Best advice?

cori1312@ () · Joined: 20 Sep 2015 Posts: 5 Location: Ohio Medals: None

I made a new friend recently, who was told that she couldn't join the 501st because she had to be a certain height. I told her she was dead wrong, and asked who she wanted to be should she join. She answered Princess Leia.

Obviously, she's not cut out for the dark side. Confused

But I offered to help her with a costume for the Rebel Legion and have been reading posts, walk-throughs and standard requirements for the past few days.

Now I'm asking, what's your best advice?

What kind of fabric? Knit or polyester? Anyone have a good pattern to start with?

What size leather strips would I need to purchase from Tandys? Where do you get those metal sheets for the belt accents?

Any clarity on the boots? Flat white plain leather with black soles--is that what I'm looking for? Do they need to have those vertical strips or are they optional?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

cori1312@ () · Joined: 20 Sep 2015 Posts: 5 Location: Ohio Medals: None

Sorry, the whole thing is the ANH Senatorial costume.

SongofAmazon (Jenna) · Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2015 8:34 pm Post subject:

Hi, we're happy to help here! To start, you can find the standards for the costume here.

So, the best kind of fabric (and it's cheap) is a slight knit fabric called Jet Set, which you can find at JoAnn fabrics.

As to how to make the dress, Kathy has one of the best tutorials out there: http://kay-dee.net/costumes/leia_anh/

The boots don't need the black sole, but it is preferred. Mainly we are concerned with a low heel, not shiny leather, and no straps or buckles. If your friend finds some boots online and wants to run them by us, we can let you know if they will work or not.

There are a lot of different ways to do the buns, depending on hair color and length, so I guess the best advice there depends.

I'm no belt maker myself, but I do know you have to cut the shape of the belt out of a large piece of leather, because of it's shape. Normal straps won't work. For the rest of your belt questions, I'm going to send in the friend who made mine. Leia Buns

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Lora Skywalker () · Posted: Fri Sep 25, 2015 9:38 pm Post subject:

In addition to Jenna's excellent advice, I'll add: make it self-lined. The real deal is double layered, which also helps prevent the dress from being see through. Smile

Make sure the collar is tight and the key hole closure is visible, but not too large. Don't make undersized buns. We see those a lot, so right away I'll just tell just that those buns really are rather big and basically covers the side of her head.
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Nomad Angie (Angie Rivera) · Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2015 2:56 am Post subject:

Without intending to trump SongOfAmazon's recommendation, Twi'lek Pam also has a great Princess Leia tutorial:

http://chucrew.com/Leia/Leia.html
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plushie (Shana Rich) · Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2015 3:04 am Post subject:

To chime in...

I went with the jet-set fabric from JoAnns. I did wind up using a serger as my sewing machine kept 'bouncing' off of the fabric.

There are multiple resources for the belt. I wound up with a 3" belt blank from a local leather store. I trimmed to shape and added aluminum trapezoidal blanks, then used furniture button blanks for the circle that sits on top.

For boots, I started with standard marching style boots. I now have a pair of custom made leather boots from JDOS. The wait time is about a year, but worth it. However, if you don't want to wait, there are good sources for white marching boots that suffice.
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cori1312@ () · Joined: 20 Sep 2015 Posts: 5 Location: Ohio Medals: None

Thank you all so much! Those tutorials look amazing. I was wondering about the buns, because her hair is so short. The ponytail wigs are genius.

Where can I come by the metal sheets to cut out the belt accents? A hardware store? Craft store?

plushie (Shana Rich) · Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2015 4:18 pm Post subject:

cori1312@ () · Joined: 20 Sep 2015 Posts: 5 Location: Ohio Medals: None

Okay I'm taking her shopping tomorrow! I'm so excited. Very Happy

Does anyone know if this is an accepted blaster? I mean, I'd have to spray paint it. Do I have to still paint the tip orange? I'm pretty sure those standards conflict. Which is right?

Leia Blaster

plushie (Shana Rich) · Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2015 7:01 pm Post subject:

Huh. I hadn't seen that blaster before!

I use a hyperfirm DDC Defender from DarthHair. He does the long barreled from ANH and the short barrel from ROTJ.
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Nomad Angie (Angie Rivera) · Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2015 11:21 pm Post subject:

The blasters (both the DCC Long Barrel and the E-11) are optional items for the Senatorial dress, so they don't need to be extremely detailed.

That new white and orange blaster will be fine if you paint the whole thing black.
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LadyBedlam (Kelly Sutton) · Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2015 1:50 am Post subject:

With my Leia wig, I found a Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz wig and took the braids out and redid it into the buns and it worked great!! Being a cosmetologist also helps with that. Razz

cori1312@ () · Joined: 20 Sep 2015 Posts: 5 Location: Ohio Medals: None

SongofAmazon (Jenna) · Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2015 12:28 am Post subject:

Though, you'll want to be careful with the quality of wigs you find around Halloween. If you get anything for less than $25, at minimum, I'd be concerned about the quality. A good-quality pigtail wig usually doesn't come cheap.
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In planning and progress:
Summer Dreams Padmé, Riyo Chuchi, Havoc Trooper, Amilyn Holdo, Lilac Handmaiden, Saché, TOR Jedi

ALMO | RLGS Web Team | She/Her

LadyBedlam (Kelly Sutton) · Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2015 12:33 am Post subject:

I paid $20 for mine and it's held up for the last 5 or 6 years. But I take extra care of mine.

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