Everyone knows I’m a huge Star Wars fan—which I view differently from the geeky other types of entertainment exhibitions of public support. When I see the name Star Wars and participate in its products in whatever form, it evokes in me an optimism that is very specific to it that I am very fond of. That’s why my favorite character within Star Wars is Han Solo, because he is the most optimistic character perhaps ever created for film. Nothing is impossible for Han Solo—he’ll try anything under any circumstances because his personality is such that he figures his confidence and sheer will can get him through anything. He is the Donald Trump of science fiction and I’ve felt that way about that character for more than forty years now. On more than a few occasions I’ve dressed up as Han Solo for Halloween events, or other science fiction endeavors, conventions, watch parties, literary events at book stores—just various festive gatherings that celebrate costuming and character reverence—but I’ve never had any kind of official Han Solo clothing. I would just piece together whatever I could find that sort of looked like the popular smuggler from the Star Wars series and go from there. But my five-year old grandson is about to have a big birthday party marking that invisible line of being a toddler to a genuine little boy fully aware of the world around him with the memories that now matter—and my daughters are fashioning it to Star Wars. As I’ve reported before also, these parties my kids do for their kids are not just little events—they go all out in creating a very mythic experience that is almost a theme park occurrence and due to their passion for Star Wars they are going all out. That meant that of course I had to dress up as Han Solo—but this time I wanted to do it for real—as real as possible because of the effort my kids were putting into this party and the eventual impact it would have on the youth in my family attending this thing. So I turned to Amazon.com to see what was out there and was stunned by a world I discovered.
My mom made me a little vest like Han Solo’s when I was in the fifth grade and I sort of kept it all these years even though it was way too small for me. But even a few years ago if you wanted something that looked like a Star Wars character and bought a costume from a place like Party City it always came out looking far from authentic. If you wanted something that looked like the clothing in the movie you had to make it. Back when my kids were little we went to a Star Wars Celebration in Indianapolis and my wife made Jedi robes for my girls and their friends so they could dress up at that convention which occurred right before the movie Revenge of the SIth. The internet at that time had some support—you could get directions from people who built their own costumes but there weren’t suppliers carrying things like that on the shelf. Even though Star Wars was popular there just wasn’t any money in it for costumers to make costumes of all those characters in the movies for a public of all shapes and sizes. The scope of that work was unrealistic. For Han Solo specifically his outfit looks pretty simple yet is really quite complex. For instance, his vest from A New Hope has a series of very complicated pockets positioned just right—and there is nothing like that off the rack at Wal-Mart or Kholes. Han Solo’s pants don’t have pockets and have a very specific pin stripe down the side of them which disappears into knee-high boots that are meant to put the swash in the buckle for the very dashing character. The shirt under the vest isn’t just a white button-up but has a very unique collar and v-nick style that has to fit just right through the shoulders to give the correct effect. Then there is the gun belt which is a thing all its own. So I went looking for these things and I started with the Star Wars Costume exhibit at the Cincinnati Museum Center—which has been running all summer and will end around the beginning of October before moving on to the next city. It’s a good exhibit, most of which I’ve seen before at the Smithsonian, but for my quest it served its purpose. I was able to get right up to the Han Solo costume and look at things up close so that I could duplicate it authentically. If I couldn’t find the items online, my wife was willing to build them from scratch so we went and took lots of pictures.
To my shook as I started looking now, in 2017 for these very specific Han Solo costume pieces for this epic party my kids were having I discovered that I was able to buy everything at Amazon.com relatively inexpensively. For instance the great Han Solo vest that I figured was the most important part of the costume was just under forty dollars from an outfit in China. I skeptically ordered it expecting it to arrive in a very flawed condition. I expected something that looked like a typical Party City costume that smelled like plastic and rubber. But what came to my front door was an exact replica of the Han Solo vest from A New Hope made out of material that was like that of tactical gear for a SWAT team. It was a very good garment that was legitimate and it fit well the moment I put it on. I was stunned by the quality of it. I then proceeded to order the official shirt, the pants, the boots and the gun belt which as of this writing hasn’t yet arrived, but everything else has and again I was stunned by the authenticity of each item.
At different points in my life I had looked for these things and nobody carried them—as I said, everything had to be made by hand. What’s unique about now from then—and by then I mean like six months ago—is that due to all the COSPLAY that goes on at these Comic Con conventions and now that Disney World is building these amusement parks with Star Wars lands within them there is this big COSPLAY movement that has emerged—where people dress up as characters from their favorite movies to delve into the mythology of these various sci-fi events—and out of nowhere there are all these suppliers who are making these costumes to meet the growing demand. It’s a whole industry of itself that has virtually arrived out of nowhere. I am aware of some of it because I find Comic Cons interesting as well as Gen Cons and other conventions. I also noticed that the plans for the new Star Wars resort coming to Disney World is seeking to tap into this emerging market with a Fantasy Island style of Star Wars experience where they encourage people to show up dressed for the part. Obviously Disney knew all about this culture and were building their business plans around it. I only discovered it because of my grandson’s birthday party—but this was big business!
As I had ordered everything from my home computer and each item arrived one by one to my doorstep without having to go anywhere to search for it I became more and more impressed. Even more shocking was that everything fit nicely, I didn’t have to send anything back. Just by reading some of the reviews I was able to size myself accordingly with no trouble at all. I figured that the risk was low because if the stuff showed up and was junky I figured my five-year old grandson would forgive me. He’d appreciate the effort and wouldn’t get hung up on the details—even though he is a very smart little kid. He surprises me what he notices. He’s already playing the video game Battlefront very well which is about two years before I thought he would. He plays online against other people who are very good—and he’s effective. He knows all the different types of weapons that can be used, how to outfit each character and how to manage the Star Cards which give unique abilities to tactical engagements. So if something wasn’t right, he’d notice. But after getting the parts of my Han Solo costume together it was obvious that I had nothing to worry about. As far as this party was concerned, except for my hairline, the outfit looks just like it would if it was on the actual movie set. That’s pretty stunning for something that was so easily ordered on Amazon.com.
This is all just another example of how imagination is fueling an entirely new industry and due to the excessive and efficient reach of Amazon.com they were able to connect me to suppliers around the world where I could get a very specific items from a forty-year old movie to my doorstep within two weeks. And the quality wasn’t junky but meant to impress even under the scrutiny of the most ardent film geek. In some cases my outfit is better than the movie original on display at the Cincinnati Museum Center. Those costumes were meant for just a few months of filming, these for purchase were meant to last much longer and under the judgment of live audiences. Needless to say, which I have before, we are seeing something new and hopeful from these modern movie enthusiasts which starts with a mythology in the movie theater and extends into real life—what Disney is doing down at their theme parks is tapping into the public need to play out their fantasies and is an expansion of imagination that is very specific to our species as human beings. The need to personify a fantasy experience has deep psychological roots that go far beyond primal necessity. I think the end result is a very positive one that is headed toward an unknown climax. I know I love to see the imaginations of so many people at work to make something like all this possible—but it surprised even me at the extent of it all. And the entity most responsible for the success of this new industry was Amazon.com. They were the middle ground players that connected need with supply and allowed both to get what they wanted at the best price and quality. If they can do that with a simple costume from Star Wars, just think what they can do with real necessities. We are living in a whole new world.
Rich Hoffman
Sign up for Second Call Defense here: http://www.secondcalldefense.org/?affiliate=20707 Use my name to get added benefits.
The Overmanwarrior 