Mara Jade!
Isn't it amazing?!?! I'm so proud of myself for actually making it all work. I wore it out for the first time over the weekend for some costumed restaurant crawling on 4th Avenue and it was fortunate that I did. It was like a beta version and I was able to adapt and fix all the little bugs I found.
Let's break it down now:
- Cowl: it's just an extra large women's t-shirt from Target with the sleeves and neckline cut-off, like this tutorial. I didn't even bother to hem mine. Cost: $8 [You could do this for much cheaper if you watched the sales better than I did.]
- Make up: since she's a Jedi, I figure she probably doesn't spend that much time on her make up, so I kept it very natural and neutral. Except for the eyes. Because of the cowl, I wanted them to stand out under it, so I did a pretty heavy smoky eye look. Counting it all up: seven different kinds and shades of eye shadow. Cost: free since I already had it all.
- Shoulder Harness: see here. Cost: $10 ($5 each for leather straps, free printed buckle, existing spray paint and sealer).
- Jumpsuit: you can buy it here. I was really afraid that this body suit was going to be too form fitting and unflattering, but the material is so forgiving. It's definitely not a high quality fabric, but it's stretchy enough that every bump and lump isn't highlighted. It's a little low-cut, but the cowl covers it up. Cost: $30.
- Lightsaber: Anakin's lightsaber. I got into a very heated debate with a friend of mine that said I had the wrong color. While Mara's empire lightsaber was red and her Jedi one was purple, Luke gave her his father's old lightsaber before she was a Jedi and it was blue. I bought it used off of Amazon and it's one of my favorite things ever. Too bad it scares the bejesus out of cats. If you ever wondered if cats have bejesus' wonder no more and Sam no longer has one. It may be because the first time Dan turned the lightsaber on, he first turned of all the lights and chased the cats around with it. This is as close as Sam will now get to it. We put it on things we don't want him to get into, like the counters. Cost: $44.
- Hip holster: I was originally just going to make a belt with a holster on it, but I had enough scrap from the shoulder harness that I decided to make the leg attachment as well, like this one. Superglue held some of the pieces together pretty well, but failed at other points, so Dan used a special leather glue he had after it started to fall apart from Saturday's wear. Also, if you make the leg part adjustable and made it fairly tight, it would probably stay in place pretty well, but since mine was loose, it kept sliding and shifting and catching on things. I added two pieces of twine to hold the front and back of it up better. Kind of cheap looking, but I like to call it industrial. Since I couldn't find a blaster small enough to wear it on my wrist like Mara does, I bought Boba Fett's blaster and attached it to the holster. [Sidenote: if you're reading this on November 1st, the pictures don't have the final holster design. I will add another picture today with it.] Cost: $18 ($5 for the leather strap, $5 for the leather piece I used to holster the gun, $8 for the gun from Target)
- Shin armor: it's just sporting equipment. I went to my local used sporting goods store and tried on a bunch of different shin guards. Apparently, a lot of sports require some sort of shin protection. The ones I originally wanted were much heavier duty, but they would have required a coat of spray paint since they were green. These ones were smaller, but since they were already black and silver, I just used some electrical tape to cover the brand names and called it good. Cost: $14.
- Boots: I love these boots. I did so much research into the boots I wanted and I was so glad DSW actually had them in stock. They were fairly expensive, given my usual cheap shoe budget, but I can wear them all the time and they are incredibly comfortable. Cost: $65.
Total Cost: $189
Non-reusable cost: $72 (assuming I will reuse the lightsaber, the blaster, and the boots.)
Not too bad, especially since it is my new favorite thing ever. There are lots of little things you could add to it still, like the cape or the sand goggles, but for now, I'm incredibly happy with it.
Now, who does a girl have to know to get these pictures to J.J. Abrams so he can put me in the new Star Wars movie?
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