COSTUMES

STAR WARS
IMPERIAL OFFICER

August 2010

HAT , RANK BADGE AND GLOVES

REFERENCE PHOTOS

The above reference photos are from museum exhibits like Magic of Myth, a Hollywood memorabilia auction, and movie stills. It has been documented by individuals who have been able to visit the Lucasfilm archives that there were only two colors of uniform used in the original trilogy. Black, and the drab olive-gray uniform. The olive-gray color tends to photograph differently under different lighting conditions. It's not olive, it isn't gray, but can appear to look green or gray depending on the camera and the lighting. It certainly is not as gray as the crew jumpsuit seen in the reference image above. It is interesting, the crew members with the gray jumpsuits wear the olive-gray hat. You can see the true difference in color between the hat and jumpsuit.

FABRIC : I believe the fabric used in the movies is a heavy gabardine. It may be a synthetic fabric. I happened to use a light weight wool suiting gabardine, because it was the only fabric I could find in the correct color. I believe the fabric is now sold out. There was no SKU for it.

PATTERNS:I modified this pattern offered by cyberseams for the officer's cap. The greeblie disk on the hat is from Elivs Trooper (I glued a lapel pin base to the back so I could pin it to the hat). I used a Simplicity 4366 (View D) for the pants, tapered the pants by taking in the inner leg seam, and drafted a somewhat D shaped extension to the outer thigh to create the jodhdpurs. However, if I'd known about this sewing pattern I would have tried modifying Reconstructing History's RH1014 -- 1910s-1940s Ladies' Riding Breeches or Jodhpurs. I modified McCall's 5106 for the jacket, redrafting the princess seam to run up and down the length of the jacket in front (this was only marginally successful in terms of proper fit). For the most I drafted the entire pattern, and only used the McCall's pattern as a basic block to start from. If I were to do it over again, I'd try using Simplicity 3628 for the jacket as it has the correct princess seam in the front (the back is incorrect - perhaps a combination of both patterns could be used)

GLOVES : The gloves used in the movie have 3 stitched lines on the top of the hand (see black and white reference photo above). I used Hatch Dura-Thin Unlined Police Search Duty Gloves. There was a 3D logo on the glove which I removed by peeling the silicone logo away from the inside of the glove, then gently wetting the logo portion of the leather and smoothing it out. I dried the leather with a hair dryer as I smoothed away the logo impression.

RANK BADGE : I made my own rank badge using aluminum strips, lapel pin bases purchased at JoAnn's, and Newark switch lenses 01-901.2. Lens width = 24mm, Height = 18mm. I know some rank badge makers use different sized lens, but I believe this is the correct size based on some scale comparisons I made against many reference images.

CODE CYLINDERS: The rank/code cylinders used in the movie are actually radiation dosimeters. I was very lucky to purchase two identical radiation dosimeters in a vintage lot found by a Star Wars fan. They are sold out and nearly impossible to find.

BELT : The buckle blank was made in a machine shop by my local 501st costume club. The greeblie disk was supplied by Elvis Trooper. I stained and sealed my own 2" cow hide strip from Tandy Leather. I added the embossed stripe detail to the edges of the belt blank before staining it using an adjustable creaser. I stained it with black eco-flow dye (be sure to use several thin coats and buff off the excess) and finished it by air brushing on Eco-Flo satin shene.

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