Tenel Ka Djo – Star Wars: Expanded Universe/Star Wars: Legends
Tenel Ka is one of Heather's favorite characters from any form of media in the whooooollle wide galaxy. She also has a blast making costumes from one image or a small description in book and being able to take artistic license with parts of costumes, trying to figure out how to make the costume fit the character, personality and style-wise. These are most likely the main reasons why she loves costuming as Tenel Ka, besides the obvious fangirl crush she has had on her for years. Unlike the other pages in the costume section here at Zhobot, this page will focus on all 3947293+ Tenel Ka costumes Heather has made and worn over the years.
They are ordered from the newest to oldest in the order created (although some have been worn more than once and that will be listed if it’s the case)! If there is an image the costume is based off of, it will be posted by the costume information. If not, it will be noted in the description where the inspiration from the costume was pulled.
They are ordered from the newest to oldest in the order created (although some have been worn more than once and that will be listed if it’s the case)! If there is an image the costume is based off of, it will be posted by the costume information. If not, it will be noted in the description where the inspiration from the costume was pulled.
“This is a fact.”
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From: Star Wars: Expanded Universe Variant: Queen Mother - fanart-inspired work - fanart by DiHA Debuted: Katsucon 2013 Also Worn At: N/A Status: Active |
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Heather: When I saw DiHA's art nouveau piece of Tenel Ka, I absolutely fell head-over-heels in love with it. It fits the character so well - tying her Dathomirian heritage in with her Hapan side (and job, heh). I asked DiHA for permission to attempt to make the outfit and once I got it, I began brainstorming. It doesn't look exactly like her art (the art is way more gorgeous, haha! ;D) and I'm not able to get my hair in that fabulous an updo without professional help and/or hours of practice, so I'm aiming to wear this again in the near future to try to get some good shots of the costume. The ones we got at Katsucon are some of my favorite though, due to the setting. The Gaylord National's lobby is spectacular and we found a corner of it that could pass for a possible area of the Hapan Gardens where Tenel Ka and Jacen Solo could go to have a talk away from the creepers-- err, Hapan suitors.
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From: Star Wars: Expanded Universe Variant: Young Jedi Knights armor Debuted: Dragon*Con 2012 Also Worn At: Older versions of this costume have been worn to numerous cons. Status: Active |
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Heather: This is probably my third or fourth iteration of this outfit. This was always one of my dream costumes and I never knew how to tackle the armor so I went through a couple bolero-stacking versions before I started working with Wonderflex (which I first used on the fanart-inspired NJO outfit below). The bottom row of photos were from 2012 and the top row are more recent shots from 2014 when I replaced the fabric scales on the top shoulder piece with Worbla scales, painted/paperclayed some of the armor edges, added lace to the top shoulder piece and reshaped some of the armor.
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From: Star Wars: Expanded Universe Variant: Young Jedi Knights original outfit Debuted: Katsucon 2012 Also Worn At: N/A Status: Retired |
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Heather: I was going to try to finish a new set of YJK armor for Katsucon 2012 but time just wasn't on my side (WHEN IS IT EVER HAHAHA) so I ended up throwing together a quick original YJK-era outfit the last week before the con. I used my Tempest cover scale sleeves as sort of a capelet and made a waistcape (you know how I feel about asscapes, aw yes). It was weird to have another Tenel Ka outfit I didn't have to worry about my arm for either - woo, YJK era! I would like to refine/change a couple things on this in the future and wear it again because it was actually pretty comfortable.
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From: Star Wars: Expanded Universe Variant: Queen Mother Debuted: Dragon*Con 2011 Also Worn At: Katsucon 2014 Status: Active |
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Heather: I was going to make the Fate of the Jedi: Conviction back cover outfit for D*C 2011 but the sleeves were giving me trouble and I ended up making an original Queen Mother outfit instead (SHOCKER because I love making these XD). I always loved Paua beads and pendants and thought they might be good for a Queen Mother outfit so I used them on the necklace I made for this. The snakeskin texture of the belt matches a texture on the boots (wanted to keep the snake bits in while still being elegant) and I sort of based the headpiece off of the back cover of Conviction. I'll get to the Conviction outfit one day, I swear!
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From: Star Wars: Expanded Universe Variant: New Jedi Order armor - fanart-inspired work - fanart by Todd Debuted: Dragon*Con 2011 Also Worn At: N/A Status: Active |
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Heather: I have always always always loved Todd's Expanded Universe fanart - especially his art of Tenel Ka! I asked him if I could make a costume inspired by this piece and he said go for it! I finished it for D*C 2011 and posted it here on dA thanking him over and over for being such an awesome artist and all around cool person. :D I had a lot of fun making and wearing this costume! Thank you, Todd!
