Carolina Garrison

Hey all, my name is Tom and I live in Julian, NC. I'm 45 and have been an avid fan of Star Wars since they first came out. I have a 4 year old daughter, soon to be 5, who loves watching SW with me!
I love what the 501st stands for and want to join or at least help out at social events.
Where do I begin with costumes? I'm not super handy but I can follow directions...I've never made a costume before.
I have a theater background as well as stage combat and ren faire experience in NJ/NY/PA.
I may not know every detail about who is who and what they did or who they get along with, in the SW world, but I just want to be apart of something like this!!
Thanks for your time...any input and help is greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Tom

Hello, Tom... and welcome!

First thing you'll want to figure out is which costume you'd like to do. There are literally hundreds to choose from. You can make your own stuff or buy the pieces and parts. We can help steer you in the right direction(s) of the best place to buy items if you go that route. Whatever you end up with, you want to enjoy it and be happy with it... so pick what makes you happy!

Here is a directory of currently approvable costumes. It explains each part and piece, and know that a costume must get approved on you... so although there are sites that may sell a costume "complete" as 501st approvable, remember, it has to look right on you and there is not off the rack approvable costume. Now, that's not to say it can't be... just know it's not a 100% guarantee.
https://databank.501st.com/databank/Costuming:CRL

The Carolina Garrison consists of North and South Carolina. The 501st is broken up into Garrison, worldwide, just to help with events being able to be posted on event calendars in specific areas. Once a member, you can troop anywhere in the world.

The 501st also has detachments. These detachments are groups of like costumes. There are about a dozen detachments... Sith Lords for... Sith Lords... Imperial Gunner Corps for Gunners and costumes with the gunner helmet. Bounty Hunters Guild for all things Bounty Hunter. You get the idea

Again, once you have a costume in mind, let us know and we can point you in the right direction. Once you get a costume, and get it to the point where it looks like you're ready to submit for approval pictures, you'll be well on your way to becoming a member and getting full access to the website, which will allow you to see all events in the Carolinas.

Hope this helps

Thanks,
Chris

So far, I like:
Commander Doom
CT Pilot Matchstick
CT 187th Attack Battalion
CT 442nd Siege Battalion
AT-RT Driver
CT 212th Utapau Shadow Trooper

Where do I go from there? Piecing stuff together might be my best choice at the moment.

So, those all look like clones to me... so that'll be mostly easy as I think they're all part of the https://501stclonetroopers.com/
The one exception would be the AT-RT driver is part of the https://501starmoredcavalry.com/

You can sign up for both/either forum and they can point you to specific parts or help you with your build. Once ready to submit your costume for approval, come back here to get the info on who to submit to, or if you have any other questions in the mean time, just let us know.

-Chris