12. Rebel Alliance and Resistance Flight Suits
What do you wear when you’re about to become the hero of a major Rebel victory? A bright orange jumpsuit, a white flak vest, a helmet that looks like it’s seen better days, and a “life support unit” (Dressing a Galaxy 77, with some slight editorializing on my part about the helmet). The thing is, it works, primarily because it draws a set of contrasts.
TIE fighter pilots wear all black, shiny armor, and you cannot see their faces. However, with the Rebels and Resistance, we always know who we’re seeing both in terms of their faces and by having different helmet designs, particularly for the Rebels.
Those different helmets also help sell the idea that the Rebellion has nowhere near enough in terms of resources to make its pilots match completely.
The only major differences that we can spot between the TFA and original trilogy suits appear to be the coloring and some slightly different vests. The TFA suits are reddish-orange as opposed to orange color, and the white combat vest bears the Alliance/Resistance symbol in black. Furthermore, some Resistance pilots like Poe get black helmets, since they’re part of the Black Squadron.