Tag Archives: Replace the Catsuit

Replace the Catsuit: The Winners

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More sleeves!

Darren Tan’s illustration that will be appearing in the ‘Star Wars: Essential Reader’s Companion’

Discussions were had, comments were tallied, and the verdict is in. We’ve got winners in our Replace Mara’s Catsuit contest!

I should probably start by saying that selecting winners for this contest was really hard. All of the Tosche Station staff spent a good chunk of yesterday going over each entry and factoring in feedback from comments. We came to a consensus on the overall winner pretty quickly, but picking out who also should earn prizes was no easy task. In the end, we decided that there were too many solid entries for this contest. So we added a fourth prize slot that will also be receiving a copy of Allegiance by Timothy Zahn. Even then, some great entries just missed the cut.

Also as a note, Bria’s entry was taken out of the running because we brought her on as a writer last week, which is a bummer because the rest of the staff thought her costume was awesome.

The Tosche Station Staff does want to give a big thank you to everyone who entered the contest. The path to getting Mara new iconic outfits and images is a tricky one, but raising awareness that we can do better than the catsuit is a necessary first step. With any luck, the entries submitted for this contest can be a stepping stone to doing just that.

That said! Here are the winners in ascending order. To the jump!

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Replace the Catsuit: The Entries

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Sleeves!

After nearly four months we received over a dozen entries in our Replace Mara’s Catsuit contest. We’ll announce a winner later today, but first we want to give you all the chance to look over what was submitted and give us some feedback. Whose costumes or art did you like? Any trends you noticed among the entries?

Now, because we got so many entries, we’re going to add another prize tier! Here’s what is potentially up for grabs now:

  1. First prize will receive a copy of the 2oth Anniversary Edition of Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn.
  2. Second prize will receive paperback copies of Allegiance and Choices of One by Timothy Zahn.
  3. Third prize will receive a paperback copy of Allegiance.

Below are all of the entries for the contest. We’d love your feedback as we go through and select the prize winners today, so take a look at the submissions below. Leave a comment in the post!

Replace the Catsuit: Art Entry from Serena

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It’s the LAST DAY to enter our Replace Mara’s Catsuit contest! If you’ve got a costume or art piece you want to submit, you need to get them e-mailed, Tweeted, Facebook’d or otherwise linked to us by 11:59PM Pacific time.

The first entry on the final day comes from reader Serena. I’ll allow her to describe the piece:

Hi,

This is my entry for the Replace the Catsuit contest.  The first drawing is of Mara in formal clothing for a festive occasion during the Emperor’s time.  She hides her blaster and a lightsaber in one sleeve, while concealing a tiny grenade and a knife in the other of her flowery sleeves.  She piles her hair on top of her head and leaves the rest in a braid where it will not interfere with any of her battles against the enemy.

The skirt and the sleeves are attached by bands and a belt, but are easily discarded.  The rest of the outfit is revealed to be a simple, yet elegant blue, Imperial military, feminine jacket.  Mara wears  plain dark green, comfortable pants instead of the illogical choice of a dress to lightsaber fight.  Her gloves protect her hands from poisonous flora while climbing and also keep her from leaving telltale fingerprints when she breaks into a room.

Note her tan Jedi like boots and the choice of gray, not black gloves.  She may be the Imperial Hand, but the talented, compassionate Mara is no Sith.

Even though this outfit is simple and very practical, it also emphasizes the beauty of Mara.

The images are big, so head down to the jump to see them!

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Replace the Catsuit: Art Entry from Fiona

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With five days left to submit entries for our Replace Mara’s Catsuit contest, reader Fiona has sent in another great art piece for consideration. Fiona says that she wanted to see some color on Mara. Something other than shiny, black leather. We couldn’t agree more, and we love what you’ve sent in.

What I’m really enjoying about all of the entries so far is that they’re emphasizing functionality over the sexy factor. Mara Jade was the Emperor’s Hand, a trained espionage specialist. She would be wearing outfits in public that wouldn’t draw attention to herself. On the battlefield and while at work she would be wearing things that better allow her to do her job. You know. Things with sleeves to hide holdout blasters. Pockets for battery packs and comlinks. Clothing that promotes mobility.

The leather catsuit? Yeah. It provides exactly zero of these things.

Thanks for submitting Fiona! Remember everyone, you’ve got until August 15th to submit your entry to win one of our prizes.

While we’re on the topic of Mara’s wardrobe, be sure to head over to Club Jade to check out some fantastic Mara art that will be featured in the upcoming Reader’s Companion. No catsuit!

Contest: Replace The Catsuit

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Somebody give that poor woman some sleeves

We love Mara Jade. She’s smart, she’s snarky, she’s a BAMF to the highest degree.

There’s one thing about Mara we don’t like, however. Nanci and I have talked about this during the podcast before: we hate the wardrobe she’s constantly portrayed in. Specifically, the catsuit. By the Gods of Kobol, we hate the catsuit. It’s objectifying, it’s demeaning. Mara’s a character whose innate personality makes her engaging. She doesn’t need to wear a skintight outfit that’s woefully ill-suited to combat to get fans to like her.

