Mara Jade (Green Tunic)
A Tutorial of Mara Jade Creation
On the internet, I have become known not only as an actress but as Once & Future Queen Cosplay. Oh I know, that makes me sound full of myself, but I chose that alias because I am a die-hard fan of the Arthurian legend, and up until recently, almost everyone I cosplayed as was either a queen or would one day be a queen. That is, until I decided to finally go after my dream of being an official member of Rebel Legion.
I first had to decide which character I would go for first. Of course, at the time I knew very little about my current base, Ghost Base. I wasn't even sure how Rebel Legion fully worked. All I knew was that they were considered the creme of the crop, the best of the good guy Star Wars cosplayers and I wanted to be a part of that. Not to stroke my ego or give me confidence in myself and my skills—not that being a part of Rebel Legion hasn't done that—but because I knew about the good work and the charity they did. I wanted to be a part of that. I wanted to go to the baseball games and the cancer walks and make people happy and smile. I wanted to give them the strength, inspiration, and confidence that Star Wars has given me over the years. And I think what really pushed me over the edge to finally make that move was Carrie Fisher.
Her untimely passing affected me in more ways than I could ever imagine. I remember watching her as a little girl and wanting to grow up to be Princess Leia. Carrie was amazing. She was brilliant, funny, and she took her weaknesses and made them strengths. She was and still is an inspiration. And yet Leia was not my first Star Wars cosplay.
Why?
I think it was for two reasons. The first being that there were so many Leias, but the second reason is more important. I didn't think I was ready to embody the strength of Leia yet. Plus, Rebel Legion is supposed to be more than just about charity work. It's supposed to be about teaching as well. And so I started looking back at my memories of Star Wars. I grew up on the original films and extended universe long before Disney bought the rights and I remembered Mara Jade.
Mara Jade was born and taken at a young age to be raised in the ways of the Sith. Rising up as a masterful assassin and hand to Emperor Palpatine, she infiltrated Jabba the Hutt's Palace as a dancer, almost assassinated Luke Skywalker, became a smuggler, returned to Luke's life to learn the ways of the Jedi, married him, had a son with him, Ben Skywalker, and trained her niece, Jaina Solo, in the ways of the Force. She was complex and strong-willed. She had to struggle to find out who she was without the dark side and find her own strength. Not to mention, she was the first Jedi I remembered having a purple lightsaber.
And so the idea to cosplay Mara was born. I started with her green tunic dress and leggings from the visions of the future. I liked the idea of seeing her redeemed, using her husband's first lightsaber, and being a hero still somewhat struggling with the darkness inside her. I just didn't know where to start.
- But I did once I was able to get a really good deal on a black-box series Luke Skywalker blue Lightsaber.
- After that, I bought a basic dress pattern with no front seams, basic legging pattern, and a forest green faux suede that I was absolutely in love with. Not to mention that when I was studying the costume, I hated that so many approved Mara Jade cosplayers of this costume didn't have matching leggings and dress.
- I cut the patterns about 2 sizes too big because I knew that the suede didn't have a lot of stretch to it and I know from experience that it is easier to take in a costume as opposed to taking it out. Oddly enough it was perfect for the leggings and then I only had to take the dress in a few centimeters.
- After making the dress and leggings, I worked on the broach and belt buckles. I made them from Sculpey, painted them, then baked them to give them a different type of sheen and shine.
- I made the belt out of a faux leather but I also bought a $5 belt from Amazon that has been approved before just in case.
- I then took some 2mm craft foam and glued a couple of pieces together to give a little more thickness for the shoulder pieces.
- I covered the foam in a layer of dark brown faux leather then took a light brown faux leather over it, cutting out the holes in it to give the "stripes."
- I folded them in half and left a couple of heavy books on top of them for a few days to make sure that they would be able to go over the shoulders the way I wanted them.
- While the books were doing their thing on the shoulder armor, I bought black pull over boots from Amazon.
- I made the boot wraps out of a similar caramel brown suede to the dress.
- I bought my wig from Amazon. This is one of my favorite stories because I was guaranteed this wig in two days. It took two weeks. I ended up getting this beautiful front lace red wig of perfect color for free! People often think that the wig is my natural hair.
- With the shoulder pieces done, the broach, and belt buckle baked, I then put Velcro on them, and the dress and the belt. This way everything was easy to come off and on and I would be able to wash the dress easily.
- I bought the leather bag also off of Amazon and I love it!
- For the wig, I brush it out after every use. I also used WD-40 on it to help keep from major tangling. NOTE: this is not a permanent solution to keeping wigs from getting tangled and knotted. But it does help. Every time I put on the wig I part it on the side, and take a small section behind the ear and make a small "Jedi" braid. I then take the larger piece and make a full braid over my shoulder.
- I do my make up to have a natural feel and if requested, I could do a make-up tutorial on this.
- Approval was a little harder than I expected it to be, but it was worth it and I learned a lot about myself and how to make different aspects of this costume that I would end up using on future projects.
And that is my Mara Jade. I love wearing this costume and it makes me feel empowered. When I did one of my cancer walk events, a little girl who had no idea who I was kept running over to me and hugging me. She saw that I was a Jedi and knew that I was a hero. It made me feel so good.
The best compliment I have ever received for my Mara Jade is that I was told I look like I walked straight out of the comic book! It is inspiring and empowering and made me feel really good about myself and my skill.
About the Creator
Erika Farrah
To learn more about me and my works visit:
Website: erikashore.com
Instagrams: @erikafshore & @onceandfuturequeencospaly
TikTok: @erikafshore
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJjg7PvfvBH9utVuJHCKR_A?view_as=subscriber
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