Atavistic

So those are costume boots. I suspected as much by their price. In that case, they won't hold up to even regular use. I have a similar pair in brown. They lasted one wearing before ripping. They aren't terribly comfortable for extended walking. Definitely no ankle support to them. The other pair you've mentioned would work, I suspect. The upper strap and buckle would be hidden by your skirts. Or it could be cut off completely. Riding or true jackboots are an ideal solution but they cost a bit more. And finding jackboots may be difficult. I found mine by sheer chance on eBay and I paid a hefty price for them. Costume boots will do the job, though. They only have to look right. And when in costume people generally only get glimpses of your toes. We'll want to see a bit more of your boots here at the Flagship Eclipse, though. We're sticklers for detail. I'm happy to keep talking about boots if you like. Let's shift the conversation over to your thread, though. Once my costume was completed and accepted this thread lost its steam. Unless you want to bask in the glory of my Nihilus costume. Just kidding.

Ideally, it means no visible straps, buckles, or other decorations at all. I can't imagine someone temporarily removing straps or buckles from a pair of boots for the sake of Legion acceptance. And if someone did, why put them back on? It seems quite possible to pick up a pair of boots without the straps and buckles. Including the ones you linked in your thread. I went a bit further and fortunately found real German jackboots. But I'm a stickler for detail at he worst of times and the investment was worth it to me. I don't imagine that Darth Nihilus would have slipped straps and buckles onto his boots when he was all alone and so I'm going to go with the idea that the boots should lack those elements at all times. If you've got a pair of black boots with straps and buckles, if those elements can be removed and replaced at will, and if you want to wear them as Nihilus... feel free to do so. But don't wear them with the straps and buckles in place. Not while in costume, in the photos you put up on these forums, or in your 501st Legion application photos.

From the single picture that I can see of those boots, they look fine. The KOTOR boot requirement is pretty simple: 10. Boots: Plain black boots are worn. They do not have visible straps, buckles, or laces. Those boots look correct... simple and plain black jackboots.

So your Nihilus is a KOTOR Nihilus, I take it?

Then begins the wait for it to be delivered. It's always fascinating to don the Darth Nihilus costume. It completely changes the way you look and there's no way to tell who's in the costume. That makes it easy to slip into the role and, admittedly, it makes me feel like a bad S.O.B. If any tweaking is required, it's all worth the effort to do so. A perfect Nihilus is a great thing to see.

It's not outdated yet. There aren't many Nihilus lightsaber suppliers out there. So I'm not surprised to see someone use Custom Saber Shop parts to replicate the lightsaber. It is an alternative.

My above post still holds true. Or you can do what Woodman did... assemble parts from The Custom Saber Shop that, generally, resemble the Darth Nihilus lightsaber. It's not a perfect replica, but it conveys the general look.

We can't really say anything until we see pictures of you wearing the costume. Each Nihilus is a custom affair and any tweaks that may be required are always tailored to each individual. We'll definitely be looking forward to seeing you suited up, though. And if anything is needed, we'll take it from there.

It involves destroying an entire planet with your hunger in the Force. It's not something that we do very often. Congratulations on your approval.

For me, the deceptive simplicity is a large part of the appeal of this costume. It's a costume that many people can look at and say, "I can do that!" And that's great for inspiring possible future 501st members. But once you really get into the costume you find the aggravations of defying the laws of nature with the hood. And once you've tamed the beast, you've got a stunning costume that's actually quite intimidating to look at. I love being a Sith Lord!

True enough, the cape in Scott and Pam's website does consist of two separate layers. When reading their tutorial, you'll notice two details... First, the two pieces have been sewn together to keep them together (in order to add volume to the cloak). Second, and pertinent here, the outer and inner layers are the same length, hanging around Scott's ankles. You can't tell that there are two layers. ** We'll see if Scott chimes in here on what they did. Hopefully I didn't just stick my foot in my mouth and misinterpret what they did. Your outer layer looks to be approximately three feet up from the ground and it's clearly separate from the inner cape. I sincerely hope that my commentary and observations don't come across in a negative tone. I'm not trying to harp on your efforts or to denigrate your costume. My sole aim is to help you to perfect your costume by pointing out various details. I'm on your side here and I assure you that I went through the same process. I look forward to seeing your lightsaber on its own. It'll be a lot easier to see its details. Cheers, Shawn