Unfortunately, no one listens to us (which is probably a good thing). Mara will continue to wear that awful outfit in every piece of art and every action figure until the end of time. Unless, perhaps, you speak up.

That’s why Tosche Station is holding a contest to raise awareness for poor Mara Jade’s lousy wardrobe. All you have to do is replace the catsuit!

Here’s what we’re looking for: 

We want to see you, our reading and listening audience, portray Mara in something more appropriate. Bring on the Jedi robes! Bring on the flightsuits! Bring on the flight jackets and trousers! Bring on some kind of outfit that might actually make sense for Mara Jade to wear!

We’re looking to take everything from fanart to costumes and cosplay. If it shows Mara wearing something that isn’t the catsuit, send it our way.

Have fun with this, and remember, we want to see something that doesn’t objectify her like the catsuit does.

The Prize

Like we said, this is a contest! Which means there’s going to be a winner, a runner up, and some fabulous prizes given to the best costume and art submitted.

  • First Prize: A copy of Allegiance and Choices of One by Timothy Zahn
  • Runner-up: A paperback copy of Allegiance

Submit a picture of your costume or your fanart by August 15th via Twitter, Facebook, or the e-mail address on the sidebar. For the costumers in the crowd, consider this a tuneup for convention season this summer. Everyone who does submit something will have their work featured in their own post on the blog. 

Hop to it, Mara fans!

Entries:

Replace Mara’s Catsuit: Art Entry from Louis

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Time’s ticking down until the end of our Replace Mara’s Catsuit contest! Reader Louis sends in another art entry for consideration. His description:

Hey there, just sending along my entry for the Catsuit competition. You’ll find attached to this the entry image, with it I was going for something grounded in the real world to some extent. The main inspiration was the Mongol culture, whose renowned military history for a combination of abominable acts of destruction combined with tactical genius and efficiency seemed to be the same kind of ideals the Empire would instil in it’s top agents most of all. Not to mention that Mara Jade’s green eyes and red hair are a relative genetic regularity in the Steppe tribes, making the match seem even more perfect. With the costume then I looked at common modes of dress and armour from that culture’s history and interpreted that through Star Wars, giving Mara shoulder and leg armour plates and shoes she’s grabbed from Stormtrooper’s gear complimented with a Corellian-style jump suit and a nice cape, because you can’t be a Jedi or Sith without something long and flowing to catch the wind.

Thanks for submitting, Louis! Remember, you’ve got until the 15th to enter.

While we’re on the topic of Mara and the catsuit, be sure to check out Club Jade’s newest column that brilliantly articulates just why we have a problem with it.

Replace the Catsuit: Art Entry From Kataja

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We’re ticking down the days until the end of our Replace Mara’s Catsuit contest! Today we’ve got a new art entry from reader Kataja:

My contribution is based on the “no-nonsense tunic/jumpsuit outfits that she usually wore aboard ship” that’s mentioned in The Last Command. I actually found it hard to picture Mara in a tunic – jackets are easier to make look ‘cool’ – but I’ve tried my best. The outfit is matched by a practical hairdo.

Thanks for submitting, Kataja! Remember, you’ve got until the 15th to enter the contest.

Replace the Catsuit: Costume Entry From Ellen

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With less than two weeks to go in our Replace Mara’s Catsuit contest, we’re starting to see a flood of new entries. Earlier this week we got a submission from Bria and today, we’ve got another costume entry from reader Ellen. I’ll let her describe it for you:

Here’s my entry for the contest to replace Mara’s catsuit. This is inspired by her outfit on the cover of Vision of the Future, but I made several changes to it, so I hope it still counts as a redesign. I tried to take the look of the cover illustration and combine it with the look of Jedi robes–this is definitely a Jedi outfit for Mara, not an Emperor’s Hand outfit! I plan on making a few additions/changes to the costume before Dragon*Con, but I don’t think I will have a chance to do that by the contest deadline, so my entry is just as it appears in the photos here. Unfortunately the green light from the saber tones down the red in her hair, and makes it look pretty blonde, but it is a red-gold, I promise!

Thanks for submitting the costume, Ellen! Who says Mara can’t rock the robes?

Remember, you’ve got until the 15th to submit your entry!

Replace the Catsuit: Costume Entry from Bria

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Reader, podcast listener, costumer, Pop Culture Shock writer, and all-around-awesome-person Bria sent us another costume for our Replace Mara’s Catsuit contest. Her inspiration for this entry came from the Allegiance and Choices of One covers.

Sleeves! Pockets! A jacket! Armor! To see other pictures of the costume, head on over to Bria’s photobucket.

We really dig the costume, Bria. Thanks for sending it in! Remember, you’ve got until August 15th to submit your art and costume entries for a chance to win some books featuring Mara Jade.