The best Luke Skywalker outfit is the khaki fatigues he wears while training on Dagobah and fighting Vader on Bespin. I am not accepting any arguments on the matter.
The best Rey outfit is the Supremacy throne room fight outfit. Again, I am not accepting arguments on this.
Both of these outfits are their secondary outfits in their second/middle films.
Luke had his Hoth rebel crew and snow speeder pilot garb before Janitor Luke was really featured. Please keep up, Luke Skywalker looks exactly like a janitor in the khaki fatigues, I’ve been calling this outfit Janitor Luke for years. We see it briefly before he changes into the snow speeder uniform and the medical droids bids him well wishes. This is his last outfit of the film, unless you really want to count the bacta tank look and the hospital recovery gown at the end.
Meanwhile, Rey sports the same outfit that she wore at the end of her first film at the beginning of her second film. With the addition of a rain poncho in some scenes, or losing the outer vest in other scenes. Rey changes into the “battle outfit” at the climax of the film, and it remains unchanged until the end, save a few cuts and bruises she earned in the fight.
Both outfits represent their journey, a hero’s journey.
These two outfits are not similar in style at all, sure they both have a belt with a holster and blaster, and the same lightsaber. But that’s where the big similarities end. Except one. These two outfits are the most ‘grey’ toned looks that they wear throughout their journeys. Grey has always symbolized something in between two absolutes.
Both of them were struggling to find their path within this second film. Both of them literally went to an unfindable/forgotten planet in order to seek out a teacher to learn about themselves. Then they both leave the teacher upon learning something that will happen in the future and fly off unprepared into the thick of the fight. But hey, this doesn’t mean the similarities are a bad thing. It’s all part of building the hero’s journey.
Rey’s journey is not a carbon copy of Luke’s journey.
Luke ultimately loses that fight to Vader. Vader didn’t recruit Luke, and Luke didn’t kill him. No one succeeded in their goals here.
Rey goes to Kylo with the intent to turn him good. Kylo wanted to turn her to the dark. They may have gotten rid of Snoke, but neither of them again succeeded in their ultimate goal at the time.
For both of them at this point, they work towards learning the most they can about the Jedi. The next costumes for both of them could not be more of a jump away from their grey looks. Luke shows up in all black the next time we see him, and Rey shows up in all white the next time we see her. Both, don’t make any sense for them.
Rey is still working through finding herself, sure it’s been almost a year since the events in the throne room but she’s not a perfect Jedi as she still battles the darkness in her. She should never have been dressed in all white.
Luke is also still working on himself in his next outfit. All black, and mysterious. Look here Luke, we all knew that you’d be good and wouldn’t turn dark. Ever. Not your style. The decision to put him in all black for the last film, zero sense.
On a journey of finding yourself, which is what Luke’s story and Rey’s story centers around, you’re in a constant struggle to figure out what really is working best for you. Clothes are the first thing to represent what you’re feeling and what decisions you’re making. The choice to put both of them in neutral tones in the middle films was the best decision in the entire production process.
I do wish that the neutral tones continued on to the last film, at least for the beginning parts to show that they’re still working out their life and haven’t figured it out yet. Luke and Rey are far from perfect, and Janitor Luke and Battle Rey are the best representations of them.
