Tips & Tricks Star Wars FIDM exhibit

Yes, the wedding dress is on display. Here are two photo albums put together by some fan force members invited to work the event on Saturday:

JediRacer's FIDM pictures

Mara_Jade_Fan's pictures

A group of 8 of us from the San Francisco area will be attending the exhibit at 10:00am on opening day (reentry at 2:00pm after lunch). It would be great to meet up with the other fans attending that day!

- Kay Dee

 

Everything I wanted to see seems to be there.

 

I'm slightly sad that the purple senate gown is pushed to the back row. I may still not get my embroidery question answered (what's used to make it sparkle. Beads? Metallic cording?)

- Kay Dee

 

I know, I was disappointed a little too when I saw its' mannequin is set back. I bet you'll still be able to see the details though. I guess you could always bring those binoculars just in case.

 

I was really hoping for the blue tatooine poncho, since I made that one, and I'd love to see it real. But I can hardly complain because the number of Amidala and Padme costumes is way higher than I expected. I'm so excited to see it myself! I can hardly wait til October!!

Thanks for those links kay_dee! Looks like "MaraJade" got a pic of that other 2nd floor lobby display with the cut "dark" Senate gown too! Wheeee!

 

Kay-Dee,

Many of the people working the exhibit will be able to answer all your questions as to what fabrics were used to make the various outfits. While I was standing and admiring the wedding dress, a gentleman came up to me and asked if I noticed anything different between Padme's right and left sleeve of the wedding dress. The left sleeve had no beads on it whatsoever, whereas the rest of the dress was beaded. He explained that Trisha Biggar had stayed up all night, the night before the shoot, sewing on the beading and just didn't get a chance to finish the left sleeve before the shoot. He also told me that the dress was made out of a 1920/1930s Battenburg lace bedspread. It obviously used to be white at one time, but now was yellowed with age, but was still very beautiful. In each room is a copy of THE BOOK. The stories behind the costumes are as interesting as the costumes themselves. One of my favorite parts of the exhibit was the "touch" wall. I bought the $295 signed edition of the book and I think it was totally worth it.

The book comes in a box, you open up another large book that is held shut by a fabric belt, inside is a behind the scenes DVD, a piece of Vader's cloak, the Certificate of Authenticity, a decorative item, swatches of fabric left over from the costumes, a holographic book on the CGI characters, and the book inself. Inside the book are paper dolls and all sorts of fold out pages... well worth the money.

[image=http://images14.fotki.com/v224/photos/4/42811/152894/AugSept123-vi.jpg]

 

There were two of Padme's dresses missing from this exhibit that I thought should have been there. My favorite dress from AOTC is missing, the white/pastel Gondola Ride dress is missing. From TPM, the end of the movie White Ceremonial dress is also missing.

A good idea if you go is to take color swatches with you to match up the colors for any costumes you plan to make. You can get within 2-3 feet of the costumes in the front row, but you are not allowed to reach over the thigh-high wall to point as it will sound an alarm if you do. You can take pictures, but flash photography is not allowed. My camera unfortunately doesn't have a museum setting on it.

 

Excellent! At past exhibits they only had security guards who really had no costume knowledge. Yikes, an alarm will sound if I cross the barrier! So much for really holding up my swatches to the costume, but it's understandable. I'm gonna have to eyeball it from a distance - but at least the picnic dress is front and center so it won't be as impossible as the costumes positioned in the back.



- Kay Dee

 

The book has Jedi fabrics!! yessss! What do they have for Anakin, Mara Jade Fan?

 

Since FIDM is a school, it is filled with teachers and students alike who live and breathe costuming and are most happy to talk about any aspect of it with you.

Not every book of fabric swatches is the same. I was talking with the woman who actually put the fabric swatch book together and she said there wasn't enough left over fabric from the costumes so that everyone would get every piece of fabric from every costume. So what they did is put a selection of different swatches is everyone's book. So we all got the same number of swatches, but not exactly the same pieces of fabric. One of the pieces that surprised me was Anakin's tabards which was a lot softer than I imagined it would be.

Edit: Everyone gets Vader's cape material, for Anakin I got all the fabrics used to make his ROTS outfit, cape, undershirt, pants, tabbards, everything. Also, on the "touch wall" is a swatch of fabric of the pants Anakin wears in AOTC.

Edit x2 : I also got all the materials used to make Obi-wan's Jedi Robes, underobes, pants, everthing. The beige underobe is a lot thinner material than I imagined it would be. If I put my fingers behind it, it is practically see-through. I didn't get any other Jedi swatches.

 

Mara_Jade_Fan - thanks for the wedding dress anecdote! That is really interesting!


Wow, so everyone's swatches are different? I wonder what I'll end up getting then, since I ordered mine online!!

I wonder if swatches are going to show up on ebay, or if people will be trading them!

BTW, scans of swatches are more than welcome for the site too!

 

True, but in past years I only ran into one teacher at FIDM while observing an Eowyn costume. They were honestly speculating on fabric as much as I was. Maybe things will be different on opening day, and because this is such a highly anticipated event there will more people on hand there who have first hand knowledge of the costumes because they were involved with the set-up? (would make sense as opposed to when I've visited the annual motion picture exhibit in the middle of it's run)

That's also interesting info! I can just imagine all of us costuming and props people checking to see who has which swatches!

I won't be getting my preordered delux book until November I wanted to save some money and get it at a discount.

