Princess Leia Endor Q & A

[strangebehaviour ()]

Hi, I am relatively new to the RL and for my next costume I want to do Endor Leia. However, I know the standards are changing so can someone please tell me what my costume needs to have in order for it to be acceptable? Thanks for your help!
Liz

[GotWookiee (Matt Pfingsten)]

That costume is considered a "Rebel Trooper" costume, and the standards for that can be found here:

Rebel Trooper category requirements/standards



Welcome aboard!

[Princess Leia Organa (Lori)]

Hi Liz and welcome. The thread that JediToren suggested is a good one to go to. If I can be of any assistance, feel free to contact me as well.

[strangebehaviour ()]

Thank you very much for your help!

[Reaper]

unless you wanthe costume without the pancho, fromt he ROTJ briefing room

[kreleia]

Decided to bump this because, after much research, I have to say that this costume IS DIFFERENT from the standard "Endor Rebel Trooper" costume.

Princess Leia only wears the poncho and "donut" helmet that the rest of the troopers wear. Otherwise, what's underneath is unique.

For example:

Regular trooper =


(yes, this is the image from the Endor Bunker Yahoo Group homepage)

Endor Battle Leia =


(images borrowed from Maggie at PadawansGuide for my personal reference)

So, let's not brush this off. This costume needs standards for Princess Leia.

[kreleia]

What I have so far for this costume:

• Light blue knit stirrup pants that have been slightly grayed (with dye). These were purchased at Blair.com, but are no longer available in the light blue color (unfortunately).
  
• Velvet ribbon in "Citron" from MJ Trim for the pant stripes.
  
• cotton Fiesta Shirt in White from Blair.com. This has been dyed khaki. The sleeves are long enough to alter and use the extra fabric for the sleeve pockets. The collar is also the correct shape.
  
• 100% cotton Quilter's Flannel for the vest. Dyed gray. Vest not yet completed, but I will be using New Look #6728 with modifications. I chose this pattern because it includes a cap-sleeve variant similar to Leia's vest. There are also other details to the vest that I will post pictures of below.
  
• 2-inch black elastic for the belt (found at JoAnn), and a 2-inch single bar slide for the buckle (I couldn't find a black buckle like that anywhere, for some strange reason)
  
• Long brown artificial hair braided into two braids, both wrapped with hemp twine. This is for the "headband" braids. On closer inspection, I've noticed that Leia's braids are wrapped with light leather ties, rather than twine, so I will probably change mine. It should also be noted that this costume doesn't HAVE to have the leather ties around the braids. She wears them AFTER she encounters the Ewoks. I have not yet decided if I need one braid or two for the buns at her neck.
  
• Black leather boots, found on eBay. They look VERY similar, but the soles are black instead of the yellow-ish tan color. I've thought about having them resoled, but I'm not sure it's worth it.
  

What I still need:

• Leia's DDC Defender blaster. I've looked EVERYWHERE for one of these, and I'm not about to shell out $200+ for a Master Replicas prop. I've also heard not-so-good reviews about the resin replicas that pop up on eBay every so often. I've also checked Blaster Builders and The Dented Helmet for any tips on creating one from various parts, but no luck. If ANYONE has information, PLEASE let me know!
  
• Leia's rank badge. This looks like various electronics parts glued to a metal square. Pic below.
  
• Wristwatch (or whatever that is). A double black metal "stretch" band with a large black square attached. Looks like one of the old-skool digital watches.
  
• Poncho. Just haven't bought the fabric for it, yet.
  
• Donut helmet. I've actually purchased this, but it's in Denver with the rest of the order.

So, there you go. Here are some of the pics I mentioned, plus others to show detail (screencaps by me):

Leia's "wristwatch" (pic from PadawansGuide.com)
Rank badge and some vest detail
Vest detail - can also see that the braids are wrapped with leather ties, here.
more vest detail
The DDC Defender Blaster that Leia wields on Endor (yes, it's slightly different from her ANH blaster)

I hope this helps anyone else that's doing, or wants to do this costume!

[Jedi Loreen (Lori Procopio)]

Wow, you are dredging up an old thread.

The costuming standards for this already exist in the Princess Leia Costume Standards thread in Costume Standards at the top of the Costuming forum.

Your list is more detail oriented, and might be more helpful though. Plus, that thread is locked.

[Reaper]

[lavagrrrl (Susie Leopold)]

That is some great info, kreleia! You have sparked my interest in making this costume again! Thank you for sharing it.
_________________
Susie Leopold
Great Lakes Base
Great Lakes Garrison
www.BlastyLava.com

[kreleia]

[Jungle Leia ()]

The one thing I am having difficulty in is trying to get the rank insignia. Anyone know where I can go to get one?

The belt and holster is on order and will be looking for a pouch soon but the insignia is giving me problems...

[Volund Starfire (Jason Ellenburg)]

[Aramys Strael (Bill Kohlleppel)]

Speaking from an accuracy point of view.... the mauser isn't even the accurate base weapon for the DCC Defender. And since this is the Endor Leia costume we are referring to, then the Soviet-made Margolin .22 MTs Target Pistol is the base gun.

But, I can imagine that if you don't want to shell out a couple hundred on a mauser, then you certainly wouldn't want to do the same for this base gun, either.

My best advice would be to keep searching for the re-pro prop kits and see where they go. I don't know how much these resin kits are going for, but if they are a reasonable price, I'd try it and see.

Check out www.partsofsw.com under the Items link, scroll down to the DCC Defender from ROTJ. It may help point you in a direction to find something that looks similar to the Margolin .22 MT Target Pistol.

- Bill

[Miana (Rachel Williams)]