The Uniform, an Overview

Man, it feels like I haven't posted in months. Oh wait...

Anyway, though I have every intention of delving into each of the items individually and in great detail it’s always good to take a look at the whole outfit. Starting from the head the uniform seems to consist of:

Hair (most people wear nothing on their head) or a helmet with a brown stripe.

Something around the neck, a bandana, scarf, that kind of thing. Almost every character has their own variation.

A shirt, I suppose. Brownish? Maybe black? Probably anything dark in color works.

A red vest with gold stripes.

A long garment. This includes either the smock thing worn under the vest, or the trademark brown coat worn both over and under the vest.

Armor on the arms. Some do, some don’t.

The Serenity ‘Verse seems to be a fairly cold place. Everyone is wearing gloves.

Khaki/tan pants, most with brown piping.

Belt

Leg wrappings. Again, it must be cold everywhere they decided to fight.

Boots or shoes.

War gear. There are soldiers with on their belts, cross slung satchels, tactical vests, etc. in addition to their weapons.

This Firefly Wikia sketch gives a fairly decent snapshot.

The Independents Patch, Researched

When I introduced this topic I talked about how the point up or down discussion is a moot point. It's a simple case of miscommunication between artist's intent and what has been immortalized as screen canon. I stated that there were far better questions regarding the patch and how it fits into the Browncoat Uniform. Turns out, I was more right than I anticipated.

I could only find a handful of characters who wore it. What I found interesting, especially if it was originally designed as a rank patch, was the number of people who did not wear it. Even more interesting I noticed how characters that had a patch on wore their coat differently than others.

There are plenty of soldiers wearing browncoats, not smocks, under their vest. We can see them here retreating over the hill in the opening scene of the episode Serenity.

This guy right here for instance, is very distinctly wearing a browncoat under his vest. His long sleeve has no patch on it though. This ensemble looks a whole lot more like the image on the Wikia I posted earlier than our principle characters do. In fact, not a single one of the extras retreating over this berm have a patch on.

Here's the soldier who was field promoted to Lt. Baker and dismissed to call in for air support. You can clearly see he's got a full sleeved coat on and not a smock, the buttons are visible on his right chest. What he lacks is any insignia on his right shoulder. It is also readily apparent through dialogue that he is subordinate to Mal, referring to our hero both as "Sergeant" and "Sir." I've gone through this frame by frame I can't find a definitive picture of his red vest, only what looks like what could be his red vest. I can't tell if it's under or over his coat, though it is under his tactical vest which is worn over his coat like most everyone else.

Anyone who has a coat on over their vest has a patch on. This one is from The Message. He's wearing a coat, and the patch is aligned the same way Mal's is.

This is another shot from Message. I can't be sure if the guy in the background is the same one from the previous picture, but either way we see a number of over the vest coats with patches. I started to wonder if only those in leadership positions, such as Sergeants and Officers, wore their browncoats free so they would be easily recognizable to other grunts on the battlefield. Though we cannot see the Lieutenant's patch in the episode The Message, it is safe to assume that the two people above are not lieutenants. If they were there would be no need for Mal and Zoe to have spoken for him later on in the episode. We see two confirmed Lieutenants in the show, with coats on over their vests. One of them has his rank patch with the star pointing up and the other has no screen time to confirm nor deny. We see one confirmed Sergeant (Mal) and two assumed sergeants, all with coats on over their vest and with their rank patches pointing star down. So I see the perfect opportunity to merge the creator's intent with what we see on screen. The mis-sewn coats can still be considered accurate for a sergeant and the correct orientation can be considered accurate for an officer.. We have enlisted personnel wearing theirs with the triangle oriented in the opposite way as officers, thus creating contrast that makes identification easier. At this point in time I'm not going to make a sweeping endorsement of the idea, but its something to mull over later. I always intended on doing an Independents Rank Structure blog post and this will add an entirely new, complicated, twist to that discussion.

As for now, wear the damn patch whichever way you want. Screen Canon still supports both ways, but I'm starting to think that I'm onto something with this up or down as an indicator of rank thing.

