Kenobi belt pouch episode IV

[chazzychaz]

Ben Kenobi pouch seen on his right hip, has anyone nailed this down? I have been looking alot lately, it seems similar to a first aid pouch from a WWII medic. probably British, but IDK. Ideas please help.

 

[chazzychaz]

This is somewhat close, its a WWI sapper pouch.

 

[teecrooz]

It’s just a flat piece of leather, not an actual pouch. Psab keel has posted pictures before. I tagged him so he’ll see this post.

 

[Psab keel]

I researched this heavily myself and was fortunate enough to speak on the phone with the curator of the Power of Costume exhibit a few years back. He was kind enough to supply me with pictures of this belt as well as some measurements. It is indeed just a flap of leather made to look like a pouch and not actually one. When I get home I'll post more pictures.

 

[chazzychaz]

I researched this heavily myself and was fortunate enough to speak on the phone with the curator of the Power of Costume exhibit a few years back. He was kind enough to supply me with pictures of this belt as well as some measurements. It is indeed just a flap of leather made to look like a pouch and not actually one. When I get home I'll post more pictures.

View attachment 1354999

Thank you, tis odd, what could it be used for? Did costuming make this up for the Kenobi look? Or was it something laying around? We'll never know. Thank you

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

Wow they went full Rubies Costumes before they even had a license for SW costumes!

 

[Psab keel]

As promised here are the other pictures the curator provided me with.

 

[laszlo]

Wow what great pics - very kind of the curator to oblige and for you to share!

 

[division 6]

Indeed.
Thanks for sharing.

Wonder if the flap is some sort of frog for a sword or something similar.

 

[Psab keel]

I suspect it was thrown together just for the movie. Until I got a hold of him I too thought it might be an ammunition pouch or perhaps even a horseshoe pouch which you'd see from WWI. A sword frog is another good guess too.

He was super helpful and I spoke with him for almost an hour on the phone. Then I got to see the exhibit when it was in NYC and this costume was quite something to see in person.

Here are some shots of my replica of the costume which I may revise at some point to be more accurate.

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[chazzychaz]

Thanks for sharing

 

[thd9791]

This is great, thats an impressive costume.

Also super kind of the curator to oblige

 

[thd9791]

Im also fascinated by the fact these buckles look silver at first glance but are actually black and tarnished

 

[Psab keel]

They're brass and aged ( likely with aluminum black ) or other oxidizing agent.

 

[thd9791]

They're brass and aged ( likely with aluminum black ) or other oxidizing agent.

So the pegs behind the buckle are brazed in place?

I remember reading that the costumers didnt want too many fasteners to show

 

[Psab keel]

They are likely welded on the back so they wouldn't be visible from the front. Much like the Tandy buckles they used for Luke's ANH belt.

 

[thd9791]

Boy I'm behind, I had no idea Luke's weren't scratch made, I have some reading to do

 

[Psab keel]

Luke's belt buckle was a found part. It's the same buckle used on the Imperial officer belts, only the Imperial belts had a circular disc piece added to the center.

 

[Dr Jones Sr]

Thanks so much Psab!

I threw together a "close enough" Old Ben for Celebration and to carry my phone, car keys, etc I used a random leather pouch that I weathered.

I'm now putting together a more accurate Old Ben pouch, but of necessity it will be a functional pouch.

It's interesting that the replicas I see never get the shape of the leather tab riveted onto the flap correct. It's just a rectangle.

 

[Psab keel]

The curvature of that tab section on the pouch is due to the leather being riveted on slightly off rather than flat against the pouch. Given that up until these pictures, most references (which were blurry screencaps at best) would make it appear to be a curved cut piece so it comes as no surprise that the replicas out there would cut that section with a curvature. Also note that they used different weights of leather to create the belt and some sections are thicker or thinner than others.

I have even better materials for this costume and belt and I'll be remaking it soon. It will blow the previous version out of the water by comparison. In fact I have some really incredible fabrics I've sourced for a number of SW costumes and I can't wait to show you all because it will put earlier iterations I've done to shame.