I suppose if the costuming department had no black elastic available they could have painted it black. But since there was so much black elastic in the Stormtrooper, there should have been plenty available. Of course black is not always black. They may have darkened the elastic by painting to better match it to the rest of the costume. Who knows.


It does sound crazy but you can actually paint fabric. In fact they did for the stormtrooper shoes which originally were black. The outer leather and elastic were painted white. But check out the Blu-ray version of Star Wars, and you'll see how well that held up lol. Today you can buy fabric paint which looks and has the consistency of shoe polish (essentially an easy to apply permanent dye).

It is possible. I've pondered this for years. If the shins had elastic straps loved over the boot it would allow a better fit and stop them flapping around. Leather straps are more likely to slip up and down a leather boot. Add to that I haven't seen any proof of any buckle or leather strapping on any photograph .

Elastic strapping it is.