Favorite Costume Shop?

[ForceAcolyteOrdo]

Hello all! Long time no talk.

I want to get into cosplay. I'm 6'2", 280lbs. Looking for recommendations on your favorite costume shops for Star Wars cosplay! I'm looking for a dark or all black kit - who do you recommend? I've tried searching through old posts and most are either down or no longer hosted. Help me out!

Thanks!

[Lady Revan]

Are you looking to do an all-black Jedi/Sith? What is your costuming budget? And what are you going to be wearing the costume for? All of these would help determine what recommendations are good for you

[ForceAcolyteOrdo]

Are you looking to do an all-black Jedi/Sith? What is your costuming budget? And what are you going to be wearing the costume for? All of these would help determine what recommendations are good for you

Want to be as neutral as possible as I use both Jedi and Sith colors.  Budget around $100ish USD.  Will be using for conventions/videos/just to feel cool lol.

[Lady Revan]

Want to be as neutral as possible as I use both Jedi and Sith colors.  Budget around $100ish USD.  Will be using for conventions/videos/just to feel cool lol.

Do you have any pieces already, or are you looking for a full costume?

[janx]

Step one: get more money....

Well seriously, if you're going to buy costume pieces, it'll cost more (and be fair to somebody who worked hard to make it and deserves not to starve).

My wife is planning to order from Jedi Closet on Etsy, and it'll cost about $150 for tunic/obi. She'll need a jedi belt (already has boots and leggings).

Conversely, yesterday, we just did an event at Alamo Draft House, and made her up with a tunic shirt she had, leggings, boots, arm wraps she already bought, normal belt, and a sleeveless cardigan with hood we ordered and arrived hours before we headed out.  Women's clothes tend to have modern stuff that could pass muster. (but not SaberGuild standards, just close enough to fool the average person).

Here's the men's cardigan on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Q19XFFJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here's the wife in that costume:


Individual clothing pieces are going to be $30-$100+ a piece. Boots, at least $50, probably $150.

One of the jedi I was with used a pair of tan Dockers trousers.  Looked fine. So there's some menswear that you might re-purpose

If you can make your costume, fabric is a ton cheaper.  There are a few posts I've seen in the last year where they did that (some their first time and it worked well).  So don't let that scare you off.

And you don't have to get it all at once.  So you have $100, right now.  Keep saving, watch for deals and order pieces.  Study the SaberGuild site on custume specs AND pics of characters from the movies.  See the layers of clothing and pieces and think about what you've seen that might be like that (like that cardigan above).  SG is a good reference point, even if you don't follow it strictly it will remind you of costume elements you should be thinking of.
https://saberguild.org/costume-standards/

Also, that handsome Sith in the background is wearing RenBoots with piratey folded top, baggy pirate trousers and a t-shirt under that black and red tunic. And driving gloves.  I borrowed the tunic/obi/belt from another member sight unseen, had no idea it didn't have sleeves.  Nobody knew.

So raiding the ren-fair section of the closet can help. We are space-wizards after all

[Sani2341]

Seconding the call for more money.
A hundred bucks is probably not going to be enough to buy all the fabric needed to make a Full Set of robes, iirc Pure material cost for me was ~80€ for the linen for tabards, tunic and undertunic. Add to that the fabric needed for a cloak (~2.5-6 meters depending on how fancy it should be), boots and pants (though you can disguise/alter/use modern pieces for those with some ease.) and you easily Hit 150ish in Material cost alone. Add to that man hours for sewing it together and it gets expensive fast. (i do not want to know how much the embroidery on my tabards would have cost me if i hadnt done it myself.)

[Lady Revan]

Want to be as neutral as possible as I use both Jedi and Sith colors.  Budget around $100ish USD.  Will be using for conventions/videos/just to feel cool lol.

