Winner: padmeskywalker77
Subject: Costume Making
Recipient: Parents

Comment: My parents, my father more than my mother, do not understand my recently developed passion for costuming. They do not understand why I *have* to make these outfits, and with such accuracy.

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Hello there!

I author a blog on StarWars.com titled: The Jundlands Wastes Journal (est. 2005). I go by the web name of "Kenobi-fan" after my favorite Star Wars character, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Yes, I'm one of 'those people' - meaning someone that talks about Star Wars as if it's a whole lot more than a movie and just a little bit less than the Bible (okay, some of us take it ever more serious than that...ha!). I hope you won't hold that against me as I continue for a few moments on behalf of the person handing this letter to you - for it is to YOU that I write.

Recently, I ran a contest where by my readers would submit a challenge to me essentially daring me to convince someone they knew that Star Wars fans aren't as strange as people might think. It was my belief that I could offer a perspective that might allow the chosen recipient to see our mania with more accepting eyes. Since you are receiving this letter, the person handing it to you is one of the winners of my so-called contest. Congratulations!

For this winner, I was asked to address the area of Star Wars as it relates to costume making. I know, I know. Costume making has to be one of the most inane things any fan could do. I mean, really, how crazy does someone have to be to want to dress up like a fictional movie character? I admit it's strange. Generally speaking, it doesn't really serve any purpose other than to allow some of us to pretend for a little while. I don't know many costume designers and I don't know anyone who makes money at it either. Although even if some of us did make money from such a passion, I don't think that's why Star Wars fans do it. Yes, its fun, and yes, it allows many of us a bit of an escape, but I think there is more to it than that.

Now, you must be telling yourself, having fun is fine but why must you spend so much time, money, and effort on something so limited in purpose? As someone who has two costumes himself, I can only say it takes something out of our imagination and makes it real. And if a character's costume can be real, than maybe a bit of the magic we feel can be made real as well. I find it's difficult to put a price on something so innocent and that brings so much enjoyment, not just to the person making the costume, but to those observing it as well.

As I said, I can personally attest to this silliness since my wife is also a costume maker. She's been sewing since before high school. She's sewn dresses, pillows, and even done some furniture repair. She even created her own wedding dress. Watching her sew each bead and complete each hem of this flowing white garment is something I will never forget, and have never forgot, even after 11-years of marriage.

It's hard to believe she spent an entire summer on something she would only wear once and that would sit in a closet for the remainder of our days. Yet, neither of us feels it was a waste of time or money - it is a symbol of all we are and hope to be. And what is a wedding if not a symbolic moment where the dream of unity meets reality - a hope symbolized by costume and ceremony.

It is this same attention to detail that I find many Star Wars fans put into their costumes. No, it doesn't hold the same societal import as a wedding ceremony, nor should it, but the meaning is essentially the same: taking a bit of dream and making it real. And ultimately, the dream most Star Wars fans are trying to grab hold of is not a laser gun, or a spaceship, or even adventure: it is hope. It is the single most important element of the 6-part cinematic story: hope for redemption, hope for peace, and hope for love. It is this element of the story that is being pushed through a needle, threaded about a pattern, and tied off in neat little knots: Hope.

I apologize if I seem to be getting a little too sentimental about something most folks laugh at, yet it is what many of us see when we watch these fantasy films. In today's day and age, most of us will take hope wherever we can find it, even if it's something that's being shown up on a big screen for a mere 120-minutes. And given the time of year it is, I can think of nothing better than the renewal of hope, whether it be in the guise of a blanket, a veil, or a robe. Just last night, I heard the following comment from one of my favorite holiday films,
Miracle on 34th Street:

Fred Gailey (speaking about belief in Santa Claus): Look Doris, someday you're going to find that your way of facing this realistic world just doesn't work. And when you do, don't overlook those lovely intangibles. You'll discover those are the only things that are worthwhile.

I suppose there really isn't much I can do to convince anyone that making a Star Wars costume is the pragmatic thing to do with one's time, let alone an important one. My few words might only serve to confuse the situation even further, though I hope it won't. If anything, it was someone's belief in costume making that inspired this amateur writer to take a bit of time from a very busy work week to think about what it is that brings some people joy - a simple joy created with a pattern, some thread, and lots and lots of love.

Again, thank you for your time. Take care!

Sincerely,

Kenobi-fan.