- kay dee

 

Oh, I had lunch with the person who "made" the book on Sunday and he told me, that if you or anyone ordered the book on Overstock.com or Amazon.com or any other online location, you will still have to pay the $295. He said by law they have to sell the book to Amazon but he does not have to sell them to Amazon at a discount, so they have to pay what everyone else does to get the books. He also doubts that there will be any books left over in November to send to Overstock.com as only 2,500 were made of those with the fabric swatches, and the book has been a huge success so far. (1,000 have Trisha Biggar's signature) I heard that Amazon and some other online sellers should have been sending emails out to people who preordered telling them that, "Thank you for your order but unfortunately the price of the book is $295." That is just what I heard directly from the man who made the book, as well as the woman who put together the book with the costume swatches. I was thinking of waiting to get it at the cheaper price, but when I heard the above info I was first in line to get my book Saturday night. It is up to you if you want to risk it and wait to get the book at a discount. I'm just relaying to you what went into my decision to get the book ASAP.

 

If the flight wouldn´t be so damn expensive !!!

Is there a complete list of the costumes anywhere on the web ?!

I am particularly interested in knowing if there are any non-Amidala Naboo Costumes on display ?! Ya know, the MILITARY variant ! Although I´d take a Padme EPII flight dress any time

Michael

 

/\ The Padme pilot outfit that she wears at the beginning of AOTC is on display, as well as the white battle dress outfit with cape (non-torn version). The military costumes, Darth Maul, Royal Guards, Palpatines costumes (which are as impressive as Padmes' - there are at least 8 of them) are all in this one dark room so I couldn't get pictures of them. Bail Organa's costume and other Alderanian/Tantive IV costumes also seem to be in a dark room, the Blue and Red Royal Guards, and Imperial Officers costumes as well. If you plan to go, I'd say invest in a good camera with a "museum setting" on it.

 

You know, in the back of my mind I was afraid of this. I try to be cheap and it looks like I will now be paying for 2 delux books because I don't know that i want to risk waiting for overstock.com to get what sounds like leftovers.

I'll e-mail overstock.com to see if they will refund me and just pick up the delux book at FIDM and be done with this.

- kay dee

 

Hello,

Like most of you guys, I've been worried about not being able to take sharp detailed photos due to the no flash/tripod rules. Well, I guess we are still waiting for an answer to the monopod question, however I've read of another method of steadying that camera that seems as if it might work just as well as a monopod put would be able to fit in ones pocket.

The method is to obtain a light chain or rope of about 5-6' and attach a tripod screw to one end of it, then attach the screw to the tripod mount at the bottom of the camera. Stand on the free end of the chain and hold your camera up to pull the chain tight, then take your picture. Not as good as a tripod since the camera can still sway side to side, but gets rid of any up and down jiggles. I'll be trying this method myself when I go in October.


www.paul-pham.com

 

Thanks for the additioanl info Mara_Jade_Fan.
Did anyone, by chance, tell you anything about the picnic dress?

Maggie, I bet you're right. Trading or e-bay selling of swatches could happen. Goodness knows, I'd probably trade just about anything I got swatch wise for a snippet of picnic fabric. *sigh*

Hey Benae, when is the fashion show? Lucky girl, you! While you're watching the show could you try and look at the Padmé model's feet? I wonder if they'll be wearing the costume shoes or just random ones.

 

this is so exciting! =)

I'm a little saddened that the Ep2 Pastel dress and the Ep1 Parade dress aren't there =\ but there are so many of the costumes on display it's amazing =) I can't wait to see more pics!

 

/\ If I were you Clotho0337, I'd use rope, the security guards might have a problem with a chain. They made us leave all our props at the security desk before entering the museum. Also, while we were there on the second day, "someone" reached over and opened up one of Boba Fett's pouch pockets. The security guards and museum employees freaked out and are going to be going over the security film for the day to find out who it was. Because of that they are adding the alarms inside the museum so that every time someone reaches over the barrier an alarm will sound. They are also thinking of moving the costumes out of reach. That is too bad since the costumes are within 2-3 feet now, and it would be a shame for the rest of us to suffer because of one idiot. I sincerely hope they don't move the costumes farther back.

 

That's such a shame. All it takes is one person who can't resist looking with their hands. I know it's tempting for people, but it's sad that those of us who have always honored the hands off policy and have been very careful not to touch anything when sketching and matching colors might be paying the price for someone else's inconsiderate act That's part of the reason I wanted to go opening day (I heard the first day of MOM had no plexi, but after the first day they had to put it up).

- Kay Dee

 

Dawn, its this thursday at 6pm I'll try to look at feet too, but I think they might be different shoes (since models' feet are different sizes and such). I'm so excited

If I see the model trip over the picnic dress, I'll scream at her for you

 

Thanks Benae. I don't know why I'm so obsessed with the shoes. tee-hee....I hope you have a splendid time at the show!

And wouldn't it just be typical if the action's of one person forced them to move the mannequins further back from view? I'd love to touch this stuff as much as the next fan, but I would never compromise a museum exhibit that way. It's really a pet peeve of mine to see anyone in any museum trying to touch something they clearly are not supposed to. I guess my ire stems back from when I worked in a museum. argh.

 

I hope you like my pictures that Kay-Dee linked to.
I felt really lucky to attend the event on Saturday! It is an extraordinary exhibit. Try to make it here to LA if you can to see it!
The accompanying book is excellent too.

 

Th X-Wing costume looks to be exactly the same as the MoM exhibit one, including (as noted) the wrong belt and non screen used helmet.

It still has the TIE Pilot comm pad in the sleeve even! The only difference now seems to be they put the flak vest on backwards.

Ah well.

At least there should be more photos available now at higher resolutions than before.

Linda, did I tell you lately that I hate you?