Thanks for the side view photographs. Lowering your chin ought to make it look more appropriate. I did the same thing in my photos. Just pay attention to your head position when you take your next round of photos with the updated hood. The forward edge placement of the hood looks good. It hovers near and around the eye openings in the mask as it should. I suspect that sorting out the hood will straighten out that forward edge and make it line up even better along the rear edge of the eye openings. Do you have any photos of the lightsaber on its own? Your lightsaber, from what I can see, has a roughly KOTOR look to it. It's not a COTF specific Nihilus lightsaber, though there are hints of it. OR The COTF Nihilus lightsaber tends to have a forked pommel and a diagonal band just underneath the emitter. From the Darth Nihilus COTF CRL... Costume Accessories: 13. Lightsaber: The hilt resembles one of the Knights of the Old Republic II or COTF single bladed lightsaber hilts. If the lightsaber has a blade, the blade is red in color. Fortunately, the lightsaber isn't required for this costume. If you have one, it doesn't require electronics or even a blade. If your lightsaber isn't up to snuff, so to speak, you can omit it for your submission photographs. And you can always wear and carry it on troops. Out of curiosity, am I seeing a double cape of sorts? According to the CRL... Hood and Cape: The hood and cape are made from a single piece of black fabric. Like so: It looks as if your hood is a separate piece of fabric. There's a sort of mini-cape going on here.

We figured that you're wearing two tunics. You'd have to with the sleeves. If the inner tunic closes with a cross-over like the outer tunic does it's simply a matter of making the inner tunic cross-over (right over left) visible when the full costume is on. I remember feeling somewhat like a primadonna when I was having my submission photos taken... Is my balaclava covering my throat? Are the obi and belt sitting low enough? Is my outer tunic fully closed? Can you see my inner tunic (dickey)? Etc, etc., etc. It boils down to being a perfectionist for the brief amount of time it takes to get the photos taken. It's doubly tough when your photographer doesn't share your knowledge and enthusiasm for the presentation. When sorting the sides of the hood, please remember that the forward edges of the hood run parallel with the sides of the mask but they do not quite touch it. There's a slight one centimeter gap or so between the mask and the forward edges of the hood. Recessed fabric from the hood actually closes the gap between the sides of the hood and the mask but the forward edges of the hood do not touch the mask. Here's a good example of what I'm referring to... Or Scott's hood... The drape of the fabric brings the forward edge of the hood close to the mask but it doesn't actually touch. Clearly visible on Scott's left side. Or on my own mask... You can see that the forward edges of the hood run parallel with the mask but they do not touch. There is recessed fabric placed back from the forward edges that spans the gap between the sides of the hood and the mask. It would also help to see side views of you in costume. The above side view picture is what you should aim to duplicate. It shows how far forward the hood should sit and how much of the mask should be visible. It all comes down to placement. The above picture also shows the general shape of your head when in costume. Nihilus' head is somewhat squared on top. The crown gives us this shape. You're welcome for the input We're rather proud of Nihilus and take a great deal of pleasure in helping others to polish off this costume.

Thank you, Scott. Yes, I added a dickey to my costume. My inner tunic looks look a tee-shirt, no cross over fold. I added the dickey to simulate the look of a folded over inner tunic. I've seen so many Nihilus costumes without the appearance of an inner tunic that I tend to forget about it, even though I've compensated for it. For the sake of accuracy, the outer tunic could be re-worked to add gathers to its front panels. I did that. But it isn't a requirement. At least not yet.

This is a vast improvement! The obi and sleeves look so much better. Thanks for the new pictures. It's easier to see things. The hood and under-mask need a little attention now. The sides of your hood billow outward somewhat. You ought to find a way to pull them in a bit like the COTF artwork... The sides of the hood create a box surrounding the head. the sides should be nearly vertical. The trick lies in finding a way to attach the inside of the hood to your crown in order to keep it from billowing out. You can also find a way to fix the fabric of the hood to the top of your shoulders near your neck in order to restrain the hood from billowing out. Fixing the knot in place with a couple of rare earth magnets also does wonders for pulling the sides of the hood down and taut. These are just a few of the possible ways to sort out your hood. I second the recommendation of using a balaclava as an under-mask. The under-mask should conform to the shape of your head, including your chin and throat. I use an Under Armor HeatGear balaclava worn backwards to accomplish this. I understand the awkwardness of having a beard, even under a balaclava. A beard will influence the shape of the balaclava and some hairs may poke through a bit. I had a beard in my initial Nihilus submission photographs so I understand what it's like. It's better to have a form-fitting under-mask, though, rather than a lot of loose fabric draping down from your chin. And the bib is a good idea, too. That ensures that your flesh will never be seen between the under-mask and the top of your inner tunic. Once you sort out the sides of the hood and your under-mask it would be great to see updated pictures. It looks like the "cat-ears" of your crown are too wide but the billowing hood may be creating that appearance. I'd rather see the hood sorted before making a call on the crown width. I see that you removed the lightsaber clip for your photos. Good going. And I noticed that you closed the tunic properly. Another good detail. These pictures are a lot better! I can see details that I couldn't before and we all appreciate your efforts to improve your costume. Your weathering is awesome! I can't stress enough how much better the quality of these photographs is. The lighting is better and it's a lot easier to see the details of your work. Your Nihilus is coming right along and it's great to watch it evolve.

