a valid Anakin cloak fabric question

having been looking for this fabric for over a year now, and getting to know a handful of PASSIONATE costumers, i would like to ask a question....

now, i personally have not seen the Anakin cloak in person, but i have a VERY large amount of pictures from the movie, and when the costume was on display in the museum tour....

*** PLEASE NOTE *** this question and my basis for it is all "for not" if LFL had their fabric custom made just for them as some have suggested.... (not to discredit anyone, but to be honest, until i hear it straight from the horse's mouth i'm not gonna believe it)

my question(s) is this --

1. is it possible that the ani-cloak fabric is NOT a raised brick wall type of pattern ??

2. can anyone that has seen the cloak up close say for POSITIVE that it does indeed have a raised brick wall pattern to it ?

[image=http://home.attbi.com/~cfprez/upclose.jpg]

the reason i say this is because i haven't seen the screen used fabric for myself and the following reasons --
if you look at this picture, you'll see that this silk matka fabric (when photographed and scanned) looks to have the same brick wall patternthe picture on the left)

[image=http://mywebpages.comcast.net/ryu-kumon/Maul/comparefabrics1.jpg]

also, as i DID find out by ordering a swatch that tightly woven fabric does seem to photograph and scan with the appearance of a brick wall pattern look at the blue material in the center of the picture:

[image=http://www.hollandandsherry.com/collections/summer2003/images/large/hs311.jpg]

BTW i have the above fabric swatches in hand for the middle blue fabric and the bottom two cream colors... and they are a very small tight woven wool fabric...

i'm hoping that someone who has seen cloak's fabric in person can verify the correct pattern....

thoughts ?

NWJEDI
dave

[image=http://home.attbi.com/~cfprez/nwjedidave.jpg]

 

Hey Dave,

Interesting observations.

I would suggest posting this at ASAP and RPF as well. Guarenteed SOMEONE has seen it from one of those 2. If you don't have an RPF account I can post it for you.

Good luck and I am really interested to see how this plays out.

Justin

 

Hey... I don't know if this is helpful or not, but, Trisha talks about the fabric of Anakin's cloak in the mythmaking book, and says it's a finely woven wool. The page I'm talking about is on page 45.
"In addition, we made his cloak, in shadow, is very simular to that of the Darth Vader cloak. I don't know if George ever shot it in silhouette to get the idea across; but even if he didn't, the audience might pick that up. It was made out of a fine woven wool, so there was a great flow and movementin the cloak, just as there was to Darth Vader's."

Hope that helps!
~Laura

 

thanks... i guess it could be, but the word that trips me up is "fine woven."

i'm no material weaver, but i'm wondering if you could get a large brick wall pattern from "fine" woven wool ????

the "bricks" in the cloak look VERY large for a fabric pattern...

fine woven = large "bricks?"


grrrrrrrrrrrrr
NWJEDI
dave

 

dave, looking at the comparison shot you have posted, the brick-pattern fabric weave looks dead-on. The drape of the fabric is pretty precise too - at least based on the photograph (wish I could say I've seen it in-person, but I haven't).

As far as "finely woven" goes, I'm wondering if Biggars meant that it was a very high-quality tight weave, rather than actual thread thickness - because the weave of the actual cloak fabric *is* quite coarse looking.

In my humble little opinion, you've found the perfect match.

 

Heres a pic I stumbled across:

[image=http://www.huegel.com/img/Magic%20Of%20Myth/DSC00223.JPG]

 

there's a really high quality pic of anakin's robe posted in that anakin costuming thread.

 

kreleia
i'm not sure i understand you... it might be my alergy med.s are kickin in !!!

<<<looking at the comparison shot you have posted, the brick-pattern fabric weave looks dead-on. The drape of the fabric is pretty precise too - at least based on the photograph>>>

thats because the 1st picture in my post is all from the actual costume EXCEPT for the stack of fabric that has the writing on them... i apologize i didn't relay that fact... the stack of fabric with the writing on it is no longer available as it was their 1999 collection.... also -- the 3rd picture listed is the same company but from their 2003 summer line... i was also trying to point out that although the middle blue fabric and the last two cream colors do look like they are the same brick wall pattern, they are not... i have those actual swatches sitting right here on my computer desk and they are a very small tight wool weave... when i got these samples from this company i scanned them and posted them on the ASAP board, but to my suprize when i scanned them, (for whatever reason) the swatches came out looking JUST like the ani-cloak fabric...


