Because we need to live in a world where these are readily available, here are pics of a few Star Wars Aloha shirts from different sources. If any don’t post, just let me know, and I’ll hunt a replacement image.
This shirt comes from Jayla Beta’s Photo Gallery, and has matching pants.
This shirt is currently available from Etsy seller Fashion Tramp.
I am working on a CNC machine. From the base design, a fabric-processing device could be derived. The result would then be something like an overgrown inkjet printer. A roll of fabric, fed over a drum and rollers. A printing head, moved left to right and scanning line by line over the fabric, spitting droplets of dyes on demand and burning little holes with a solid-state laser. (These holes, when overlapping, form cut lines.) Essentially a bastard child from a threesome of an inkjet printer, a laser cutter, and that thing that unrolls sheets of material from a roll.
(The ink deposition subassembly is the part where I don’t know the details.)
Take a 3d scan of the person (e.g. by a cellphone waved around, or several photos from different angles, many methods available), feed it to software that automatically generates the fabric cutouts. Add the patterns to print on the fabric, whatever you want (I originally devised it for computer-generated camo patterns optimized for the target environment, but Star Wars motives will work too). Run the generated data through the printer, get ready-to-sew cutouts with printed-on pictures and assembly hint marks on the edges. Then sew.
Something like this could make such customized apparel much easier and cheaper to get, pretty much on demand. No limits on available decor, nor on the sizes/body types that are manufactured/stocked.
DTG (Direct-to-garment) printers. Want one, but waaaayyy out of my price range.
You’d be able to make one, though. They are pretty much just a large-format inket using better inks for clothing.
I like the “reclaimed” ones better than the fully licensed ones. Something about walking around in old bed sheets just sounds more relaxing. If that’s where the material comes from, that is.
