Edna Mode is a fashion designer to the stars, and by stars I mean super heroes. She is the bespeckled wonder responsible for suiting up The Incredibles and she has one golden rule: no capes. Clearly no one in a certain galaxy far, far away cares to follow this little nugget of common sense. There are capes nearly everywhere you look. Every dramatic exit is done with the flourish of a cape. So even though we can all agree they’re a stupid sartorial choice, let’s indulge ourselves with an ode to Star Wars’s sweeping capes and the people who wear them.
[By the way: did you know Sean and are watching 24 hours of Star Wars movies? What else could inspire such a post?]
10. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill): Luke is not normally prone to capes and yet this teeny tiny glimpse of one could just as easily held the #1 spot as #10. It’s part of his big reveal and proves a flair for the dramatic runs in the family.
9. Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits, Episodes I-III): as a Senator, Bail Organa indulges a certain stateliness. This guy’s got more than one cape in his closet and he doesn’t care who knows. You might start to think that the Rebel Alliance might have been more successful had they only cut all the capes – I bet you could build a death star or two for the price of their dry cleaning bill.
8. General Grievous (Episode III): I can’t help but feel that this dude wears such a suspiciously huge cape that someone should have guessed that he was hiding something underneath. In fact, I am routinely surprised and disappointed by what the so-called Force fails to pick up. Some pretty big stuff, to be honest, that even your average intuition could have detected. It doesn’t take a jedi knight to figure out that big cape = big trouble.
7. Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie, Episodes VII-VIII): I never watched any Star Wars growing up but even I couldn’t fail to pick on some of the iconic images so persistent in popular culture. I recognized storm troopers as the bad guys of Star Wars long before anyone told me they were but to be honest, as a kid I always imagined that they were robots. I wasn’t cured of this delusion until The Force Awakens, when I learned there were humans inside that molded plastic. The uniformity of their uniforms (if you’ll forgive my redundancy) spelled machine to me – perhaps being a woman I just have an innate fear of wearing the same thing as someone else (who wore it best?) and Captain Phasma feels me. It’s hard to really distinguish yourself in a suit of armour but she accessories with this somber one-shouldered garment.
6. Padme (Natalie Portman, Episodes I-III): Padme also has an awful lot of capes, even when you sort them from the similar appeal of the long jacket, the cloak, the robe, and the poncho. No matter how you slice it these folks sure like to have a piece of cloth flowing behind them, announcing arrivals and departures. Is it dangerous around all these ship engines? Definitely. Awkward in battle? Absolutely. And yet: total capetown.
5. Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn, Rogue One): I think Krennic’s capes are a direct reflection of his lack of confidence. He’s insecure, so he tries to impress people with his vestments. He certainly looks important but capes don’t make you competent.
4. Kylo Ren (Adam Driver, Episodes VI-IX): Kylo Ren is a lot like his father – petulant and temperamental with a well-developed emo side. It’s no surprise that the cape appeals to him as well. It helps a young guy who perhaps isn’t fully respected yet cut an imposing figure.
3. Boba Fett (Jeremy Bulloch, Episodes V-VI): for some reason, lots of little boys were absolutely taken with Boba Fett because of his ‘cool armour’ which is baffling to me. Boba Fett is a boring, unnoteworthy character as far as I’m concerned. But he’s got this little torn piece of canvas dangling from his shoulder, so he’s not without vanity. He may never show his face, but he wants you to know he’s an individual.
2. Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams, Episodes V-VI): this dude may be a scoundrel and a cheat but he’s charming and well-dressed and let’s face it, a bit of a scene-stealer. We learn in Solo: A Star Wars Story that the Millennium Falcon has a cape room in it, that’s how much Lando loves his capes, so it’s hard to pick just one. Plus, Williams has a knack for using them in a commanding but flashy way. He wears the cape, the cape doesn’t wear him.
- Darth Vader: production designer John Barry and costume designer John Mollo have my utmost admiration for having come up with perhaps THE most iconic look of the 20th, and maybe even 21st, century. Darth Vader is immediately intimidating, the cape makes him broader, more imposing, and it follows the same lines of his helmet. Darth Vader is scary as heck and in a series of films full of costumes the likes of which we’ve never seen before, his is the most memorable.
ASSHOLES WATCHING MOVIES 
I find your lack of respect for quotes…illuminating 🙂 Made me realize that other than making Darth Vader look big(ger) and scary(ier), and making Superman look like he’s flying (his hair does not move…), there’s no modern use for them.
LikeLike
It is the flair, the extra – that is it!
LikeLiked by 2 people
They’re a danger to society!
LikeLiked by 1 person
24hrs of Star Wars movies! That sounds like hell.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Tell me it wouldn’t appear weird to see some guy walking down the street wearing a cape. “Elementary, my dear Watson.” Even a woman would get looks, “What, is she in a shoot? Where’s the lights and makeup?”
LikeLike
I get compliments and offers to buy it from me (fashionable, non-costume, capes are hard to find!)
LikeLike
Padme’s in the picture looks like super comfortable good winter wear!
LikeLike
Right? I like my blanket scarf. It’s especially nice for the movies – it’s not quite a blanket, but you could cuddle up under it. It would definitely have its uses!
LikeLike
Fascinating the way a cape can enhance the super-villain or super-hero!
LikeLike
Yes, and nobody in between!
LikeLike
We immediately thought of Edna as well when we saw capes, but of course – DARTH VADER, he is the king of awesome capes (in star wars) and then Superman in the Heros for sure for us!
LikeLike
Warmth without arm restriction!! And look how well they can hide weapons!!
LikeLike
Also.. one size fits all!!
LikeLike
What a great post. Ha ha. I couldn’t decide which one I liked best. 🙂
LikeLike
“Is it dangerous around all these ship engines? Definitely. Awkward in battle? Absolutely. And yet: total capetown.”
And yet in Cape Town you hardly see anyone wearing a cape. Because of aforementioned reasons. If we love anything even more than fashion style it’s our engines and battles.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Priorities!
LikeLiked by 1 person
C’mon! No Dooku here? His cape rules.
Also, I hope the Star Wars marathon is complimented by some awesome snacks.
LikeLike
He made the long list but honestly, there are a LOT of capes!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Why haven’t capes become a part of day-to-day fashion yet? They never fail to look cool!
LikeLike
i think you should work on that. It has to start somewhere!
LikeLike
Lando rocks!
LikeLike
Yep, the Vader cape is clearly the winner! 😀
LikeLike
I saw a picture on reddit of Vader without a cape. It’s a scary image. His cape is definetly the best (and most needed).
LikeLike
Oh that’s weird!
LikeLike
A capeless Vader
LikeLiked by 3 people
Mmmm… Cape-less he’s half as fright-inducing as he used to be?
LikeLike
Without the cape he just looks like an American football player with a serious helmet, and if his light saber were positioned a little differently he’d look like a Tom of Finland picture.
LikeLike
Pingback: Funny
Of all the things I would associate with what makes a movie feel like Star Wars, I would have included cool costumes. Thanks for drawing my attention to capes in particular! Somehow I’d never really though of it.
LikeLike
Pingback: Top 10 Star Wars Capes — ASSHOLES WATCHING MOVIES | FAN FICTION Film and Writing Festival