Ok, it sounds like a lot of people like the Marlow White's High Collar Honor Guard, but no one likes the price. Has anyone checked some of the, dare I even say it, cosplay tailors and see what they can do?

I've spoken to some folks I know who do tailoring for renaissance festivals, etc... and the problem I see is that no one has any experience doing a man's jacket, which is wildly different from anything they've ever done... and isn't easy.

I almost think it'd be cheaper to go with the Marlow jacket over having one custom-made.

_________________
CPL Conley, D. A06/TQ2.0.72147E1



"To err is human; to forgive, divine... Neither of which is Marine Corps policy."
"In Onoraigh Ar Marbh" ~ We Honor Our Fallen

The reason I suggested a cosplay tailor, is that the jacket (single breasted jacket with mandarin collor) is very Oriental in design.

For example, look at picture 2: http://www.mooncostumes.com/item/14830

It doesn't have the piping or the epulates, but the basic men's jacket is the same.

Holy crap. I stand corrected.

Good find!

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CPL Conley, D. A06/TQ2.0.72147E1



"To err is human; to forgive, divine... Neither of which is Marine Corps policy."
"In Onoraigh Ar Marbh" ~ We Honor Our Fallen

So is the suggestion to see just how much it would cost to have a Cosplay tailor try a reproduce a USMC Dress Blues jacket?

Or to go with the jacket that was pictured?

The jacket pictured would need to be a bit longer and obviously have the pockets added. If it can be done for under $150 bucks I'd say fine. If not, why not just go with a USMC tunic?

I brought up the idea of a Mandarin collar tuxedo suit jacket a looooong time back- and was told we would look like 22nd Century James Bonds.


Again I apologize for being so argumentative. Please appreciate I am very passionate about how this uniform turns out. This is not an "on-the-side alternate" or "what the hell... why not" costume for me. Once finished it will no longer be a costume- it will become my uniform.

The most integral piece of the uniform will be the jacket- for me it will make or break how this costume ultimately looks. The cover is a close second. Everything else (shoes, belts, insignia, and even the pants) can be played around with to try and accomodate everyone's individual tastes, until we come to a consensus as a single unit.

But I really would hate to compromise the overall look of the uniform because money got in the way.

My vote is still Marlow White, and failing that an actual USMC Dress Blues tunic.

If a Cosplay tailor is able to reproduce the Marlow White jacket at a fraction of the cost, with all the bells and whistles then of course I will be all for it.

_________________
I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME!?!

He was just suggesting the site, not the actual jacket.

After looking around there, I don't think it'll be cheaper. At all.

_________________
CPL Conley, D. A06/TQ2.0.72147E1



"To err is human; to forgive, divine... Neither of which is Marine Corps policy."
"In Onoraigh Ar Marbh" ~ We Honor Our Fallen

I was just suggesting the concept, I don't know that site other than the fact that they can do hi-collar men's jackets. Not sure if it would cheaper, they say a custom job is $200-$350, but if that is for a whole costume, then just the jacket might be less.

Thanks fo clarifying that Wook.

I didn't mean to shoot down the idea right off the bat. My concern is that a Dress Blues tunic (like any military dress coat) is a tailored suit usually made of Wool Gabardine. Wool Gabardine looks amazing giving that firm, stiff appearance with sharp, clean lines. It's also terribly expensive and the main reason the coats we've seen are in the $300 to $400 range.

Using a less expensive material might upset the sharp look the tunic requires to appear right. It could end up looking like an ill fitting black blanket. In the end I don't believe there would be a significant savings going with a custom job (having them use the correct materials) as oppossed to using Marlow White- which looks spot on to our needs.

Again if Marlow White is out of just about everyone's price range- then why not revert back to using a USMC tunic?

EDIT- Ok Ive had a glance around that site and found this:

http://www.mooncostumes.com/item/5282

Mixed feelings on this- the overall look is fairly close to what we need. We would need it customized with red trim, and gold buttons. It looks a wee bit on the long side to me though, and I'm unsure if we need the breast pockets or not. Personally I would want them as just about every US military coat has them (they just look sharp and make it easier to place your ribbons in the right spot too ).

Anyway- the price listed is for a set of jacket and pants. The jacket alone would probably be in the $100 range, but with the customizations needed (and the starting quote of $200-$350 for custom work) will it really be a huge difference in cost?

Like I said- mixed feelings.

_________________
I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME!?!

I would say that the quality of the materials used for those costumes would be quite poor; OK for a fancy dress party but no good for serious costumers.

Again, we really can't cut corners with this uniform - if we do it's look crap.

_________________
Paul "Dust" Massey
A05/TQ1.0.22148E1


Phoenix Rising | My Blog | Facebook | MySpace

XBox Live: "the DustRoom" | Wii: 7062 7508 0398 7441

Master Yoda: Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.

Cheers,
Stefan

Yeah, I looked up Poly-Poplin: it's usually used for things like stage drapes or backdrop material (like canvas).