Yeah, $100 for a "full" costume is near impossible unless you're making everything from scratch (even then, you're pushing it). The best recommendation I can give for a "full" close to that is Far Far away outfitters, which won't include boots, belt, belt accessories, or pants. It's $110 before tax and shipping. includes inner and outer tunics, obi, and tabards.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/459035698/star-wars-costume-star-wars-tunic-become?ref=shop_home_active_18&crt=1

[ForceAcolyteOrdo]

Looking for full costume (or everything except boots already got some of those). $50 more isn't going to break my bank by any means. Seriously just want to know your favorite shops y'all.

[janx]

Looking for full costume (or everything except boots already got some of those). $50 more isn't going to break my bank by any means. Seriously just want to know your favorite shops y'all.

well you got 2:  FFA and Jedi Closet on Etsy.

I tried a more traditional costume shop in my area (they sell beards to ZZ Top, they must be good).  But outside of the RenFair section, it's all cheap (as in bad) costume packs for $50.  The jedi tunic was a shirt with printed "layer" details.

So the advice is go to somebody who makes costumes (like the aforementioned Etsy shops), rather than a "costume shop".

[Lady Revan]

I love Jedi Closet, but her stuff is going to run over $200 for both inner and outer tunics with a tabard/obi set. It's very good quality though. I know a vendor in Poland where you can get a decent belt from for about $50 after shipping, which is a great deal. You can also make an original trilogy tyle belt relatively easily for just over $20 with supplies from Tandy Leather. All you need is a 2" leather strip (some come pre-dyed or you can do it yourself with leather dye), a plain square buckle (about $2), water to soften the leather enough to fold over, good glue that will bind leather (I use a variety of wood glue), and something to punch a hole for the buckle.

[janx]

I can't recall exactly what the wife was gonna get, but it was sleeveless and had a hood.  She said it was about $155.  Hoping to order it next month. I think she was gonna request specific colors (likes purple).

Thanks for the info on the OT belt.  I got wear a prequel belt.  3" strip, studs and straps and buckles from Tandy   I've got a few leather working tools in the shop, the belts look like stuff I can make (I can't do fancy tooling or stitching).

[mrg149]

I'll throw out Kenickys on Etsy since his stuff is cheap. I got my "soft parts" from him and they were decent. He will work with you to get you what you want.

BE ADVISED: since he is in the U.K. his stuff takes FOREVER to ship due to customs

[ForceAcolyteOrdo]

I guess I didn't know I wanted my garb to be more Sith based until I did some more looking (I look awful in light pants). I don't want to pit my OC to the Sith but maybe more of a Revan backstory - experience in both or just independent not bound to a color.

May I turn this into an opinion-giving/brain storm session now? Okay, great!

Here's what I'm thinking so far:




Mask has different lighting options - that's still in the air too.

Maybe some arm wraps or bracers of some kind and hem the sleeves into short sleeves for use without the cape. What do you guys think?

[janx]

That outfit can work.  You show up in that and everybody's gonna say "Sith"

But photo-wise, all one color is hard to see the layers and folds, especially black because even the shadows match the fabric.

Consider picking 2-3 shades of black/dark-dark-grey.  Then make sure no two adjacent layers are the same color. ex: black under-tunic, DDG tunic, black tabbard.  That will set up some contrast.  You might even play with variations on grey, rather than black itself, to suggest your character is more subtle than an outright Sith.

You could also play with trim colors. A red edging on the tabbard (or whatever matches your mask LEDs).

[ForceAcolyteOrdo]

That outfit can work.  You show up in that and everybody's gonna say "Sith"

But photo-wise, all one color is hard to see the layers and folds, especially black because even the shadows match the fabric.

Consider picking 2-3 shades of black/dark-dark-grey.  Then make sure no two adjacent layers are the same color. ex: black under-tunic, DDG tunic, black tabbard.  That will set up some contrast.  You might even play with variations on grey, rather than black itself, to suggest your character is more subtle than an outright Sith.

You could also play with trim colors. A red edging on the tabbard (or whatever matches your mask LEDs).

Thanks for your input and I see what you mean about black on black for sure. I like this but I don't want to end up looking like Sub Zero w/ the two-tone robes and the mask lol. Maybe I could request the gray be more of a charcoal color.



Thoughts?