The 76th Independents Battalion

A number, not all but enough, of threads on Browncoat costume eventually refefence the 76th Independents Battalion. So, It’s important that I get this out of the way early. The 76th Independents Battalion is a really cool idea. In fact, it's very similar to my intentions with this blog. The concept that an organized Browncoat organization can be put together, especially for attending conventions and things, is a fantastic goal in the spirits and footsteps of groups like the 501st Stormtroopers. Where the 76th and I begin to differ is not in concept, but in execution. Though organized with the best of intentions, there's a fundamental methodology to the organization that I believe does not typify who Independents were both in spirit and how they were portrayed on screen.

For those that don't know the 76th is the only real organized Independent Browncoat costume organization that I know of. The truth is I dislike the 76th, which is sad because I really wanted to like them. I adore the idea of an organized Independents costume group... but not that way. Unfortunately, the way they mishandle the very concept of creating a Browncoat organization much less the development of the actual costume is exacerbated by the fact that they were the first ones one the scene and have no competitors. The lack of any other organized Independents cosplay group means that they are the de-facto authority on the subject. I intend to change that.

But I cannot express how important it is not to misconstrue this as a 76th hate blog. My goal is not to replace the 76th. In fact, if my research does anything to improve the costume that is worn by members of the 76th then I would be elated. My goal is to improve the standard of Browncoat costuming for the entire community, not to be 'top dog.' Is I'll talk about later the 76th has its place. Right now the 76th does not do the costume justice, and I care far more about recreating accurate, screen true costumes. I want to look like I walked off the set when I finish my kit. The 76th does not do that. I will be referencing the 76th a lot as they are the only major group out there with resources; they are the only standard to be judged by. And in no way am I trying to insinuate that they are one giant epic fail. They have a number of valuable resources I intend to extort, but the majority of their practices I disagree with. Their website contains quite a few decent links and advice. But in the end their underlying methodology is wrong.

So to make things simple I’m going to just list the differences of opinion I have with the 76th here and now. When, in the future, I reference them with derision at least you’ll know that there are completely professional reasons for it. The majority of my dislikes boil down to three major categories: failure to encapsulate the spirit of the Browncoats, unnecessary regulations that make the costume more difficult/expensive to create, and non-canon supported suppositions and additions that detract from the screen image.

• First and foremost is that to be accepted by their unit and to march with them on parade you must use the pattern for the vest, smock, and/or jacket developed by the founder. That on its own grates me the wrong way, but then he charges for the pattern. It’s just so skeevy. Even if he isn't out to profiteer on the fandom (and in many ways that's not a crime) it certainly seems that way. He doesn't charge a lot, but still it’s galling. Plus, the patterns are shapeless and look like crap. A simple google search provides free patterns that will serve you much better. In the end, there's something wrong if one person is the only resource to go through to produce a proper costume.
• The 76th's uniform regulations fail to personify the screen presence and spirit of the costume. A good costume makes you indistinguishable from an extra at the coffee pot during filming. The 76th wants ‘parade pretty’ uniforms free of dirt and distress with as near uniformity of style as possible. This kind of appearance is not represented in the show. The loose confederation of dusty soldiers would not have the regimental glitz and glamour of the contemptible Alliance Regulars. The border and rim worlds couldn't agree on much apart from ensuring the mail got delivered before the war. Any concept of a standing 'Independents Army' pre-succession is absurd. For one the Independent Faction didn't exist before the threat of Unification and, a little while after, the war. Once war broke out there wouldn't be time for parade pretty.
• The infatuation with being parade perfect and uniform generates a level of inaccessibility to the lower income costumer. It is understandable that the 501st Legion of Stormtroopers has strict requirements, but all of them are supported by screen canon. In the show a number of extras, and most notably the principle characters, do not have helmets. Thus someone who does not have the time or money to invest in one shouldn't be excluded or made to feel any less a Browncoat. Situations like this are made worse when the regulations require a very specific surplus item restricted to its all metal original form, excluding kevlar or plastic. The truth is, you can pick up a cheap plastic helmet from an airsoft store online for twenty bucks plus shipping. It looks close enough and with paint no one can tell. This is a costume after all, and no one expects their costume helmet to protect them from small arms fire. These kinds of restrictions do nothing to enhance the costume and only hedge out those who cannot afford or are unable to find the item. In the case of the helmet, requiring a specific surplus item that is no longer in production creates a finite limit to the number of cosplayers that can ever participate. Who wants that!
• A number of their uniform choices look downright wrong. The vest, for instance, has its stripes lower than any of the pictures I can find. Mal, Zoe, and Tracy all wear vests where the first gold band on their vest begins right where the v of the neck begins. Just compare a picture of the ‘76th’s’ vest and screenshots. I’ve said before, variation is acceptable. But when you require someone to wear something that isn’t supported by canon I start to have problems.
• The directive that officer’s wear blue scarves and enlisted wear red is not supported by canon. I’ve been trying without success to find a blue scarf on anyone in the show. It’s the same point I just made. If you want to wear a blue scarf, go ahead. Mal wore a grey one, Tracy a brown one, and Zoe a red. Tweaking or bending canon for convenience or due to resources is fine. But demanding that people break canon to join your group is just plain wrong.
• Periodically throughout the uniform section it is said “or ask the CO for approval.” If it looks right, do it. If you did your homework (or my tutorials become detailed enough) and have an eye for the costume you’ll know if something is out of sorts. I really hate the concept of grovelling for approval.
• I can’t say it enough, if you're not running a racket one should avoid the perception that you're trying to fleece your fans. The number of required items that just so happen to be offered for sale by the founder's friends is startling and offputting.
• Most of all the use of current U.S. rank and insignia is not only canonically wrong, it's downright offensive. The concept of slapping on a ‘Battalion Patch’ doesn’t bother me, obviously various units may do things in various ways, but putting American rank patches on your collar is insulting to actual service members. I don’t care if you wear the chevrons upside down there are people who in law enforcement, corrections, the military, government security, etc. earned those stripes. Unless you did, don’t wear it. If the actual costume on screen used American rank insignia I wouldn’t really mind, because canon is king. There's nothing inappropriate about wearing a Star on your collar if you're cosplaying General Francis X. Hummel from Michael Bay's The Rock. It's what he wore on screen. But Firefly already has a canon rank patch. Ignoring that to wear rank insignia people have fought, killed, and died for is completely unacceptable.
• I cannot stress enough that I don't hate the 76th. I love Browncoats and because I love them, I cannot accept the 76th's decision on the costume.

