A key thing to understand about this costume is that it takes a LOT of fabric to achieve the right look.  This is not a form-fitting outfit, and you do not want it to look flat or tight.  There are many layers, and each layer has a lot of folds and gathers. Don’t skimp on the fabric.  Buy a lot more fabric than you think you are going to need...., and then use it all!

 

 

We approached the construction of Darth Nihilus' robes with the understanding that there are distinct layers found on both the upper body and the lower body. A color-coded image prepared by another Darth Nihilus costumer helps to make these layers very evident.  Thanks, Izzie!

 

 

 

 

We determined that the upper body had three layers to it: the innermost shirt, which provided the ribbed sleeves, a middle sleeveless tunic that closes tightly over the chest, and an outer sleeveless tunic that is somewhat open in the front. The key issue to the inner tunic is that the sleeves are a distinctly different fabric from the rest of the costume.  They seem to be made in a smoother fabric, and are quilted in a manner similar to the sleeves of a Darth Vader costume. To create the tunics, we selected two patterns. The first was a Ninja costume pattern to provide the shape for the tunics themselves, including the overlap in the front. The second was a standard button up shirt pattern that we used to make the sleeves.  

 

 

In order to reduce the number of layers that I’d have to wear, and because none of the innermost shirt is visible except for the sleeves, we chose to attach the sleeves onto the middle tunic instead.  The sleeves were made from two layers of cotton broadcloth with medium-loft batting sewn between them to produce the quilted stripes. These sleeves were then sewn well inside the shoulder holes of the tunic to produce the illusion that they belong to a separate garment. To the bottom of this inner tunic we also decided to attach the outer skirt. The outer skirt was constructed of two lengths of material sewn together side by side to produce a long panel.  The skirt fabric was then gathered before being sewn to the bottom of the tunic, giving it plenty of drape and gathers that it wouldn't have had otherwise.

 

 

In this picture you can see the sleeve’s quilting, and how the sleeve is attached to the inside edge of the middle tunic’s arm opening.  It appears to be two shirts because they are made of different material.

 

 

 

 

 

The sleeves of the inner tunic, the middle tunic, and the outer skirt... all in one piece!  

This reduces the layers of fabric, and makes it a lot easier to put the costume on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After this tunic was complete, we made a sleeveless outer tunic using the same ninja pattern.

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the upper body completed, we next turned our attention to the lower body and the two layers of skirts that Nihilus wears. We already had the top skirt attached to the tunic, but we still needed the inner skirt. In order to produce the flowing look seen in the artwork, we sewed three lengths of fabric together side by side, creating one very long panel. Each piece of fabric was 45” wide, so the final skirt was 135” wide!  A channel was sewn into the top edge of the panel and a belt was fed through. When the material was gathered in close enough to fit on the length of the belt, it created the gathers and waves that are shown in the reference photo.  We left about six inches of the fabric unsewn on the end of the belt.  This section of fabric becomes a flap that can be tucked over to disguise the belt buckle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The final piece of the robes is the obi. This consists of a simple strip of material that wraps around the waist over the outer tunic. A strip of heavy interfacing was added to the center of mine so that it wouldn't flop over. It closes in the back with velcro, and then the leather belt goes over the top of this piece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We chose Black Raw silk, which is sometimes called Silk Noil, as the material for most of this costume. It has a rough, almost unfinished look to it as well as a semi-loose weave. This texture really helped with the shredding of the costume, as it allowed the threads to be more easily separated than they would be in a more tightly woven fabric. Because of my size and the many layers, the construction of this costume required nearly twenty yards of material, to provide the correct amount of drape and flow. We elected to purchase two bolts of black raw silk from Dharma Trading company for this, which is slightly more economical than purchasing the material by the yard.

 

Please see the Weathering page for information on how I did the tattering on the material.