30 DIY Halloween Costumes For Empowered Ladies
By Emily Scott
via StarWars.com
Rey – Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Why She’s Awesome: The heroes of Star Wars: The Force Awakens serve to usher a new progressive era in the franchise, and none does this more effectively than Rey. While Princess Leia is an amazing character, she was originally introduced as a royal highness who had to be saved by men. Rey’s introduction was just the opposite. She’s not royalty, and she’s not traditionally feminine. Rey is a scavenger and a lone wolf who continually insists that she doesn’t need anyone to hold her hand, literally.
She is competent, resourceful, and headstrong, all while exhibiting extreme vulnerability learning about her destiny as a Jedi. When the male hero, Finn, doesn’t know what to do, Rey ushers him onto the decrepit Millennium Falcon and makes it fly again. While the movie sets up Finn to be the hero initially, it is Rey who can use the Force and fight with a lightsaber to protect her friends. Seeing such an iconic franchise create such an incredible feminist character makes us all so excited for the future of the sci-fi world.
Rey (Daisy Ridley) in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Screencap via Disney
What You’ll Need: Rey’s outfit seems complicated, but you can recreate it pretty easily. Find a pair of tan leggings and a matching tank top for a base layer. Then, go to a craft store and get a few of yards of cheap muslin. By criss-crossing them over your body and securing them with a brown belt around your waist, you’re already most of the way finished! Use some extra muslin to wrap your forearms like Rey, wear some flat brown boots, and recreate her signature hair style with three buns on the back of your head. The staff might be tough to replicate, so consider whether you want to buy a small version online or build your own.
Next Level Move: Make yourself a BB8! The adorable droid companion is in a simple shape to recreate. Buy a good-size dodgeball or bouncy ball from the toy section for the body, and then a medium sized Styrofoam ball for the head. Then, all you have to do is paint it with white, gray, and orange paint! Glue the body and head together, and stick a wire in the top for BB8’s little antennae.