Funny as it sounds these are my thoughts exactly- we go all the way with this, or not at all. Halfway would look bad.

_________________
I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME!?!

Trust me I agree. I'm not trying to cut corners as much as find cheaper alternatives. The fact of the matter is that places like Marlow White make their business on large scale orders (such as an entire police force), so they can afford to jack the one-off prices up more than a small shop can. Not saying that they don't, but I will point out that the military people are able to get the jacket for $150 and USMCBlues.com sells it for $350. That's what I was looking for, not a way to cut corners.

I see your point and I realise that shops like that do have quite a large markup on short supply items.

The military probably get them for $150 because they order thousands of them at a time.

If we can find a jacket with as good design with the same quality for less then great but I can't see that happening.

After all; you get what you pay for.

_________________
Paul "Dust" Massey
A05/TQ1.0.22148E1


Phoenix Rising | My Blog | Facebook | MySpace

XBox Live: "the DustRoom" | Wii: 7062 7508 0398 7441

Can any of you Military guys (DereK) get these for us as a group buy???


Anyway, the pins were ordered today (Sunday)...had to wait for Paypal to transfer into my account, as the pin shop charges a 6% "convenience" charge to use Paypal..no thanks.



Derek

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Cpl D. Smith CMD
A04/TQ1.0.62147E1


RIP Pvt. Chris Chulamanis A14/TQ4.0.66993E7 You are missed.

Derek... there's no way for me to do a group buy on USMC jackets. I can try and talk to someone to see if they can, with someone's size, go in and purchase one singley... ship it... then do it again later. That shouldn't be a problem, really.

Should we put up another poll, and see what the concensus is for Marlow White vs. USMC jacket?

Just to get a feel for where we're at... we've sort of stagnated again. Hell, we haven't even decided on the patch issue...

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CPL Conley, D. A06/TQ2.0.72147E1



"To err is human; to forgive, divine... Neither of which is Marine Corps policy."
"In Onoraigh Ar Marbh" ~ We Honor Our Fallen

I'm up for a poll.

Basically a custom jacket (such as Marlow White) versus a genuine USMC jacket.

If the custom option wins- then we can have a looksee around if there is a more economical way of getting it done without compromising quality (such as a place that can provide a "small" group order discount). For all we know, Marlow White might be able to help us out!

Of course the USMC option does have it's drawbacks as well which has been discussed earlier.

Sooooo... poll dance--- err--- vote time?

_________________
I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME!?!

Can't hurt, right?

Regardless, however, we need to discuss patch placement.

_________________
CPL Conley, D. A06/TQ2.0.72147E1



"To err is human; to forgive, divine... Neither of which is Marine Corps policy."
"In Onoraigh Ar Marbh" ~ We Honor Our Fallen

...or not?

_________________
CPL Conley, D. A06/TQ2.0.72147E1



"To err is human; to forgive, divine... Neither of which is Marine Corps policy."
"In Onoraigh Ar Marbh" ~ We Honor Our Fallen

Patches are like drugs ...

Just say no to them!

J/K

Well, I say the less the better as far as patches go. Ideally none for me, but if we are making it a requirement ... very few, and very unobtrusive.

I think by using the Marlowe White jacket we can "safely" go with less patches because it is not a surplus coat being altered. Its unique.

I agree with you 100%. Less is better on a dress uniform.

I do still like the idea of a ship patch on the right breast. I think it's a good compromise as we'd suggested country flags there before... and I think the ship patches fulfil this role as well.

I'd like to see the various countries represented in some way.

_________________
CPL Conley, D. A06/TQ2.0.72147E1



"To err is human; to forgive, divine... Neither of which is Marine Corps policy."
"In Onoraigh Ar Marbh" ~ We Honor Our Fallen

If we go with country flags... my uniform will look a bit ironic.

Even though I am Canadian, I'll be wearing a US flag on mine. I've always considered myself a member of the USCM. No disrespect meant towards the UA or UK CM'ers.

I too like the uniform to be minimal as far as patches go, however I do believe it needs that custom patch that reads "COLONIAL MARINES". We need something identifiable so people still don't say "who are you guys?"

Or I'd be up for the ship's patch too.

_________________
I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me! WHY DIDN'T YOU BELIEVE ME!?!

I'd be up for the ship's patch and the custom "Colonial Marines".
Country flag on the left arm.

_________________


USCM- The Colonial Marines- A Brotherhood of Bad Asses!

None taken... nothing wrong with being screen accurate! ... but you'll aways be Canadian to me!

Hey, Im honorary Canadian


Derek

_________________
Cpl D. Smith CMD
A04/TQ1.0.62147E1


RIP Pvt. Chris Chulamanis A14/TQ4.0.66993E7 You are missed.

I was in Canada once...

_________________
CPL Conley, D. A06/TQ2.0.72147E1



"To err is human; to forgive, divine... Neither of which is Marine Corps policy."
"In Onoraigh Ar Marbh" ~ We Honor Our Fallen