My Mal Reynolds (Firefly) costume

[Risu]

In my response to Crusaderman I discovered that the parts have really dried up. The correct German belt is almost nonexistent on ebay at least, I couldn't find the Israeli suspenders anywhere, and Wah Maker has discontinued the accurate pants and repalcedthem with "Saddle pants" that are way less accurate than even the Frontier trousers. It's not looking good.

 

[Bronson BB]

Well, I tried.
http://www.therpf.com/f24/mal-reynolds-firefly-costume-56865/

 

[OutlawCrix]

Well, I tried.
http://www.therpf.com/f24/mal-reynolds-firefly-costume-56865/

your posts have been SUPER helpful!
I found your Mal one.. and then your Kaylee one, I just added the coverall link you had for kaylee. great work! thats exactly what I am trying to do.
The bad part is that a lot of the hard work you and others have done is gone now

the links I am finding are dead..or those people don't make that item anymore.

so now I am trying bring it back and have place for all costume browncoats to discuss firefly costume or post new sources..

this site is great, but its hard to find some things.. you spend alot of time going thought stuff you dont really need.. I want to make it easier for us browncoats

 

[Crusaderman2004]

Thanks, Risu, for getting back to me! It is really disappointing that it s getting so hard to find this stuff. I'm hopeful that I'll run across some more viable options for things as I'm searching. I guess I didn't realize until I started this search that firefly aired, what, 10 years ago now? No wonder this is getting difficult.

Bronson, thx man! Anyone searching for costume pieces for mal is bound to run across your threads and posts. Can't tell you how much I've appreciated your info.

Outlaw, I m going to my best to help you out on your site. Anyone else here that has some of the great expertise I have seen here should definitely help out too. The poor guy is over there doing this by himself essentially.

Risu, thanks one last time for helping and letting us horn in on yur thread.

 

[calibr1735]

Hey Risu, I have done both the Serenity version and the Firefly version of Mal. So, if you or any of your pals need any pointers or advice on where to or how to come up with props, substitutions, replicas, etc. Let me know. I was also part of the very first 76th Batallion marching group at the Dragoncon parade. years back. thanks.
Calibr1735

 

[Risu]

I think I've got everything covered, unless you know of a place to get elk or deer hides really cheap.

 

[Crusaderman2004]

calibr1735 - Risu was actually helping me out with piecing Mal together. I just sent you a PM to see if you had any further advice on this topic. Risu's info has been great, but the more info the better I say.

Can I throw out two more questions to you, Risu, and anyone else involved in posting to the various Mal threads? I'm really confused on what the ribbon for the pant legs. Is what most of you guys ended up with polyester? I know this got discussed at length in another thread and it seemed there was a small group that ended up sharing a supply of ribbon. Most links are no longer active, unfortunately. And while Risu provided at least one lead for me, I just don't know what to do to get light brown and white ribbon looking right. Any tips or suggestions out there?

Also, does anyone have a good tutorial on how to recreate accurate Mal suspenders? The back part at least. I'm just not sure I understand what is needed. In another thread someone had a picture tutorial, but inevitably most of the pics are now gone.

Thanks guys! (Risu, let me know if you prefer I post these questions in another thread.)

 

[Risu]

You get a pack of brown Rit dye and the white and brown ebay stripes and you boil them together in a pot of water, following the instructions on the packet, for as long as it takes to get them darker than you want, which could be up to an hour or two. Then you rinse them thoroughly, let them dry, sew them to the pants, and never wash them again for fear they'll bleed out all over the pants.

As for the suspenders, here's a quick shot and explanation.

The first thing you have to do is remove the flap patch from the Y section, it's no longer there in my picture. Then you rip open the two red seams and remove the two back straps from the Israeli suspenders, also not pictured. You then get a regular pair of tan elastic suspenders with 1.5" wide straps and cut them to that length and angle. Put a line of stitch at the bottom where that leather patch is to hold them in place, then tuck the tops into the Y section and sew the red seams back together over the elastic straps. Then make the leather patch and sew it on with the rectangular ring in place.

 

[Crusaderman2004]

Wow, Risu, thanks so much! That's really helpful. I have the israeli suspenders on the way, but I knew I need to order the elastic ones too. This really helps me see what needs done. Out of curiousity, have you considered or anyone else, dyeing the elastic suspenders and israeli ones to match color? In most costumes I've seen it appears that no one does that and I didn't know why. Will the elastic suspenders not take dye?

Also, is there anything special about the rectangular ring on the suspenders? Just didn't know.

Risu, thanks for being so much help. I geniunely appreciate it.