<<<because the weave of the actual cloak fabric *is* quite coarse looking.>>>

YES it looks quite coarse to me as well... sometimes even "fuzzy" like it was a vintage type of fabric... as we ALL know how LFL loves to dig up that old army wool !!!


<<<In my humble little opinion, you've found the perfect match>>>

i wish i did... i'm sorry if my post wasn't clear enough, but thats what this post is for !!!

hope this helps

NWJEDI
dave

 

Ah, no problems. I was a bit tired myself while I was reading, so it's entirely possible that I just misunderstood you too. And, yeah, Lucas *does* seem to be quite fond of using military surplus and vintage fabrics... but then, maybe that's a place to look too (if you haven't already). Try checking out sites that are selling military surplus supplies. It's very possible that there are blankets out there done in this type of weave... I'm also getting the feeling that you've done this too.

Wish I could be more help.

 

The picture here:

http://www.padawansguide.com/ani_costume/diane_anakin5.jpg

Doesn't appear brick like at all, more square like?

EDIT: Great pic from same series:

http://www.padawansguide.com/ani_costume/diane_anakin2.jpg

 

justin

look about thigh high...i can see the rectangular "bricks"

LOL

don't confuse me anymore than i am already !!!


and yes i've checked into vintage costume fabric and vintage armed forced fabrics...........

NWJEDI
dave

 

Oh right! Sorry Dave

 

*confused as it is!*

NWJEDI
(bootless still!)
dave

 

Some more pics for your conderations, these are quite high res

[image=http://www.cswu.cz/obiwan/obi/ep2poz/obip230.jpg]

[image=http://www.cswu.cz/obiwan/obi/ep2poz/obip231.jpg]

 

did anyone else notice that the tip of anakin's lightsaber on both of those picts ISN'T his ??


NWJEDI
dave

 

The bottom is

The top one is Obi-wans

notice the top again strays from appearing bricky

 

i think that specific pattern and fabric has ways of looking different depending on which way you're looking at it... i've seen some fabrics that seem to change depending on what light or which direction you're looking at them...

the whole trick is finding the fabric... (as this thread is about)

with star wars being as popular and world wide as it it, and with TF.N being one of the bigger fan pages, i'm just shocked that someone SOMEWHERE hasn't found THE fabric, or atleast something very similar....

i just don't think with the past history of LFL and Trish Biggar they are going to go out and say --

"Lets have this really cool fabric made with a brick wall type pattern on it!"

and i think if they DID have that fabric specifically made, it was because they saw something and copied it...

as the history of the past films will point out, most of the costume fabrics were found and bought, not actually made.... some of the delicate Queen costumes were made, as i can see them needed something very delicate, and detailed, but as far as the Jedi costumes, surplus army wool blankets and the like were always the case, and i'm gonna bet my bottom dollar that LFL came across a vintage/armed forces fabric that they used for the ani-cloak....


its all just a matter of finding it......

finding the needle in the haystack !!!!!

NWJEDI
dave

 

just got this scan today.... i've asked for swatch samples, and i'll let everyone know if/when they get here....

fabric on the left is wool/cashmere/alpaca and the fabric on the right is lambswool....

thoughts ?
[image=http://home.comcast.net/~cfprez/7_17_03fabric.jpg]


NWJEDI
dave

 

The one on the left looks great! what colours does it come in?

 

i'll know more about the fabric when (if) they send the swatch samples.... since its wool there should be no problem dyeing it any color (darker) that is needed

being that the prices are VERY high on these fabrics, i'm kind of hoping that they don't match up that well...


NWJEDI
dave

 

i was told the swatches are on the way !!!

NWJEDI
dave