The Jedi Tabard

Besides there being a difference between Qui-Gon's tabard and Obi-Wan's, there are also two schools of thought for Obi-Wan's tabard design. Both designs have benefits and drawbacks. Both look great. So it all comes down to personal preference. "The choice is yours and yours alone..."

One School of Thought...

A Jedi Tabard is simple in it's construction. It typically consists of two 6-8" wide pieces of fabric that extend in length 2-3" longer than the tunic which overlap in back and in front and are held in place by the obi/sash which is also typically 6-8" wide. The Tabard measurements must be adjusted to fit one's individual body size and shape. My understanding of the tabarb was gained through conversations with various people. One very helpful person who provided me with a lot of insight was "Mara Jade's Father".

"Mara Jade's Father" - "Not a vest, it is a stole. I was looking ant your web page and your robes. You have a tabard vest. It is really more of a stole that starts and is connected to the back of the obi, V's up over the shoulders, then tucks into the front of the obi. That is why you see some sort of flaps in the front below the obi and nothing hanging in back below the obi, just the outer tunic. I have one this way and the look is dead on. I have seen robes with the way you are talking and you can tell that it is not quite right. The stole is made the same as the obi, about the same width and two ply fabric. That is why the shoulders have that padded look to them. I hope this helps. JK2 did my costume. They spent a lot of time researching it using pictures that were available. I got mine a month before the movie came out. The obi and stole are sewn together. The obi wraps around and fastens in the back with velcro (just the hook side of the velcro is needed on this material so that it can attach and adjust anywhere on the obi.) The obi and stole are both 6" wide and double layered. The stole comes over the shoulder in one continuous piece."

Another School of Thought...

I received a very informative email from Claude Marcotte regarding Obi-Wan's Tabard.

"The tabard is actually part of the sash. The sash is very, very long
and somehow folds over the shoulders into the tabard. This is going to be
a major hassle whenever we put on our costumes so we'll probably cheat and make them separately
(i.e. the sash and two long rectangles that will go over the shoulders and
attach to the sash in the back). What tipped us off about the way the sash
is supposed to be is the way it keeps moving on Obi-Wan's back during the
duel (sometimes they're close together, sometimes far apart)."

I've been considering how this would be wrapped and it would hold everything much more securely and it would support the idea that the obi/sash is wrapped rather than a wide bunched up piece of cloth.

Custom Obi Design by Sauja Dupen

"Amber, Here is a diagram of the way I intend to make my Obi. The nice thing about it is that it will hold without a belt, and when the belt is in place it hides the line across the middle and the knot in the front. I also like the front knot because it is easier to tie as opposed to the knot being in the back. You could probably make the diagonal lines a lot more angular to the don't show as much, I will be making one or two practice ones. I'll keep you up to date. "

I really like this design for the obi. I have made the back seam and the wrapped obi and prefer the wrapped style. It is more secure and comfortable than the design that has the back seam closure. This seems more practical and is in keeping with the eastern feel of the costume design.