 

[Risu]

The rectangular ring on mine came from the elastic suspenders, as did the leather tabs and the leather piece attached to the bottom of the ring. The only one I made was the top leather piece. As for dyeing them to match, they didn't match in the show. I bought my elastic suspenders in a color that was approximately the correct shade in relation to the Israeli suspenders. The new leather tab doesn't match either, also intentional. My boot spats are the same way, the shoes were slightly redder than the spats on the originals.

 

[Crusaderman2004]

Thanks for the info on the metal ring, Risu. Now I just need to track down similar elastic suspenders. I think I have a link to them somewhere.

I didn't realize that about the suspenders. The ones in the show just seem darker than what most people end up with that cosplay/costume, so I assumed no one ever bothered to dye them. The mismatch seems appropriate for the show, of course, just thought it was curious that the images I see in the show appear darker and not many, if any, have matched that. In a lot of the episodes I've been watching recently the suspenders actually seem to border on a dark brown. That's all relative of course to what real life and on screen can look like. Hmm. Things to ponder!

 

[phantomknight]

Awesome job!! Those are the best boot covers that I have ever seen. Love it!

 

[Risu]

Long time no post in this thread. I have some updates and new stuff, but not regarding the browncoat. A while back I sold my boots to Crusaderman2004, and shortly afterward I decided to have another go at finding a good match to start again. I remembered seeing a guy in a McDonalds over a year ago who had a pair of shoes with the perfect sole for the boots. The shoes looked completely wrong, but the soles were spot on. I had asked him the brand name, and unfortunately forgotten it by the time I got home. Well it finally popped back into my head, so I hopped on ebay and found a pair. And after 3 and a half weeks of putting up with one of the most frustrating ebay sellers of all time, I finally have them. Say hello to the Mephisto Spinnaker boat shoes. A disgusting waste of leather that would make a 5 year old look like an old man, but those soles......

In other news, the pants that I bleached out and attached the dyed stripes to have had some issues. The stripes have bled some dye onto the pants while they were folded. The bleach has also had an effect on the fabric and they're slowly rotting away. I plan to take them apart and make a pattern, then order some fabric from Spoonflower printed into accurate stripes that won't bleed.

Lastly, I'm making a couple Serenity gun belts for customers of my Etsy shop. It's an interesting holster, completely different from the Firefly version. I'll post pics when it's finished.

 

[Crusaderman2004]

First, let me say I still stare at the boots Risu sold me. They are awesome! And great quality too.

Those shoes are horrendous! Lol. But the soles are perfect. They almost don't look like they belong together. Weird. I can't wait to see what you do this time around.

Also, I'm really glad to hear you are still working on this!It'll be interesting to see how everything comes together.

 

[Risu]

I had a go at ripping one of them apart last night. Those things are very well made, as they should be I suppose with an original retail over $200. The glue holding the uppers to the soles is very similar to barge, if not the same stuff. I can't say for sure as I've never tried to rip apart barged leather that's years old. I got a couple inches apart and I'll get back to it later.

I've been working on a pair of Serenity gun belts and I've actually really started to appreciate that holster. I like the carving on the belt, I like the buckle I found for the holster strap, and I like the one piece design and stitching of the bucket. The fact that its too short for the barrel of the gun is a bit odd, but hey, they threw the thing together in a week.

 

[Risu]

Finally got a couple pics of the sole.

Also finished my first Mal Serenity holster, which has really grown on me. I can't wait to make my own now.

 

[DaMan]

Great attention to detail it looks awesome!!!

 

[Sir Angus]

Risu - what did you make the ribs out of? Also, are you still making spats for others?

Thanks

 

[Risu]

I used leather strips cut and shaped, then glued into the spats. And yes, I will make spats on commission.

 

[SeaGriffin]

Hello,
I may consider making myself a Mal costume for next year's Dragon*con. So, perhaps I will be revisiting this thread (for example, chaps...I might come begging).

Anyway, I have a completely different take on the boots and I'm curious about the opinion of the group.
Here's a picture of the boots...
http://www.shutupanddance.com/Images/mals_boots.jpg

I see another option to a leather underlying shoe, which is basically any LL Bean duck boot. An example pulled at random:
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.stylelist.com/media/2011/04/l-l-bean-duck-boots-706ssl040611.jpg

I suggest that one could take such a shoe and glue gun on a piece of dark rubber as a fake outer sole (which could also by the way be made thicker for those that aren't 6 foot 2). I'm not up on my LL Bean shoes, but there might be a brown one that could be matched, or you could paint it brown. Perhaps there is another duck boot out there that would match the ridge pattern even closer?

Curious as to your thoughts.