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When I make a new costume, I enjoy selecting a favorite reference picture and then trying to reproduce that one image as accurately as I can. For my first attempt at making a Mara Jade costume, I chose cover art from the first issue of the Mara Jade: By the Emperor's Hand comic series. That picture of Mara, looking so confident in front of the Emperor and a squad of stormtroopers, was exactly the way I imagined her.... so I just had to make a costume based on that image!
My Mara Jade costuming obsession didn't end there, however. I also liked the way that Mara is portrayed INSIDE the comic books. And, after talking to Timothy Zahn about it, I found that he prefers the way she looks in the interior art. You can't argue with the Maker, so it was time to get back to work! This time I searched through all of my comic books, and I soon found that it was going to be very difficult to pick one particular reference image to work from. Each artist has their own opinion of how a character should look, and the details in their artwork often changed from one image to the next. I finally settled on a combination of costume details that I really liked, and I set about making Mara Jade 2.0, the hooded version.
I was much happier with the way this costume came out. It is far more comfortable to wear, I like being able to pull up the head wrap, and it was surprisingly fun to make the blaster. But, as everyone knows... once you start a costume, it will never be truly finished. There are still bits and pieces that I know I can improve. And so, my quest to create the perfect Mara Jade costume shall continue...