ESB Vader Glove theory

So I am doing my home work the other night, currently taking an advanced WWII class and in my text book it pictured a Luftwaffe pilot. His gloves caught my eye.

Bear with me...

Looking at the "Join me" shot from the movie, take a look at his fingers. I see a distinct shape. Looking at the shot his outstretched hand clearly shows the thumb stitching and the shape of the glove at the tip of the finger. The wrist seems to be devoid of the strap that comes on the WWII stuff, but looks like it could have been there.



I also think, this is me thinking as dangerous as that is, the upper is the made part. LFL may have manufactured the upper only. Would make sense to me, gloves are hart to make. The detail on the glove and the padding make no sense to be there other than cosmetic. Look at the lines.

Lucas was said to have filmed Tunisia first right? SO many parts stem from WWII on set and I think the military surplus there on location may have filtered back to England and such. Add in English surplus and its plausible. What if Vader's gloves, mind you altered, are off the shelf WWII Gloves.

Looking at the American stuff, man, its close. The elastic on the underside kills it.
Damn. These are to my eye at least really really close.



I think there German. All the other glove makers at the time do not really match. The German gloves have an extended gauntlet flap that looks like it could have been sewn shut with the addition of the upper. I show a brown pair here, but they come in black. The german gloves look to have the same stitching on the bottom of the gauntlet as well.





I would imagine as well, again thinking... That at the time these were far easier to get and a little research lead me to a site that accounted the rarity today to the fact so many after the war used the gloves for normal wear.

If I am wrong, then hell... its a far better base than the current stuff. Kicks the ebay specials to the curb. I have a set of these bad boys on the way and a leather worker waiting in the wings.

What say you guys?

Interesting.... I like your thought process. :thumbsup

Let me nip this in the bud early.
Both styles of gloves were totally custom made from scratch.
Not made from an existing glove.


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runnriottt said:

So I am doing my home work the other night, currently taking an advanced WWII class and in my text book it pictured a Luftwaffe pilot. His gloves caught my eye.


Lucas was said to have filmed Tunisia first right? SO many parts stem from WWII on set and I think the military surplus there on location may have filtered back to England and such. Add in English surplus and its plausible. What if Vader's gloves, mind you altered, are off the shelf WWII Gloves.

Click to expand...

Ain't the craziest thing I've heard here. A few horizontal stitches, and voila!

GINO said:

Let me nip this in the bud early.
Both styles of gloves were totally custom made from scratch.
Not made from an existing glove.


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Click to expand...

and your proof is? cite a source for this astounding tidbit.

is it written somewhere, did some original LFL costumer tell you this, confirm it.

you can't just say 'oh its not' without evidence. You talk as if we're thirsty men who drink the sand because there is nothing better on offer.

GINO said:

Let me nip this in the bud early.
Both styles of gloves were totally custom made from scratch.
Not made from an existing glove.


.

Click to expand...

Ok, cool to know!!

So...how do YOU know? No offense but is this thread ging south again like the other one here if I ask how do you know?

Or is this just again another "I sai'd my part, believe me or not"?

skynet said:

Ok, cool to know!!

So...how do YOU know? No offense but is this thread ging south again like the other one here if I ask how do you know?

Or is this just again another "I sai'd my part, believe me or not"?

Click to expand...

[sarcasm on]
If he says so, you HAVE to believe it!
[sarcasm off]

So far not many costum parts have been made from scratch.
Even the stormtrooper belts were a "found object". Until now, everbody thought they were custom made.

Anyway, I thinkl nate has a lead here. Maybe you should look into Austrian avaiator gloves, I think they were quite similar.



K.

Very cool runnriottt definite food for thought,I look forward to seeing how your gloves turn out,I wouldn't let anyone's supposed knowledge deter you form what your theories may be to origins of Vader props,
Some here believe if they say its so then of course it must be fact

Research on :thumbsup

This is a good idea for even just costuming - modifying an existing platform to reduce development complexity and cost.

Regardless of manufactured entirely for the movie by the wardrobe department or not, it could still very well be inspired by a found item. Nothing wrong with speculating.

I figured I'd give you the answer.
Take it or leave it, no big deal to me.
At the same time, I don't expect anyone who doubts to stop searching for something they will never find because it doesn't exist. It just par for the course for them in my opinion.
If you want to keep on grinding metal, knock yourself out.

If I prevented even one person from wasting their time in a fruitless search, then it was worth the 15 seconds it took to make my post.


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WOW, I SO see both sides of this!!!!

First let me say hat's off for some interesting observations. They would work for some folks I'm sure.

