My AOTC Guard - Cost breakdown & photos

[Darth Skellington]

Okay, so in an effort to help out anyone working on their costumes, here is a breakdown of my AOTC costume, where I got it and how much it cost.

First off, I built my own pike, sewed my own outer robes (and belt), and bought the rest from costume makers. My inner robes were a gift from Lucious (he found a suitable night-gown on ebay for under $15). However, I did buy enough velvet to make my own under-robes and pants. Currently, I wear an old pair of black work pants beneath the under-robe.

Anyway, here is the breakdown:

Helmet (including shipping) $386.98
Red Velvet (8yds) $62.20
Burgandy Velvet (15yds) (used $59.12 so far) $110.85
Boots $58.45
Gloves (using coupon)(no coupon, shipped=$57.49) $32.72
Pike $42.00
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
$693.20


Other Costs:

Sewing Machine
Pinking Shears
2-Part Epoxy
Industrial-Strength Velcro


So, not counting the new sewing machine, my costume cost about $700 to make, with over half the cost going into the helmet, which I am very happy with.

[Squirrel]

I think I just heard my wallet cry. . .

[Darth Skellington]

Outer Robe

My outer robe I desiged and sewed myself. I will post a more descriptive how-to soon. I can't give an exact pattern, but I will make it as detailed as I can. It is made with triple-plush velvet. I bought the Red velvet from Distinctive Fabric online (they usually have coupons), and the Dark Burgandy velvet lining I bought from Sy Fabrics online (they have a website and sell on ebay). For the amount of fabric I used, it was actually slightly cheaper to buy from them on ebay.

[Darth Skellington]

Inner Robe or Under Robe


and....BELT




Again, the under-robe I am wearing in the photo is a wonderful night-gown Stephen found on ebay for his guard, which he gave to me after upgrading his own costume. I bought more than enough Dark Burgandy velvet to line my outer robes, make under-robes using an Ao Dai pattern (which costs roughly $20 which I have not purchased yet), and make the corresponding Ao Dai pants. As I mentioned above, am using black dickies I used to wear at work beneath the gown, as they cannot be seen at all, and if they are seen would blend into the shadows. Although I suppose for summer wear you could wear shorts, not that they'd help much. :p

You'll notice the darker belt I am wearing. I made this out of the Dark Burgandy velvet I purchased. It is just a 4 inch ( I believe) straight belt. I cut a strip of cardboard the right size, wrapped the fabric around it, and then sewed the length of the material. Then I slid out the carboard and turned the material right-side-out. Next I had sewed the ends of the belt shut. I then hand-sewed some Industrial-Strength-Velcro (found on a side-cap at Lowes for $2-3) to the belt.

[Darth Skellington]

Boots



For an AOTC style guard, you need black boots. More specifically, you are supposed to have a SMOOTH-textured, black, squared toe, jack boot. I don't know about the squared toe, but this basically means you need German militay jack boots, more specifically Parade boots, which are smooth (as opposed to "pebbled" in texture). Imperial Crewmen and TIE Pilots also wear these, if I'm not mistaken. Not to be confused with Cavalry or Riding boots, which Imperial Officers wear. Riding boots are taller, and sculpted to fit the calf.

That all said, Smooth textured boots are rather hard to find, as most of them come pebbled. Your typical German soldier had pebbled boots, and therefore that is was most re-enactors wear. However, there are numerous replica and military surplus suppliers on eBay, and if you look should be able to find a smooth pair that fits you before too long.

I found mine on eBay and they fit reasonably well. I wear two pairs of socks for a snugger fit and extra padding (don't want blisters). Mine cost $58.45 including shipping.

[Darth Skellington]

Gloves






If I'm not mistaken, AOTC guards should have a red suede glove of some kind. See the costume standards for a more specific description. My gloves are actually ROTS gloves. I bought them from a custom prop builder in South America, via eBay. I will just call this prop maker "C".

The gloves are custom made to your measurements. They are red leather, and fit rather well.

Mine cost $59.49 shipped, although I had some eBay bucks coupons to spend, so it really only cost me $33. The nice thing about buying expensive costume parts on ebay (like say a helmet) is that if you do it when they have a promotion, like they do this summer, you can accrue alot of eBay dollars and use them later to buy something else....in my case...$30 worth of gloves.

[Darth Skellington]

Helmet



I bought my helmet from another South American prop maker whom I will call "F"

It is made of fibre-glass.

They seem to be offering their helmets on ebay from time to time now, although at the time I simply contacted them via eBay and inquired about helmets. They gladly listed one buy-it-now on eBay for me so I could accrue all those eBay bucks.

They had three options:

unpainted
painted
deluxe glossy paint job

I forget the prices right now, but they shoudl be posted in another thread. Shipping is about $120 from South America...this is unavoidable. Get over it. I paid a total of $386.98 for my helmet, so it was probably $260 before shipping. The basic paint job was probbaly between $200-260, and the unpainted helmet was probably $120-150....they've been listing the unpainted blanks on eBay recently.

I asked for the visor to be left un-attached so that I could attach it myself and leave an air-gap of my choosing. I glued it in using 2-part epoxy. I also got a free helmet pad, which they sell for $30, out of the deal. I don't think I'll use it much, but I plan on keeping it. I don't know if it normally comes free with helmets or not.

After receiving my helmet, I put a nice coat of turtle wax on it and it looks great.

[Darth Skellington]

Pike

I built my pike out of everyday hardware parts. There is a complete tutorial listed in the Prequel Pikes sub-forum. It cost me about $42.

[psujedi27]

I have the same gloves, from the same supplier. YES, they are SWEET! When I ordered my I got two pair.....and the black ones are just as nice.

[Dewka]

Great looking uniform. Glad you got your stuff from the south american dealers OK....im always worried about the shipment getting lost after they ship it out, had that happen a time or three....