Rocking the Look: What to Wear on the Galactic Starcruiser

Do you have an upcoming trip on Disney’s Galactic Starcruiser? Are you a red carpet devotee and want to know what people are wearing on this jewel of the Chandrila Star Line? I was gifted a cruise by family members and I’m here to dish about costumes – what I saw, what I thought worked, and what to keep in mind when choosing or designing your own Starcruiser outfit for cosplay.

Do you have to wear a costume on the Galactic Starcruiser?

First things first, do you really even need a costume? The preflight info advises that of course, “clothes from your home planet are welcome”. So you are definitely not required to wear a costume on the Halcyon. But is it a cop-out if you choose not to dress up?

Life chaos got in our way and we did not put a lot of effort (read: none) into our outfits for the Starcruiser. And that was fine, it was not a big deal! But I definitely think we were helped along by our fellow travelers; so many of them dressed up that there was a noticeable mood, even if my group skipped out on our role in helping create it.

You absolutely do not need a costume or any special outfit to have a great time on the Galactic Starcruiser. There will be plenty of other people dressed in regular clothes, and you won’t stick out or feel left out. But if you know that cosplay helps you to get immersed in the game, you’ll be far from the only one sporting an outfit of some kind.

Do you have to buy a costume for the Galactic Starcruiser?

I’m 100% positive that Disney would like you to buy a costume from ShopDisney, based on the amount of information we received about how to do that. Of course, it’s fair to say that they also have an investment in making sure people have a great time, and they may feel that costumes up the odds. Whatever their reasons, you will definitely be offered the opportunity to buy Disney costume merch both beforehand and onboard the Halcyon.

One thing that made the Disney costumes feel less interesting to me when we saw them in action is that we knew they were “official” costumes. You can find more variety, and a wider range of price points, by buying costumes from other vendors. Amazon or eBay are good places to start, though I’ll note that there’s a wide range of quality too: it’s worth taking time to read the reviews.

But no, you don’t need to buy a costume to have a great Starcruiser outfit. A lot of what we saw was put together from individual pieces of regular or regular-ish clothing. You can assemble a terrific look from clothes that you might already have in your closet, or at least, from clothes that you might want to wear again sometime, somewhere, after your stay on the Halcyon is over. Case in point: a profile view of Hank Lonely highlights just how much the belt holster is selling some pretty ordinary duds.

Because I’m that kind of person, once I realized this I spent a lot of time looking for common features that made outfits stand out as feeling like they were “in universe”. I’m a long way from being a fashion-savvy person, but I am an engineer and that qualifies me to figure out what makes things tick, right? Let’s talk about that.

How to build a great Starcruiser outfit

There are some hard and fast rules you’ll need to follow — the ones in Disney’s official costume policy. Most of those are pretty common sense, but I’m going to recommend that you take a minute (you can do it later) and give them a once-over.

After that, nothing I’m going to write below is a “rule”. If you have a vision for an outfit that works, it might flout every single recommendation. Instead, these are observations … suggestions, if you will, for those who feel like they might need a bit of help getting going. A little something to kickstart those creative juices. 🙂

My first piece of advice is … shop Amazon. Do I have pictures of some of the awesome getups we saw? No, I don’t – for a blogger, I’m pretty lousy at remembering to take photographs. But what I can tell you is that the best costumes were not the ones you could buy online in advance of your cruise (sorry Disney). Invariably, when we saw something really cool and asked where it came from, the answer was Amazon.

Think fantasy, not science fiction

Since I am not normally a fashion-forward person, it could be that I’m just late to the game here. But I realized, looking at many of the outfits I saw, that they were not very futuristic. Instead, they used pieces with basic styles that you might find in your wardrobe already. Mixing pieces not normally worn together, like a crop top and cargo pants, can make them feel exotic even if they aren’t terribly special on their own.

This makes sense once you begin to think about what you’ve seen in the films and shows. A lot of the planetside outfits, except in the most developed cities, are practical clothing that’s suited for the environment. If you’ve been following Andor, some of the outfits there look as though they could have come straight off the racks at R.E.I. and someone just put a little sheepskin lining around the edges.

As another example, I saw a couple of nice outfits that used a simple poet’s shirt. Some would have looked at home on a DCL Pirate Night. It reminded me that for all that Star Wars is set in the future, it’s really swashbuckling fantasy. Keep that in mind when you’re turning over ideas for your own Starcruiser costume.

