Vest Length Question

Yorkie Fett

New Hunter

• Aug 29, 2009

• #1

Hi to everyone at TDH. I'm a newbie currently extending my collection beyond TK gear.
I'm in the final stages of finishing a complete BF which has been made entirely by a very talented, well known maker here in the UK!
The last piece of the jigsaw concerns the vest which I've just ordered. My question is, what is the ideal length of the vest, on the body. Should it be just below the ribs? round the stomach? down to the navel? I've checked out plenty of pictures, but i'm finding it difficult to find one where the figure is exactly upright and not in some sort of pose. The conclusion I've come to is that if the stand with your arms straight down, the bottom of the vest should be just below the bend in the arm.
Really sorry if this post sounds picky, I just want to get everything as screen accurate as possible.

 

L

LadySewforus

Active Hunter

• Aug 29, 2009

• #2

The vest should be just above the girth belt and leave about 1 1/2 inch of material showing below the armor.

This is not the best of pics, but it shows the bottom edge of the vest........

 

Jangos kid

Well-Known Hunter

• Aug 30, 2009

• #3

You have to consider your own body type too, but mine rides about right below my belly button in normal arms down stance. Obviously, it rises up when you point your blaster, (so you can see the divers buckle/belt.) Another thing to consider, what armour you have!!! My older sets were too small, and with teh length of the vest, I really had to space the plates out more to make it look correct. (Don't have to worry about that with FP armour!!!) I've seen alot of guys in the past with a good 2 or 3 inces of fabric sticking out past the bottom belly plate. Doesn't look right!!! So where am i going with this??? There are alot of factors I guess, but if you are JB's size, jsut a bit past the naval is correct IMO, with correctly sized armour. Hope I didn't confuse!!!
D

 

Yorkie Fett

New Hunter

• Aug 30, 2009

• #4

Thanks for the information. The problem I've had with searching through reference pics. is that they always show a figure with the belts attached. This makes it difficult to accurately estimate where on the body, the bottom of the vest.
The other problem is I've got a longish torso making the job of getting an accurate vest even harder.

 

Jangos kid

Well-Known Hunter

• Aug 30, 2009

• #5

Annother thing i've seen alot of folks overlook, is which version you are doing!!!! With ROTJ, you can get by with more vest sticking out the bottom, but if you are doing ESB, the armour needs to be closer to the bottom of the vest!!
D

 

Jangos kid

Well-Known Hunter

• Aug 30, 2009

• #6

At least its always seemed that way to me????
D

 

Yorkie Fett

New Hunter

• Aug 30, 2009

• #7

Sorry D, I missed your post. Yes, body type is a main consideration. As I mentioned in my last post, I have a long upper torso which makes things more difficult to get accurate. I have BM chest armour, but I don't know how this compares to other sets. On my first vest, I was able to space it out so it looked OK, but as you say, D, there was alot of fabric at the bottom which was not good.
Quick question, am I right in thinking JB is 6' 1"?

 

Jangos kid

Well-Known Hunter

• Aug 30, 2009

• #8

I wanna say JB was 5 11" last I heard??? but could be 6 1"??

eyah, this question has always bugged me too, as i always felt the suit didn't look right with alot of your exposed belly showing. One way to help with that, is move your ammo belt higher up!! We have alot of pics that show the belt high at times, and others where it is riding really low almost down on the cod. It can be a difficult problem!!! :LOL I resorted to velcro across my belly on the coverall to keep that dang belt up high, so I don't have my belly hanging out. LOL When I'm at normal stance, i like to have the bottom of the vest touching the top of the ammo belt. Again, if you pull up to aim at something, the vest will raise up a bit, which is normal, and show some of the belly. In short, you are gonna have to tweak it till you get the right fit for you, wheter that be moving your belt around, having a longer vest, or spacing out your plates.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Aug 30, 2009

Yorkie Fett

New Hunter

• Aug 30, 2009

• #9

I googled JBs height, but I must agree 6' 1" sounded tall to me. As far as vest length is concerned, I'm glad I'm not the only one who's worried about the little things- must be a Fett thing!!!
You don't have these worries with TK stuff!!!

 

Bobby Fett UK

Well-Known Hunter

• Aug 30, 2009

• #10

You could use the centre of the flight suit as a point of reference and give your measurements to the vest maker? If they know what they are doing it should be fine. I am 5 11 and have had a BM & ladysewforus vest, which both fitted very well. I am waiting on a loanstar vest for my Fett rebirth. My concern is the amount of material around the girth, I want about a half inch at most.

 

Yorkie Fett

New Hunter

• Aug 30, 2009

• #11

I agree with you, Bobby Fett. The problem with 'fitting costumes by post' is you will always have margins for error. Fortunately BM is such a great guy to deal with he will go to great lengths to get it how you want.