Makeshift Unorthodox Costume (In Progress)

[SirLiftaLot]

The Vest strikes me as very Palpatine, which I guess makes sense with fashion on Naboo being "traditional" and strikingly Japanese in the fashion you see in those movies showing their planet. Looking through his walk-in closet would be hilariously varied. Ancient honorary outfit for traditional occasions, clean more modern political finery, ornate and fine silk pajamas with emblem of his house, jet black hooded robe... one of these things is not like the others, even slightly?

I'm debating a variation of the vest now... you're liable to bankrupt me, my bargain shopping is dangerously close to turning into impulse buying.

It does have a very Palpatine feel to it now that you mention it. It is dangerously easy to want to pull the trigger on so many different things. But even if it's just posting things up for inspiration and ideas for other people, I am happy with it. I did go ahead and order the grey and black mask, and also the sparring-usable Beskar spearhead to attach to the 6' wooden staff I have (and likely spray it to look metallic) to make my own sort of beskar spear. One has to live a little bit I suppose!

[SirLiftaLot]

those are very interesting pieces and I think they would need a few sci fi items to better star warsy the outfit.

As far as the mask discussion: My suggestion for your Gray character would be some kind of half mask to reinforce the duality of his Force affiliation…Full mask for full dark…just an idea

You bring up some good points. I ended up ordering the grey/black mask I posted earlier, which is a half mask, as it does, as you said, have that duality to it. I agree on that!

I also agree that one or two more sci fi items would be needed to really pull the look off as being entirely Star Wars. Although perhaps even jut a lightsaber would do that, but the look would then be dependent on having the lightsaber at all times, which isn't entirely ideal. Maybe even just a Star Wars type belt. As Quinlan Vos didn't exactly have a very sci-fi outfit, but the utility belt and the pauldron or whatever his upper chest and shoulder armor was called was enough to make it look right. Hell, Kirak Infal'a had an even less sci-fi outfit, and would have looked just as much in-place in a Kung Fu action movie as in the Star Wars universe, which makes sense for his character. So I guess having a story and skillset that matches your appearance, if the appearance is a bit unorthodox for Star Wars, is very important to making the whole thing work.

But with the Samurai pants and vest, I'd say throw on a half-mask (like the one shown earlier), some forearm cover (either the wraps like I have, or the Samurai bracers I posted earlier, or even any manner of metal/plastic/foam/etc. bracers that you think go well with it) and a utility belt (both for form and function) would probably be more than enough to make it look passable I'd say.

But I guess there is a distinction to be made between "yeah, that would work in the Star Wars universe" and "yeah, that's definitely a Star Wars look." Jedi Robes and longer cloaks and things like that scream Star Wars, while perhaps Quinlan, and definitely Kirak, are more looks that wouldn't scream "they're from Star Wars" to someone who didn't know who they were and they didn't have their lightsabers on them. But they work for the characters on-screen, and fit their personalities and characters well. I mean, cosplay as Kirak without the lightsaber and I don't think many people who aren't big Star Wars fans would say "that's a Star Wars look." But it works in the right context.

[SirLiftaLot]

Got a case for the saberstaff on Amazon for $30, and it arrived one day after ordering it. It has two large compartments, so I can put each half of the saberstaff in its own compartment, which should prevent them from knocking against each other too much. It also has a nice adjustable shoulder strap, and two additional smaller exterior pockets, the larger of which is a perfect fit for my LED nunchucks, and the smaller of which is a perfect fit for a pair of my smaller metal nunchucks, although these compartments could also be used to store any number of things, from batteries to couplers and other saber parts, etc. The Yin/Yang symbol and Chinese characters that I am told translate to "Chinese Wushu" aren't really Star Wars, but the Yin/Yang really does it the theme of balance I'm going for. And it's not an actual/explicit part of the outfit, more of a functional piece of gear to help protect the staff during transport.

[DarthProdigal]

I just was inspired by an idea I think will work for a mask I'm trying to make. Figured I'd share it since I thought it'd be cool if I can make it work right, I wanted one-way transparent material or simply eye slots. So it's "blacked out" in the eyes/ across surface of mask but still see through... I realized maybe integrating sunglasses or sunglass lenses might work, but now I'm considering cutting and fitting in dark colored/tinted glass. I have plenty to mess around with, and want to do some practice cuts, but if it goes well it'll make custom inserts/ whole face (maybe in a layer like a mosaic) on my non combat mask. If I can integrate it properly I think it'll look cool, if it's a little "rough looking" then seemingly broken glass held together looks pretty damn Sith in my opinion. Like Scion almost in mask form, also heralding potential pain, which gives depth on a subconscious level to people viewing it; which has always been the idea, making people a little uneasy, uncomfortable, or perturbed by it's appearance is a definite plus.