Choose Natural Colors

Tans, browns, cream, sage green and the like were colors that we saw a lot of. And they fit with the type of clothing that we’ve seen in desert environments (like Batuu), so they felt natural on this voyage. Basic black is, of course, never wrong.

We did see other colors in fancier clothing; one woman wore a stunning gown in burnt orange to dinner. But for a daily-wear outfit, go with the natural neutrals on the big pieces. Bring flashes of color with accessories (if you bring them at all).

Choose Natural Fibers

Again, this is not a hard and fast rule, and it definitely doesn’t apply to outfits that are meant to be dressier. But natural or natural-looking fibers such as linen and cotton came off with a drape or texture that felt like it was a great fit (pun intended!) for the Star Wars universe.

Go for Simple Glam

For dressier outfits such as dinner attire, focus on shiny, glittery, or sleek fabrics. Choose clean lines and longer lengths than you’d normally wear outside of a formal setting. Consider searching for items with interesting necklines or hemlines. Avoid looks that seem fussy and frilly.

Accessorize

I saw plenty of blaster holsters, but they weren’t always the accessories that really made an outfit. More often it was something simple, like a cool belt or a piece of funky jewelry. And boots – more than one great look was put together with some pretty basic clothing and a truly excellent pair of boots.

Remember the Climate

Most of your time will be spent indoors on the Halcyon, but several hours on your second day will be spent on your excursion to Batuu. If you’re planning on wearing your costume planetside, make sure it’s a good match for the weather you’re expecting during your trip. Since Batuu is the alter ego of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Hollywood Studios, you’ll be subjected to Florida weather; for much of the year, that means hot and muggy.

I find that Disney typically does an excellent job of setting indoor temperatures to be comfortable for guests who are dressed for the current outdoor weather, and that was true on the Starcruiser. The temperature on the Halycon appeared comfortable for most guests wearing either short or long sleeves. I didn’t need to rush and get a long-sleeve overshirt when returning to the Starcruiser in shorts and a T-shirt from the warm temperatures on Batuu, but I wouldn’t have been uncomfortable if I did. I was also comfortable wearing jeans at other points during the cruise. Of course, you’re the expert on how your own internal thermometer usually rates against indoor temperatures; if you’re always cold or always hot you should take that into account.

Brainstorming ideas for your Starcruiser outfit

OK, so you’ve kind of got an idea of what you’re looking for, but you’re still not sure where to get started designing your Starcruiser costume. I’ve got three fronts for you to tackle.

Keywords to search on Amazon

The below list of searches comes from a couple of places. Some are things I tried that had good results, and some are searches that other guests on the Halcyon told me they used to find pieces of their outfits. The great thing about Amazon is that once you select something that looks promising, you’ll have suggestions for similar (but not too similar) items on the product page. You can use these to zero in on something you want: you only need one “hit” to bootstrap from.

• shoulder jewelry – most of the results will come back paired with strapless gowns, but the pieces we saw onboard were paired with normal necklines and looked great
• slash belt or funky belt or belt jewelry
• renaissance look clothing or steampunk look clothing or vintage look clothing
• long jacket fancy or jacket with embroidery long
• wrap clothing
• fingerless gloves

Start in your closet

Odds are, if something you wear frequently could be used to good effect in an outfit then you’ve already thought of that by now. Take the other tack – look at clothes that you don’t wear very often. Assuming they fit, these might be clothes that you liked enough to buy, but they feel “irregular” enough that you can’t figure out where to wear them. That probably means they’ll fit right in on the Starcruiser!

Watch the films and TV shows

You might want to do this after you’ve done some browsing on Amazon and checked out your closet. That’s because you’re looking for what you see on the screen to trigger a memory of something that you saw earlier. Watching the media will show you lots of examples of costumes; if you’ve already researched what’s available to you then you’ll know what’s easy to put together.

Showing up and showing off

Ideally, you’ll test out your outfit(s) at home with enough time left to swap out any pieces that don’t work or don’t fit. If you’re not bringing multiple outfits you should also take a look at your itinerary. You’ll have access to it about 60 days in advance, and you can figure out when it makes the most sense to wear your ensemble. One item to look out for is the Outer Rim Regalia, a fashion show where guests can show off their costumes.

Have you been to the Starcruiser? Did you dress up? Tell us about your outfit in the comments!