The Dorky Diva

fandom. fashion. fun.

Hello!

Welcome to The Dorky Diva! I'm Savanna, a Star Wars fanatic who tries to sprinkle fandom into every day life. Follow along for new cosplay updates, outfit inspiration, beauty reviews, convention coverage, and more!

Star Wars Costuming Comlinks: Finishing Details

When creating a costume, it's important to know what finishing details will be needed in order to completely embody the character you are cosplaying. These subtle details tend to get overlooked when making a costume, but they could really make or break how accurate you look. Makeup, hair, and c…

Dorky Diva of the Week: Megan Cullinan

Megan Cullinan, a 35-year-old resident of Illinois, is a fangirl that is proud to have found her self-confidence and creativity through Star Wars. She has modeled for a Star Wars fashion campaign and utilizes social media to connect with other fans of the franchise she holds so dearly to her heart.


Giveaway

I'm hosting a giveaway that's exclusive to subscribers of my official newsletter. If you'd like to enter, all you have to do is click the Newsletter tab above, enter your email address, and that's it!

One subscriber will be randomly selected to win the prize pack below including 3 S…

Star Wars Costuming Comlinks: Tools, Materials, and Safety

Narrowing down the type of costume you want to build is a huge step. Once that's been done and you've planned your costume build, the next step to take is gather tools and materials. In addition to purchasing big pieces like a stormtrooper kit of armor, you will need tools to assemble the a…

Dorky Diva of the Week: Skyler B.

Skyler B., a 17-year-old girl who resides in Orlando, Florida, has expressed her longtime love of Star Wars by creating highly detailed costumes from a galaxy far, far away. She and her mother share their passion for Star Wars and celebrate their fandom together through cosplay.

For as long as she …

Star Wars Costuming Comlinks: Research and Planning

After deciding which costume is suitable for your body type and budget, the next steps to take are researching and planning your costume build. Creating a costume can get overwhelming very quickly and sometimes you might feel like no progress is being made. However, if you research and plan your costume properly, all of these hiccups and discouragement can be avoided.


Research

Do your own research first. Don't waste anyone's time asking a question until you've done a little bit of research on your own. If you still can't find the answer, that's probably a good sign that the question hasn't been asked a hundred times. While asking questions can be a great way to get information on building a costume, you don't want to be that one guy that always asks the rookie questions. Some questions are explained very thoroughly online and it only takes a little bit of research to discover the answers to your inquiries. Never feel like your question is a dumb one, but be sure to do a little digging before asking someone else for help.

Gather reference images. In order to create an accurate costume, you'll need to compile a collection of reference images of the costume you'd like to replicate. The best way to gather these images is to screen-shot scenes from the movie or television show where the costume appears. Books can also be a great source for accurate photos of the costumes. I highly recommend Star Wars Costumes and Dressing a Galaxy: The Costumes of Star Wars if the costume you're building was featured in one of the Star Wars films. The photos featured in these books are highly-detailed and were taken of screen-used costumes.

An example of my reference photos for a Sabine Wren costume.

Dorky Diva of the Week: Jenmarie

Jenmarie, a 30-year-old Californian, was always known as the "Star Wars Girl" among friends when she was growing up. Never ashamed of her fandom, she proudly displays her love for Star Wars through fashion and a number of outlets online, including her popular blog- Anakin and His Angel.

Raised by parents who enjoyed watching Star Wars, Jenmarie had always been exposed to certain scenes of the original trilogy but didn't have her own revelation until seeing A New Hope during it's special edition re-release in 1997. She was an instant fan of iconic characters like Han Solo and Darth Vader while falling in love with the movie's breathtaking costumes and musical score.

Jenmarie posing with a LEGO poster at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California.
"The original films inspired me to be Princess Leia while making up my own Star Wars stories with my siblings and collect anything I could get my hands on, but it wasn't until after seeing The Phantom Menace that I truly became a hardcore Star Wars fan," says Jenmarie.