[SirLiftaLot]

I just was inspired by an idea I think will work for a mask I'm trying to make. Figured I'd share it since I thought it'd be cool if I can make it work right, I wanted one-way transparent material or simply eye slots. So it's "blacked out" in the eyes/ across surface of mask but still see through... I realized maybe integrating sunglasses or sunglass lenses might work, but now I'm considering cutting and fitting in dark colored/tinted glass. I have plenty to mess around with, and want to do some practice cuts, but if it goes well it'll make custom inserts/ whole face (maybe in a layer like a mosaic) on my non combat mask. If I can integrate it properly I think it'll look cool, if it's a little "rough looking" then seemingly broken glass held together looks pretty damn Sith in my opinion. Like Scion almost in mask form, also heralding potential pain, which gives depth on a subconscious level to people viewing it; which has always been the idea, making people a little uneasy, uncomfortable, or perturbed by it's appearance is a definite plus.

That does sound pretty cool if you could pull it off. I have no idea how to go about making a full-face mask, but some of the Sith ones on Etsy are pretty cool. The Sith Acolyte ones seem to be pretty popular.

And another person on a different forum made a mask that seems to have what looks like metal mesh for the eyes, but actual tinted glass instead would be pretty awesome.


Definitely interested to see what you come up with for your mask, as unique designs are special and give an outfit a nice distinguishing edge.

[For Tyeth]

And another person on a different forum made a mask that seems to have what looks like metal mesh for the eyes, but actual tinted glass instead would be pretty awesome.

This guy is a former member of this forum if I am not mistaken....this is Hake Felflame, a well known Sith cosplayer based in North California and a member of the Golden Gate Knights.

[SirLiftaLot]

This guy is a former member of this forum if I am not mistaken....this is Hake Felflame, a well known Sith cosplayer based in North California and a member of the Golden Gate Knights.

Good info, thanks! It's amazing how skilled some people are, both with sabers and costume making.

[For Tyeth]

Hi there,

Yeah, he put a lot of effort into both and happily he got the credit he deserved. He was well thought of here, shame he doesn't post anymore.

Though now we have the new generation of costume builders like yourself and mrg149 to admire. Keep up the good work.

[mrg149]

just an fyi on that mask…it's a airsoft mask…I think it is either called papladin or templar…looks super cool

[SirLiftaLot]

just an fyi on that mask…it's a airsoft mask…I think it is either called papladin or templar…looks super cool

Ah, it is the Templar. I did not know that, thanks. but that does contextualize what looked like metal mesh eyes. Apparently Evike carries it, and man, that's a name I haven't heard in a long time.

[mrg149]

prodigal:

 look up chrome faceless mask.  They're cheap enough to cut up.

My mask design will utilize these with a kendo-style grill overlaid (think Darth Vindican)

[DarthProdigal]

prodigal:

 look up chrome faceless mask.  They're cheap enough to cut up.

My mask design will utilize these with a kendo-style grill overlaid (think Darth Vindican)

I very well may look into that, appreciate the suggestion. I just looked at a pic of Vindican, I have some kendo armor so I like the sound of it already. In functionality anyway, maybe I'll consider it for my combat style armor... or some variation. It doesn't look all that bad, and never a bad thing to model armor after a Sith Pureblood's. I can't wait to see how your helmet/mask comes together. I'm working on my purely aesthetic mask version 1.0 now, so we'll see what I like and don't; carrying over to subsequent versions. I'm already mad at myself, I cleaned out some things a few weeks ago suspecting some may have proven useful, now a recent revelation means the discarded materials would have been perfect. Damn tidying up set me back considerably because that would have been enough to make a full model.

[DarthProdigal]

Ah, it is the Templar. I did not know that, thanks. but that does contextualize what looked like metal mesh eyes. Apparently Evike carries it, and man, that's a name I haven't heard in a long time.

I really like that one, if it's not a custom build and buyable as is... I might buy it and use it as a base for my combat mask, so I'm not building from scratch and it looks a bit like my initial designs. Or at least like it'd be easier (than most mask types I've seen) to modify a bit heavily.

[mrg149]

If I don't like the way that my first mask comes out....I may opt to get this and mod it a bunch...

repaint...more greebles maybe some kind of further Sithy designs.

[SirLiftaLot]

I really like that one, if it's not a custom build and buyable as is... I might buy it and use it as a base for my combat mask, so I'm not building from scratch and it looks a bit like my initial designs. Or at least like it'd be easier (than most mask types I've seen) to modify a bit heavily.

It is buyable. Amazon seems to have a variety of colors for ~$50, compared to the ~$90 on Evike, which is OOS anyway. They look identical, and the Amazon image even seems to show an Evike logo on the back strap, but I'm not positive they're identical or if one just stole the image. But I suppose the takeaway is that they are indeed buyable as-is, from somewhere, for some price.