edge merch: Credit Chip”
Living History in the Star Wars Galaxy 