Luke Skywalker Costumes

it gives me a strange thrill to see someone else linking to my little reference album.

 

If you're trying to create Luke's Bespin outfit, you need a tan jacket/shirt with two pockets (one for each side of the chest). The jacket/shirt is tucked in Luke's tight tan pants, which seem to be the same color and material as the shirt.

Luke wears a dark brown belt around his waist, with a silver octagonal buckle. The belt is possibly between 1.75 and 2 inches wide. It doesn't look as wide as Luke's ROTJ belt. On the right side of the belt, there are two white rivets, a brown pouch, and a brown blaster holster. Luke has a lightsaber hook on the left side of his belt. On the back of the belt, there are two brown pouches- one on the left side and one on the right side. Luke also has some type of leather strap on the middle of his right thigh. He wears tan, knee high boots.

 

LOL, Phayze. Hey, I'm at work AND I'm lazy...I'm not going to go Googling for more pictures myself. But yes, take pride in the fact that your album is handy.

 

"Luke also has some type of leather strap on the middle of his right thigh." Uh, that's the thigh strap for his holster.

The jacket also has a pocket on each sleeve. And he's carrying one or two pouches on the front of his belt, when he's on Bespin. Look at Phayze's album for quick reference, since the link is on the page.

And they aren't just any kind of tan, knee high boot. They have a specific name, which I can't remember at the moment.

 

Thanks for the info. Official Pix has a few good pictures that I've ordered for reference. I've got the Master Replicas blaster, an FX lightsaber AND Graflex saber for the belt, and I hope to order this belt [link=http://http://mattmp.home.att.net/images/lukeE4.jpg and these boots [link=http://http://motorcowboy.zoovy.com/product/SKYW1
The boots and clothes will need some good aging.

 

And he's carrying one or two pouches on the front of his belt, when he's on Bespin. Look at Phayze's album for quick reference, since the link is on the page.

I mentioned the pouch on the right side of his belt. From the pictures, it looks like there is one pouch and one blaster holster- unless there's another pouch in the front that I'm not seeing.

And they aren't just any kind of tan, knee high boot. They have a specific name, which I can't remember at the moment.

Maybe German riding boots? I remember hearing those are the type of boots worn in Star Wars.

 

I wouldn't go for the Motorcowboy boots as they're LEATHER instead a suede-like material used in the film, although the pattern seems correct. Looking at other photo referenceds, it seems as if it's a mocassin with a top part sewn on top of it. This doesn't explain the fact that Luke's boots make hard sounds as he fights Vader in ESB, when the soles are actually soft! But I like MP Productions belts, though. He made both my Luke ROTJ and my brother's ANH farm costume belts. I was also his first Anakin AOTC belt. He does great work!

 

That's good to hear regarding MP Productions. As for the boots from Motorcowboy, I know they look way to shiney, but I haven't yet found any other alternatives. I figured I could use some sand paper to age the leather. I did this on my Indiana Jones jacket, and it worked quite well. For most costumes I find there are three difficut things to reproduce, headgear, belts, and boots.

 

"For most costumes I find there are three difficut things to reproduce, headgear, belts, and boots."

I agree with the headgear and boots part, but do you really find belts hard to do? I could see maybe the Han Solo belt being a difficult one to reproduce, but I don't find other belts difficult to make, with a little basic knowledge in leatherworking the proper tools. Belt making can be fun!

 

BJWagner : Nice to see someone else doing a Bespin Luke! I'm in the process of putting togeather a Bespin Luke costume right now too.


Also, I'd say definitely go with the MP productions belt. As soon as I can save the money, that's the belt I'm gonna buy.

Actually, his jacket/shirt isn't tucked in. The bottom of it sits right above his belt. Just letting you know.

 

Actually, his jacket/shirt isn't tucked in. The bottom of it sits right above his belt. Just letting you know. [/quote]

I agree. You can see Luke's also wearing his dirty, tan/grey tank-top under his tunic when he reaches up to try and grap the garbage chute door on the bottom of Cloud City. The tunic is short in length as it rests just above his gun belt.

 

I've tried to make these boots myself twice, once failing miserably and then sort of succeeding-but-they-still-look-crappy. And it was a ton of work. So naturally I was tempted by Motor Cowboy's boots, but I too was put off by the leather problem until I randomly shot them an email one day asking if they'd be willing to make the Bespin boots with tan suede instead. They said yes! So you can still order from them, just tell them you want them in light suede (maybe they'd even distress them for you). Now, the prohibitive price is a whole other matter...

Hee, that's ILM for you. They redub all the sound effects in afterwards and apparently they decided to insert a hard-sole sound where there should have been none. Frankly, if I'd been a Rebel soldier I'd be questioning the logic of wearing boots with such thin soles on dangerous missions--I'd be afraid of them falling apart or giving me foot cramps! But yeah, they do look like slipper moccasins with suede spats, one on the inside extending from the "tongue" of the shoe and one wrapping over the rest of the leg. When making these the biggest problem I've had is keeping the spats staying UP on my leg, instead of drooping down and bunching all over the place. I guess reinforcing them with an extra layer or stiffer edges would help. (Mind you, I'm not sticking spats over a full pre-made boot, I'm actually attaching spats to a regular shoe. It's really hard! )

I noticed Leia's Hoth boots were similar--just neater looking--and they actually had wedge lifts in the heel. I wonder if Luke's also had slight wedge heels instead of being flat--I once saw a production photo where his boots seemed to have an angled line on the heel.