It was my first foray into the world of Wonderflex (I also used it that Dragon*Con on other costumes/props such as my Meg Masters cup and so on) and I was excited to try it out for other costume-related things after I was finished with this one!
It was my first foray into the world of Wonderflex (I also used it that Dragon*Con on other costumes/props such as my Meg Masters cup and so on) and I was excited to try it out for other costume-related things after I was finished with this one!
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From: Star Wars: Expanded Universe Variant: Warrior Queen - original outfit Debuted: Dragon*Con 2010 Also Worn At: N/A Status: Active |
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Heather: At Dragon*Con 2010 there was going to be a big EU group (huzzah!) so while Nate fiddled with his Caedus jumpsuit to make a beginning-of-LotF Jacen for the group, I fiddled with the idea to make an original sort of Warrior Queen Tenel Ka that all fell into place when the colors popped into my head. I was surfing ebay for something completely unrelated (well, it was costume related, but not TK XD) when I stumbled upon this corset that had all the colors I needed. The original design wasn't going to have a corset, but I couldn't pass this up. I put the pieces I already had with it and made jewelry to go with the whole thing - for some reason I had a lot of fun doing the jewelry! I DON'T KNOW.
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From: Star Wars: Expanded Universe Variant: Queen Mother - original outfit Debuted: BaltiCon 2010 Also Worn At: Dragon*Con 2010 Status: Active |
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Heather: I first wore this random Queen Mother dress I decided to make to BaltiCon 2010 and wore it again to Dragon*Con that year! I made the dress and jacket sleeveless cause it's easier to hide an arm with no fabric on it and cause of a random passage in the Dark Nest books where Jacen notes TK is wearing a "sleeveless frock"... THAT WAS MY EXCUSE. Apparently all I need is one sentence and I will go insane.
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From: Star Wars: Expanded Universe Variant: Legacy of the Force: Tempest – jumpsuit described in the book Debuted: Dragon*Con 2007 Also Worn At: Dragon*Con 2012 Status: Active |
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Heather: Some Legacy of the Force costumage I originally debuted at Dragon*Con 2007. This costume is from a few lines in Tempest that mention Tenel Ka in a gray Hapan jumpsuit (ALLANA MATCHES AND IT'S SO CUTE ;-;). I figured I could design something off of those lines and this is what came out of that. I added a capelet I had made to resemble the Hapes Consortium symbol and wore it all together to Dragon*Con 2012!
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From: Star Wars: Expanded Universe Variant: Legacy of the Force: Tempest cover Debuted: Dragon*Con 2007 Also Worn At: Anime USA 2007, Katsucon 2011 Status: Active |
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Heather: I was so excited when Tenel Ka got her own (!!!)BOOK COVER(!!!) and I managed to cobble an outfit together for Dragon*Con 2006. The scales didn't cooperate like I wanted the first time, but I fixed them a bit when I wore the outfit to AUSA '07. I got fed up with those once I wanted to wear the costume again and made a new set of sleeves out of aluminum scales. I also changed/made new waistcapes for Katsucon 2011. I would LOVE to make the sleeves sturdier and find a way to make them stay on better, so, woohoo, future project!
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From: Star Wars: Expanded Universe Variant: New Jedi Order: Star by Star - Jedi Strike Team Debuted: Celebration III (2005) Also Worn At: Dragon*Con 2010 Status: Active |
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Heather: This is a costume that's near and dear to my heart. A group of us had set it up and were planning it a long time before Celebration III and we had a blast at the convention. We all got our copies of SbS signed by Troy Denning and he and the others at the Del Ray booth got a kick out of our geekery. The group was brought back to Dragon*Con 2010 with some people who couldn't make it to CIII! We had a lot of fun then too (and all three Solo children that time! :D).
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From: Star Wars: Expanded Universe Variant: Queen Mother - original outfit Debuted: Celebration III (2005) Also Worn At: Dragon*Con 2005, Dragon*Con 2011, MAGFest 2016 Status: Active |
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Heather: I first wore this at Celebration III because I wanted to make some sort of Queen Mother outfit - little did I know this would lead into an obsession with Queen Motherly garb all over). I wore it again to Dragon*Con that year after fiddling with a new necklace and cloak (which is totally a curtain, by the way - Tenel Ka does all her royal shopping at the home goods stores, y'all)! For Dragon*Con 2011, I pulled the costume back out, added some trim to the dress, made a new chain shoulder piece and wore it to an Expanded Universe shoot the Monday of D*C!
