I totally respect their policies because that's the kind of organization they want to be (and if it's not to someone's taste, then don't join) - that being said, the beauty of the Star Wars Universe is that almost anything is possible. When making your own costume, that's it, it's your own costume, do whatever you like.
The only other thing I tell people when doing a custom costume is to think about how recognizable you want to be. Based on people's knowledge of the lore or fiction you're representing they'll make assumptions about who or what you're representing (wearing black and having a saber means you're an 'evil Jedi'!) - and it's up to you to decide how much you care about that.
I completely agree. Even though my family is fairly new to this we are going with what we like. We are going to use SWTOR as the setting. The variety in the game there is staggering really, but kinda proves the same point. For example Im shooting for Sith Marauder (armored, black and red colors) as well as 1 son. My wife is probably going Jedi Defender (white / gray colors, robes with a breastplate armor) and the other son a Jedi as well. Splitting the family.
When you think about your "persona" its about personal style, and that is influenced by personality. For example a righteous character (Sith or Jedi) would probably tend to dress more conservatively (such as robes, tunic, clean and fancy/decorated, colors basic and maybe only a couple colors), then a character (Sith or Jedi) with a wild, free, personality (which may go sleeveless tunic, simple pants, and wild hair). So light vs dark may not even matter so much. So again go with what your character "persona" would wear.
But as has been said, people assume when they have little to compare with. For example they see armor and black with a red lightsaber and they only know a handful of Sith characters, you may be called a "bad Vader impersonator" or Maul. Don't sweat it. If someone is really cool they may ask, then you get a chance to expand their knowledge on Star Wars. If they don't, well then it doesn't matter anyways.
BTW CZ3RO I like the outfit. Cant wait to work on mine.