Well, he WAS short...and so am I.


Speaking of belts, is there a specific sealant that should be used for raw leather to stop it from shedding? The untreated backs of my belts are always shedding crumbs all over my costumes and it looks like I tried to attack myself with an industrial-sized pencil eraser. I was told to use glue, but I'd like a second opinion.

 

Actually, his jacket/shirt isn't tucked in. The bottom of it sits right above his belt. Just letting you know.

Thanks for letting me know. I assumed the shirt was tucked in (like his ROTJ outfit) because I couldn't see the shirt's bottom hanging below Luke's belt. It looks like I was wrong.

 

^Yeah, it's really hard to tell. I had to to take a screencap to see it.

 

In the film, when Luke doesn't have his jacket on, he just has a shirt on, but in the behind-the-scenes clips, he wears suspenders to keep his pants up. So did Vader.

On the mocassin note, you can totally see that it indeed that in a photo I saw of him in the carbon freezing chamber before Vader reveals himself. I think it was on the cover or in a kids hardcover adaptation of the movie.

 

I'm a little late to the party here, but I'm glad that my album is helpful.

As far as the Bespin boots go, I think they look a lot like knee-high converse all-stars (AKA the second greatest shoes in th world) with buckled straps rather than laces. When the days comes that I'm ready to make these (which will probably late this year) I'm planning to cut up an old pair of all-stars, use them as the basis for a pattern and recylce the sole from them. Not screen accurate, or anything, but I think it'll get the right look (which is all I care about, personally).

 

Yeah, I always started out with basic slip-on Keds. They've got the same kind of look. But later on I stumbled on a pair of faux suede moccasin ankle boots from KMart (they even had that cheesy western fringe on them that I cut off ) in a nice olive-toned tan that I'll work on in the next few months.

I don't have any way to sew these things together, though--I don't have needles or a sewing machine capable of dealing with thick suede or leather. So I've been relying on glues, and they do nothing for my sense of security. I'm always looking down at my feet worrying about them falling apart while I walk.

 

why not get some stout leather needles and a really good thimble so you can do it by hand? I'd just do some fairly inobtrusive "security stitches" to take pressure off of the glue.

 

I did want to do that, since this will be my third try.

Is "stout" the brand name or are you just describing them that way?

 

It turns out the shoe reference I mentioned is the fourth pic in Phayze's album.

 

haha! if it's not a brand name, then it should be.

I just meant "sturdy", actually.

 

i thought the rotj was just a body suit

 

Nope - ROTJ Luke is confirmed as being a shirt tucked into pants.

I don't think I mentioned it above, but the shirt is taken on and off using a zipper at the side seam of the shirt (I'm assuming invisible zipper since it's not noticable). The bib closes using a black snap.

- Kay Dee

 

I was up until 2:00am combing through my ROTJ screen caps and found a few interesting things. If I'm repeating anything please forgive me.

Luke ROTJ

1) I had forgotten bibafett told me there was a gusset in Luke's ROTJ pants. I think I spotted it faintly in the cap below. I believe his pants are similar in construction to Han Solo's pants (or the pants Luke wears at the end of ANH in the ceremony scene). Like the gussets found on the back of Cavalry pants.

[image=http://kay-dee.net/costumes/luke/pants.jpg] [image=http://kay-dee.net/costumes/luke/pants-highlight.jpg]


2) I spotted the side seam that has a zipper on the shirt (as I was told by bibafett)

[image=http://kay-dee.net/costumes/luke/zipper.jpg]

3) ThePariah pointed out to me that there is a center back seam of some sort on the shirt. This is the clearest shot I could find.

[image=http://kay-dee.net/costumes/luke/backseam.jpg]

I wish I had thought to ask about that seam, I wonder if there is something unusual going on there - it doesn't look typical. If I didn't know about the zipper on the side seam I'd say it almost looks like a zipper!

Here's a totally random thought, what if they originally had a zipper on the back but it was too difficult for the actor to put his costume on and off himself, so they added one to the side? Just a wild theory! Because I sweart that Center Back seam looks like an invisible zipper.

4) Luke's tabard (scarf) looks like it's attached to his vest above the waist. The wind is blowing pretty hard in this scene, and you can see it's tacked down at the inner edge.

[image=http://kay-dee.net/costumes/luke/tabard-attached.jpg]

When I saw the costume at FIDM (and if you watch the sandbarge scene) the lower ends of the tabard hang loose. I suspect this transition happens under the sash at the waistband.

- Kay Dee

 

Cool observations, kay_dee! I guess my vest is correct after all, regarding the sash and tabbards. And although my zipper is hidden too, it's in a totally different place!