Duchessina

To me the total First Order is one big "why?!" question 
But it gets more and more confusing with the ranks and uniforms...

I think you have to remember that it is not you but the character, you can be 'aggressive' with troopers but friendly with the crowd.  I do medieval reenactment and the public love some theatre, but they like you to be a friendly person when you are interacting with the public.  I personally love when people stay in character when explaining stuff.  

I haven't trooped as an officer yet as my Krennic is still being assembled, however I've been thinking a lot about this.    As a TD I only have to say as much as I want to.  Here is the conclusion that I've come to:
 
Ever been to Disney World?     Have you been to the Haunted Mansion or the Tower of Terror?    These cast members thread the needle between being bad and good.   The crowd is never really sure which side they fall on, but they are entertaining while they do it.     That's what I'm going to be going for.  

perfect for officers that pilot chicken walkers.

Well, we also know where else the Alliance got their rank insignia from now too - you've seen it, you can't un-see it!

https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=152841
 
You’re in the clear, according to these WWII reenactors.

Has anyone ordered from SM Wholesale?    I ordered some (expensive) boots from them a couple weeks ago.    About a week ago my order status link in my email stopped working.     I emailed them through their website and got no response.    Yesterday I called one of their two numbers and a guy answered and said he couldn't check my status because he was in Mexico, and advised me to call the other number on the site and text it if necessary.     I called the number and it went straight to voice mail.    I then texted it and it was read yesterday but I got zero response.
 
I really want those boots if they are going to follow up with the order, but I'm concerned and sitting here looking at the Paypal dispute path as well.   I don't want to lose $300 to con artists.

So nothing like TLJ then 

I met the nazi cast once. Herr flick, Helga and Lt. Gruber. Really nice people, not very nazi like at all They also have their costumes on, and if I stand next to them with my black officer costume I don`t look very nazi anymore.

Agreed. Most of the problem stems from people being ignorant. To illustrate the absurdity of this let me tell you about my Halloween a few years ago.
I love historical reenactment and I have participated for years in both 14th century medieval (SCA) and Civil War living history groups. This makes it very easy to win costume contests at bars come Halloween. So a few years ago I don my full uniform as a sergeant major with the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry, the heroes of little round top. Now EVERYONE knows that the 20th Maine were part of the 5th Corps, Army of the Potomac and wore on their uniforms a red cross. Right? You knew that. Yeah, I knew you did.

So here I am sporting a completely authentic Union Army uniform in a Northern state (Wisconsin) complete with accurate markings. A friend comes up to me and says, "I can't believe you're wearing that! You're Jewish!" I ask her what she is referring to and she points to the red division cross on my bummer cap and says, "You're wearing a Nazi uniform!"
Really, what can you say to that? At some point, we just have to enjoy our love of Star Wars and not be concerned with other peoples ignorance of what is a Nazi uniform or not. My recommendation is to do your best to educate people who may accidentally be offended by our costumes.
If you see someone who is obviously giving you the stink eye because they believe that you are dressed as one of the most hated militaries in modern history, put on a smile and initiate a dialogue.
Use basic openings like, "Hi, I know that look! (insert friendly laugh) And to answer your question, no, this is not a Nazi uniform! It is actually a costume from the original Star Wars trilogy in the 1970's and 80's."
Be forearmed with knowledge to allay their unease. Let them know that the Star Wars costumes more closely resemble World War I British uniforms and that most of the military costumes of that period had a very similar cut and style.
And lastly, always, always, always, carry propaganda from the 501st that details the many wonderful aspects of our organization from the fundraising for charity to the deep friendships that develop because of our Love of Star Wars.
In short, every person we educate and help to see us in a better light is another ally in the crowd come parade day that may correct the person next to them when they say, "Why are there Nazis in the parade?"

Its the flares on the pants I tell you ... the flares

I always thought they were also quite similar to the Russian and British militaries of WWII. They were considered "Empires" as well.

Check interstait on Etsy - i get all my rank bars from him and he seems to have a ton of them


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I know how some feel about depictions of rank outside of the film canon, but I think most of us will appreciate the latest installment of Blue Milk Special:
http://www.bluemilkspecial.com/comic/that-damn-insignia/

Same 

When I saw the title I thought this was going to be something about Scout Troopers hahaha

Looking for a janitor?
 
And didn't you see all those cans of cleaning agent the scanning crew pull out of the big blue box?!

You both are a case for the ISB  

Hard to say, I've aways been a fan of the villains in movies and fiction. The Empire, the Romulans, Jafar, Nilfgaard.
 
As others have said above, perhaps it's the 'break from reality' element. Where's the fun in playing a smiley goody-two-shoes when you can be a snarky, frowning bad guy all in good fun?  
 
And it helps when you have Peter Cushing as the main representative of the Imperial Officers you see on screen!

And of course The Imperial March

In my opinion, the Republic became too corrupt and disorganised like some Republics can be such as the Roman Republic in our universe, the Empire overall was looking at unity of the galaxy under one order. I like the fact that the Empire from the perspective of ordinary citizens was overall a regime, to promote peace and order after the bloody Clone Wars and that's to me why I like the Imperial side. It's more uniformed and more efficient compared to the Republic era and the costumes overall reflect this. 
The rise of the Galactic Empire is very similar to the fall of the Roman Republic and rise of the Empire which is also something I am interested in .

The KOTOR2 on Steam does have a lot of the cut material restored, or at least it can be through the workshop.
 
Also, I just realized we know each other Shawn, or should I say, tovarisch?

My cousin gave me that shirt for Christmas. “Triple fandom treason!” quoth I.

I wanted to costume a female character, but for OT I'd either have to do Princess Leia (with all her clothes on) or Slave Leia. Or Mon Mothma, but I have long hair. Padme was already out because I'm broke, Rey was out because of the weird hairdo, and Jyn was out because I thought there would be a lot of people dressed like her at DragonCon 2017. So, that left me with the First Order and the Empire. First Order went flying out the window because my grandparents lived through WWII. And at 5'2", I am way too short for Vader or a TK. My grandma actually said she liked my uniform (after I got it from CosplaySky).