On the other hand, gloves are hard to make ...unless you are a glovemaker.
In the time it takes you to scan a catalog you could have placed an order with a pro and be done. Time is money.

So I do agree with Gino that they were custom for the project but It's hard to just take someone's word for it.

In the "Bat" world, it was known for years by all the "experts" that they quit making the original satin batsuit fabric. Until I found it!
It was known by EVERYONE that the Robin trunks fabric was unavailable. Until I found it!

In so many ways I see that Gino is trying to keep folks from wasting time.I try and do the same thing in the "Bat" world.
If you like his work and find him to be in general "honest", then he's probably saved you tons of time.

But I don't see how a glovemakers name or a photo of a studio tag would hurt to show.
I try and show as much as I feel comfortable. But that's me and there is quite a bit less "secret" info in the batworld!!

BTW, the Bat gloves were made by Hilda Hammer in Hollywood. Nice lady!!!

Keep up the great work everyone!!!
Chuck...

Great, moving on.
Found bodysuit, gloves are just as natural a found or slightly modified item. Be sure to post plenty of progress pics, run.

GINO said:

I figured I'd give you the answer.
Take it or leave it, no big deal to me.
At the same time, I don't expect anyone who doubts to stop searching for something they will never find because it doesn't exist. It just par for the course for them in my opinion.
If you want to keep on grinding metal, knock yourself out.

If I prevented even one person from wasting their time in a fruitless search, then it was worth the 15 seconds it took to make my post.


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Click to expand...

Gino, I really really just don't get you sometimes.

You quote all this knowledge and spout it like some all knowing font, but don't substantiate. I'm not saying it to nark you off, but if you're gonna say something, back it up.

fine, you said something to save someone the trouble of wasting their time, great, laudable goal, I applaud you. but where's the evidence?

statements are meaningless without context. if you'd stated an opinion, fine, but you're stating something as fact and that requires a little more.

I used to think the gloves were either aviation or motorcycle gauntlets.... What made me think they were
a found part was the top panel where the stitches are.... If you look at some pictures, it almost appears as if
that top leather panel is a different color then the rest of the glove.....

After about 3 years searching for the right pair of gloves, I'm pretty convinced it must have been custom
made since the rest of the suit is (Leather parts and cape)... It would be cool to find out otherwise especially
since they look so much like German flight gloves... Maybe they were just made to look like them?

Great thread Nate :thumbsup

I think the gloves are very close, and if not what was used, definately and inspiration or something similar :thumbsup

My goal is to find a better glove than what is currently offered. Even if its a base. Pretty simple. :thumbsup

Anyway, as far as wasting time, maybe. Who knows. They had far more money in 1980 and could get new stuff made. I don't see the point, but hey, its a movie. I know the suit was a made item just as the cape and robe were. Now the boots were Prowse's personal set for the movies. Many found parts on the box and such so its not to far a stretch to think the gloves may be off the shelf. They could be inspired off a real part like the cod.

If Gino is right, great. He will never show his source, so beating him will do no good but lock the thread. Fine Gino, I am wrong. Move on with some other thread to troll. I am not willing to pay your pricing, not that you want to even let me in on something like that, so I must do my own work. Remember I live in Asia and anything is possible in Asia. The best available real gloves so far I have seen top out about 250 bucks.

I agree with you AP, the upper looks totally different. It doesn't look like it belongs there. The German leather on the gauntlet looks a little stiff, but Ill see when they get here.


I would like to keep the thread moving and not get it locked. Maybe a pipe dream, but hey, worth a shot.

I didnt post the backs. The American gloves have a bit of elestic on them.



Looking at the German ones, I really think they can be modded to look damn close. The inside gauntlet flap will have to be removed and the upper added but that is about it. I found a set in black, so the trick will be getting the leather to match.

I now know that the gloves were custom made (thanks to Gino)...what a waste of these 30 seconds it took me to create two posts here :rolleyes

Btw, did really Oswald pulled the trigger? I can't wait to get the answer.

I'm outta here :lol

Nate, I think you have a good goal in mind (find the closest match)..
I've seen so many WWII style gloves that come really close, but there
always seems to be something about them that make them not quite right..
I'm still not sure why the top panel looks to be a different color, but then
again maybe it's just the way the light is hitting the glove, because in other
pictures the leather does appear to be all one color.. Hmmmmmm this can
really drive you crazy if you let it :wacko

This is a question David Prowse might remember - ummmmm or not If they
made his gloves custom then he should remember them taking measurements
of his hands......