Just as the title of her blog suggests, Jenmarie is an avid fan of Padme Amidala and Anakin Skywalker. Anakin and His Angel was founded in 2000 and originally served as a place for Star Wars fans to get the latest news, interact together, and read articles about Anakin and Padme. After Revenge of the Sith left theaters, her blog's posts switched over to a Facebook page format. It wasn't until the announcement of The Force Awakens that she decided to start posting on Anakin and His Angel regularly again. Her blog now features posts about galactic news, collecting tidbits, and style inspiration while still spotlighting her favorite Star Wars couple.

Star Wars Costuming Comlinks: Body and Budget

"I want to build a Star Wars costume, but I have no idea where to begin!" There's no right or wrong way to begin a costume build, but there are two key factors that will determine which costume you can make- body type and budget. Once you figure out both of those factors, you'll be ready to move onto the next phase of creating a costume.


Body Type

First and foremost, The Dorky Diva is a non-discrimination zone. This segment will not be criticizing shape, size, or anything that makes you special and awesome. Each body is different and beautiful in it's own way! With that being said, body type is a really important topic to discuss when choosing a costume.

It's imperative that you understand your proportions and curves to know what costumes will fit you and which costumes may need to be modified. For example, a fully armored costume (stormtroopers, clone troopers, etc.) would not work for my body type because I am not tall enough to have accurate proportions. My short torso and legs don't leave enough room for the chest plate, ab plate, thigh, and shin armor of a fully armored costume to fit properly together. Here's a little cheat sheet to determine if you're a good candidate for a fully armored costume.


If you're in the 5'8" and under category and still want to create a costume with armor pieces, consider characters like biker scouts, TIE pilots, Sabine Wren, and Boba Fett. All of these characters have helmets, chest armor, and other armored pieces on their body while still mixing in a flight suit or under clothing of some kind to flex with their shape.

Coming Soon: Star Wars Costuming Comlinks

Stay tuned for a new series on The Dorky Diva called Star Wars Costuming Comlinks where I will be divulging all my knowledge, advice, and tricks on creating  your very own Star Wars costume. I've built many different Star Wars costumes ranging from clone troopers to biker scouts to Jedi. The fi…

Dorky Diva of the Week: Johnamarie Macias

Johnamarie Macias, a bubbly 29-year-old Puerto Rico native who's grounded herself in New York City, is never seen without a smile that gleams as bright as the twin suns of Tatooine and has a sweet soul full of passion for Star Wars.

"Star Wars, to me, is imagination at its best. One person dreamed up a galaxy, took us along for the ride and the ride just keeps on going. It’s an escape to a far-off place filled with unlimited possibilities where an ordinary person, whether they’re a farm boy or a scavenger, can change the galaxy," remarks Macias.

Captain Rex from Star Wars: The Clone Wars captured Macias's heart.
Introduced to Star Wars at a young age, Macias remembers Star Wars: A New Hope as a classic movie that she would watch whenever it was played on the television. Her mom and uncle were also fans of the franchise, which helped cultivate her interest in the Star Wars universe, but she didn't find a true passion for the saga until a little later in life. 

"It wasn’t until the prequel films and the debut of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars feature film in theaters that I found myself back in the galaxy far, far away," says Macias.

She found herself attracted to Star Wars because it opened up her imagination as a child and continues to inspire her to dream up her own stories today. Macias notes that she was never great at verbally communicating her thoughts while growing up, but her involvement in the Star Wars podcasting community has helped her feel more comfortable in voicing her opinions out loud.


Macias uses her website called The Wookiee Gunner as a platform to write about her favorite aspects of Star Wars. She's also involved in three different collaborative podcasts: Rebels Chat, Galactic Fashion, and Hangin' with Team Kanan.

Coming Soon: Dorky Diva of the Week

One of the most rewarding aspects of being a Star Wars fan is getting to meet other people who share the same passion as you. The Star Wars fan community is indescribable. Many of the men and women I've met through Star Wars have inspired me to proudly display my love for this galaxy far, far a…

MegaCon 2016 Recap

Over the past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending one of the nation's largest sci-fi conventions, MegaCon, in Orlando, Florida. In past years, I've attended MegaCon as a regular guest, but this year was a little different. The Florida Garrison of the 501st Legion was in need of members…