The life of a costumer may appear glamourous, travelling from show to show, wearing a costume you built to the delight of kids of all ages everywhere, but the truth of it is there’s a lot – a LOT – of hard work and dedication that goes into it. Not only does the hobby take significant chunks of time and resources but it also requires a lot of patience to do things like sewing 45 bags of hair extensions onto a mesh suit and standing on stilts to transform someone who’s already 6′ 2″ (in this case Rebel Legion and Imperial Scottish Garrison costumer Paul Smith) into a towering wookiee.
Paul Smith has become an expert at making the Chewbacca costumes he wears at conventions across the country. It takes him 300 hours and dozens of bags of hair extensions to make each suit at his home in East Lothian. The 54-year-old engineer is a self-confessed geek who has spent thousands of pounds building his collection of outfits. It includes six Wookiees – the species Chewbacca belongs to in Star Wars.
Paul, who has been building radar for defence contracts under the Official Secrets Act for almost 40 years, attends 80 to 90 conventions and events a year. Paul is a member of several groups of volunteers who go to conventions and events to help raise money for charity.
He is in the Rebel Legion UK – which is for the “good guys” in Star Wars. Paul is also in the Imperial Scottish Garrison – which is for “the bad guys” – as he has two Stormtrooper and one Shoretrooper outfits.
Read the full article for a fascinating insight into the hobby and to join the Rebel Legion, head to https://www.rebellegion.co.uk/ and become a part of something very special indeed.