But how can I be so judgmental? I go on and on about how there's variation and a boots up appearance to what a Browncoat would dress like. Why am I getting down on these guys? Because the image they present is not the one you see on screen. The sad truth is, with how far they've gone astray from how Browncoats are portrayed in the show, it comes down to the question "Which do you wish to be, a Browncoat or a member of the 76th?" The 76th cannot really be considered a true Browncoat costume. As a member of the 76th you're not a Browncoat from the show, you're a Browncoat of some fan's vision. Personally I have a lot more interest in the show's creator's vision than some random guy's.

But there's a place for the 76th. If you as a cosplayer really are far more interested in looking uniform and polished, if you really want to wear a brigade patch and you have no interest in distressing a uniform there's a place for you with the 76th Independents Battalion, a place that has chosen to be a Browncoat Recreation organization. If you want to look like a Browncoat from the show, then the Shadow Irregulars is your go-to place for Browncoat Reconstruction. I am also vindicated to know that I am not the only one who thinks the way I do. In studying the disseminated information regarding Browncoat uniforms I have read a number of comments referencing the 76th that mirror my own thoughts. The end result are a silent network of people who say ‘screw them I’ll just do it on my own!’

Yes. Yes, yes, YES! That’s the Independents spirit! But you don’t have to feel alone anymore. If you are one those disenfranchised Browncoats who had the sense the that 76th just wasn't doing thing quite right, this resource is for you. It does not demand membership to have access to its articles. It exists for the greater Browncoat Nation. And if you really desire a unit or organization to be attached to, if that would help you round out your character or create a sense of belonging that you desire, consider the Shadow Irregulars your home. Because we’re about doing it the right way.

The Official Firefly Companion Vol 1 and 2

So we're off to a wedding in California, but a three hour layover in Denver means time to blog! It occurs to me that a blog on costume design cannot be complete just by pouring over screenshots I find on the internet. So I downloaded a free video editing software that allows me to take the videos off my DVD and go through it frame by frame. Woo! Lots of eye crossing madness, but its worth it. I also know of the existence of the every useful visual companions to the series and film. These books are vital to success... but books cost money, so I'll probably be purchasing them slowly over the next couple months. I have no intention to stop working while waiting for them though. If I discover discrepancies with what I've already worked on, then I'll just have to update my work. Three points for use of the scientific method! In the mean time, anyone with the companion who wants to shed light on anything I've gotten wrong I'd appreciate the help. In such instances scans will be invaluable.