Luke Skywalker X-Wing Pilot (Halloween 2014)

Hi, everyone!

I'm a total costuming newbie - never made anything at all before. I've decided that for Halloween this year, I want to go as X-Wing Pilot Luke:


Now, given that I've never done this before, I honestly have no idea where to even begin. I looked at the index and tried to access the old Luke threads listed there, but none of those links worked (not sure if this is a problem on my end).

So, kind costuming pros, any advice? What part of the costume should I start with? Based on what you see there, what materials would you recommend I use and where would you recommend I look for them?

Thanks in advance for all of your help!

 

Oh man, X-wing pilots. The one thing DWH and I are pros at.

Well first off, which costume do you want to do? X-Wing or Snowspeeder (your photo is in the Snowspeeder pilot suit). X-Wing is truthfully easier just because you don't have to do the puffy jacket, but it's up to you!



The best place to get all of your resources, tutorials, and parts is to go look through all of the Rebel Legion's stuff. We've been researching and making pilot costumes over there for over a decade. Pretty much everything I throw at you will be Rebel Legion resources. I'm not trying to push you to join, but if you want to make an accurate costume, this is the place to find everything.

So first off, here's everything that goes into a screen accurate X-Wing pilot costume:

1. Orange flightsuit with mandarin-style collar and pointed tab with custom pockets (code cylinder pocket on upper left arm, rectangular pocket with a flap closure on upper right arm, and upper thigh pockets. No visible zippers or snaps
2. Mid-calf black boots (Jack boots or engineer boots are the best)
3. Silver/grey leg flares in an olive drab or black leg-band holder
4. Light grey/silver grey ejection harness and web belt, all 2” wide
5. Accurate white flak vest with ribbing
6. Chest box with a grey hose/aviation hose that attaches from bottom of chestbox and connects to the flightsuits.
7. 2-3 Code cylinders in left shoulder pocket.
8. Black gauntlet-style gloves.
9. X-Wing helmet with Luke’s decals.
10. Web belt with a distinctive buckle and mini-flares.
11. Comm pad inside comm pad pocket on lower left arm
12. Helmet
If you want to make the Snowspeeder pilot, then you pretty much need all of the above plus the puffy orange jacket, gunbelt with holster & lightsaber clip, and white spats.
Here is the forum on The Rebel Legion for pretty much everything you will ever need to know about making an X-Wing costume:
http://www.forum.rebellegion.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=20
Both Lisa and I have made X-Wing suits, so let us know if you have any questions!

 

This is so helpful - thank you!

And I think Snowspeeder may be best as it's a bit cold on Halloween around here most years.

I'll check out the Rebel Legion link - thanks again!

 

Rachel covered most of it, but another point worth making is that, if you're having trouble with the sewing, this is one of the few costumes where you can buy pretty much every piece of it, pre-made and accurate. Including that puffy jacket, if you look in the right places.

The flak vest is the biggest pain, but you can have those made for you, too! If joining the Rebel Legion would end up being a priority for you (which you really don't have to, but just in case), you'll want to be mindful of proportionality. X-Wing pilot is a costume that looks good on people of every shape and size... assuming it fits, and that's where it can get tricky. But you can ask any and all questions, either on the RL boards or in this thread, and we'll be happy to help!