10 cm= 4 inches. As an American it's awkward for me to convert to metric sometimes. But because I live in Australia I'm forced to convert. Perhaps the conversion made your obi a bit too wide? I did the same thing on my first try at the obi. As far as the obi goes, its width is dependent upon the width of your belt. A good rule of thumb is that the obi should be approximately two inches wider than the belt. One inch of the obi visible above the belt and one inch visible below the belt. If you look at the COTF artwork, you can see this proportional relationship between the belt and the obi. In your picture the obi looks like it's twice the width of your belt and that's why I pointed it out.

The main picture shows the left side crossing over the right but the picture is wrong. Look at the other pictures in the CRL, they show the right side crossing over the left. And read the description of the inner tunic... 6. Inner tunic: The inner tunic is made from the same black material as the hood and cape. The right side of the tunic crosses over the left side in the front.

With your tabard-like outer tunic and a split skirt it looks like you're closer to COTF. No matter which way you go, I suggest replacing the obi with a better-matching fabric. And I think that the hood/cloak needs to be redone or replaced. I can see the cloak's closure but it looks like neither COTF or KOTOR. Read through the costumes standards listed at the top of the Nihilus forum and the photos within will reveal every detail and difference between the two versions of this character. The cloak closure, the drape of the hood, and the outer tunic are the big differences between the two versions.

This Nihilus is a custom. It doesn't look precisely like COTF or KOTOR. The cloak confuses me as there's no central knot or scarf-like underhang. I think that I see some weathering here and so I'm assuming it's a COTF Nihilus. In which case, weather some more. It's not nearly enough. If this is a COTF Nihilus, your cloak needs to be held closed with a knot directly underneath your chin. There's some shiny fabric here in the obi. The standards require that the costume consist of the same fabric throughout but this part is not the same fabric as the rest of the costume. The quilted sleeves are different, too, but that's alright since the standards specify the use of "a smoother fabric than the rest of the costume." The quilting looks good! The cloak needs to rest up on your shoulders when you're standing so that we can see the sleeves. Simple hook and eye closures sewn into the outer tunic shoulders and the underside of the cloak can hold things in place. The hang of the hood looks a bit sloppy to me. The forward edge of the hood needs to tuck up and under at the top of the mask. The sides of the hood ought to hang parallel to the sides of the mask but not rest on it. there should be a gap of around a centimeter or so between the sides of the mask and the sides of the hood. If possible, we'd appreciate pictures in better light. These photos are very dark and I'm straining to see details. Particularly in the skirts.

We need more pictures if you've got them. I can't tell how wide the crown and hood are without a straight-on photograph. At first glance, the obi is too wide. I had to fix that, too. The lightsaber needs to come off of the belt. It's fine to troop with it on, but for application photos the lightsaber can't be worn on the belt. No clip should be present on the belt either. When closing the outer tunic, close the right side over the left. It's backward in your photo. I'll let Scott or Pam comment on the quilting of the sleeves. The quilting looks too narrow and busy to me but that may be acceptable. And as you noted, weather the heck out of the costume. The costume looks decent as a starting point and it would help if we could see it from more angles. Weathering the costume will be a vast improvement. I've pointed out what I can from this photograph and I'm sure that others will chime in to help you. Cheers

My crown is bonded to my mask with epoxy putty. I followed Scott's example on this, My hood is glued to the crown with E6000 and that forces the fabric to lay correctly. Nihilus' hood completely defies the laws of nature and that is the biggest challenge to getting this to look correct. My mask/crown/hood/cloak is a single piece of my Nihilus costume.

Scott made some good points. Note the cape/cloak... It rests up on the shoulders and drapes over the back. Mine is held in place with hook and eye closures sewn into the shoulders of my outer tunic. These keep the cape from falling off my shoulders and it allows people to see the details of the upper costume. As Nihilus, we like to see the quilted sleeves and the cut of the outer tunic. Your hood and crown need some attention. Note this view from the side... You see relatively little of the mask and the head has a squared look. Yours is off due to the crown you use, I think. Is it made of wire? Scott also noted the width of your crown. When the sides of the hood drape down, they ought to be approximately 1 centimeter from the sides of your mask. You can get away with a 2 centimeter gap but anything more than that looks odd. Take a look at my mask/crown... In this photo you can see that the edges of the hood (attached to the edges of my fiberglass crown) rest relatively close to the sides of my mask.

Are the pics up anywhere for us to see them? Here at the Flagship Eclipse, we tend to excel at Nihilus.

I got my saber from eBay. Seller: tattoosby5. I later found out that the seller has a bad reputation among lightsaber enthusiasts but I did get the saber I bought. It took nearly two months, but I did get it. You say that you purchased your costume. Where or who from? If it's the eBay costume it will need work to bring it up to snuff. Cheers

As an Aussie Nihilus I look forward to seeing what you've got. I am curious.