bonniegrrl | My Jabba the Hutt Costume Test Run

My Jabba the Hutt Costume Test Run

Words: Bonnie Burton
Photos: Matt Martin

There's a variety of perks that come with working at Lucasfilm. I get to write all day about Wookiees, clone troopers, bounty hunters and Jedi all day for Starwars.com. I get to interview celebrities about their love for droids and Sith Lords. I attend conventions to report on the latest Star Wars news and hang out with our awesome fans. I even make Yoda puppets at my desk.

But this is the first time I've ever dressed up as Jabba the Hutt.

Because StarWarsShop.com is in our office as well I always get to see the cool stuff we sell online before it gets written up. So when we got the new Jabba the Hutt costume from Rubies, I couldn't resist trying it on.

The cool thing about this costume is that it literally keeps you cool while you wear it thanks to an internal, battery-operated fan inside that inflates it so you actually look like the Hutt himself. The head of Jabba isn't attached to the body of the costume, which makes it a fun thing to wear just on its own.

The body material itself reminds me of the oh-so-fashionable parachute pants of the late '80s. There are elastic bands that fit the costume around your legs, wrists and neck so you stay nice and puffy from the trapped air. I didn't realize that the elastic needed to be secured more around my legs until half way through the test run, so for the first part of wearing the costume, I almost look like Jabba on a diet!

For the test run, I didn't exactly run. The first thing you realize while wearing this costume is that you are forced to walk very slowly or else you'll comically topple onto the ground. It takes a little practice, but after walking in the costume for about 15 minutes or so I started to develop what I call the "Hutt Strut." You sort of waddle along with the Jabba's tail serving as a kind of rudder.

To really give the costume a chance to prove its worth, I wore the costume outside in the wild that is the Lucasfilm campus which included a visit to our internal coffee hot spot Javva the Hutt, as well as our Marketing offices and then ending out the journey at Starbucks down the way.

As I slowly walked from one destination to another I was met with a odd combination of blank stares and giggles. A few people asked to have their photos taken with me and others wondered if I was dressed as Jabba to promote the new season of The Clone Wars.

I ended the test with a rigorous dancing routine to see if the costume could hold up to typical party moves that someone wearing it might make. The costume may slow you down as you walk, but if you stay in relatively the same spot your can really dance your tail off! And because I want you all to see how well the costume moves with the grooves, I videotaped it for all to see. (For the record, I was dancing to the tune of "Cars" by Gary Numan in my head.)

You're welcome.

WATCH VIDEO: Jabba Dance Moves

PHOTOS: Bonnie the Hutt Photo Set