Attack of the clowns!

Being a serious fan means one thing: Dressing like a fool and parading around in public. To make sure your fellow cosplayers are laughing with you and not at you, heed our advice with our do's and don'ts to dressing like a Star Wars character.

DO
Try to find someone in the Star Wars universe that you actually look like. If you don't look like anyone, be Darth Vader and wear a helmet. Let this guy below with the specs and the goatee act as a warning. He thinks: I look like Anakin. We think: you look like a doofus in a dressing gown.

DO
Dress up as Princess Leia in the whole slave outfit. So long as you are: A) female, B) under the age of 25 and C) really, really, really, really hot. Otherwise, don't even think about trying it. This is a very significant erotic memory for a lot of horrendously under-sexed people. Don't tarnish it.

DO
Dress up as Darth Vader, but in a really dirty S&M way. Again, this one only applies to young-ish ladies with suitably bendy bodies and curvaceous shapely figures. Oh yeah, and before we forget, you have to have a little zip on the crotch. That's non-negotiable. It's kind of one of the rules.

DO
Try to stay in character at all times. The point is, if you're going to dress up as Luke Skywalker, don't stand around posing for photos like you're an extra in the chorus line of Cabaret. Be a man and stand up straight! Remember: this is the Rebel Alliance, not London Fashion Week.

DON'T
Hang around with people who aren't dressed up - not only is it a bit on the scary side for them, but it somehow makes you look even more of a dick than you already are. An extension of this rule is, "Don't go into McDonald's dressed up as Darth Maul." But to be honest, we kind of assumed you knew that.

DON'T
Dress up in the orange X-Wing Suit if you've got red hair. Unless, that is, you want to look like a six-foot Cheeto in spectacles, in which case, go all out. Generally it's advisable for gingers to avoid the color orange all together. Particularly when posing against red railings. Redheads could try shaving off their ginger locks to play a bald character or hide their real hair color under a wig.

DON'T
Take too much acid. Otherwise you're liable to end up tripping off your nut in a city somewhere dressed up as Chewbacca's gay cousin, who, for reasons you've forgotten, wears a fanny pack and a Nike headband. Remember kids: nerd + hallucinogenic drugs = psychologically scarring pink Wookiee experience.

DON'T
Just wear a Stormtrooper helmet and hang out with a pack of Goths. That's just weird. Likewise, if you're "pack of Goths" don't hang around with old men who always wear Stormtrooper helmets. It's highly likely that they're wanted by the police and dare not show their faces.