STAR WARS APPRECIATION WEEK ➤ Costumes ★ Padmé Amidala  (pt 1)

STAR WARS APPRECIATION WEEK: Day 2: Costumes (insp.)

STAR WARS CELEBRATION ANAHEIM 2022 ART SHOW “The Senator’s Wardrobe,” Dawn Murphy

i love it when star wars is ponchos

Costume appreciation series: Padmé Amidala’s wardrobe in Star Wars (1999-2005) dir George Lucas

Costume Design by Trisha Biggar

Star Wars Costumes - Padme Amidala in the prequels / EPISODE 3

Revenge Of The Sith

In this new series of posts we take a look at the costumes that Trisha Biggar designed for Natalie Portman´s "Padme Amidala" in the third prequel installment which hit cinemas back in 2005.

The first thing we immediately notice is a complete absence of red or yellow toned costumes. All of Senator Padme Amidala´s gowns in this movie are in light, dark and metallic blue hues, there´s lots of purple, indigo, green with some earthy brown... and of course one last white gown to connect this final prequel movie to the first OT movie (more on that much later).

In "Revenge Of The Sith" Natalie was sadly somewhat relegated to third row while Ewan and Hayden got to up the ante to the max. Of course her character wasn´t able to do much physically due to the twin pregnancy that needed to last throughout the film, and was meant to be hidden as long as possible with huge gowns.

But then George Lucas also decided to cut the most crucial political and interpersonal scenes he had shot with her. Namely those which showed Padme actively founding the rebellion together with Bail Organa, Mon Mothma and the Delegation of 2000. And how she was now standing up against her own former advisor Palpatine as she saw that he was dismantling the senate, letting democracy go to hell and creating his long envisioned Empire.

This exact legacy - that of being a leader of the rebellion and outspoken politician - would later be carried on by her own daughter Leia. Because of this it would have been important to see Padme lay the foundation for the future before her untimely and tragic demise.

Another crucial change that "Revenge Of The Sith" underwent was that an entire subplot supporting the main "tragedy" was ultimately thrown out - one that would have actually added even more weight, drama and deeper meaning to Anakin´s fall into darkness. The additional storyline in that original script showed a very different dynamic in the relationships between Anakin, Obi-Wan and Padme, and would have been helpful for everyone´s personal arcs. We shall cover that one in another post.

With all that said, cutting those scenes meant once more that some quite outstanding costume designs never made it into the final theatrical cut of a Star Wars film. Or we only got to see them very briefly; definitely not long enough to take in all their beauty and amazing details.

Now let´s start with the costume that I personally like to call the "Ani, I´m pregnant" cloak.

It was not necessarily a surprising move by the costume, hair and make up department that for this reunion scene between the newly expectant parents they´d have Padme sport the two-buns-hairstyle. Which we would then of course see on Princess Leia in the later timeline.

The cloak is made of deep purple/indigo velvet and it appears very simple, but if one takes a closer look one can see an interesting pattern on the fabric. Almost like tiny leopard spots.

The golden embroidery on the side of one shoulder and reaching down the back is also very pretty and eye catching.

Padme wears a dress underneath this cloak that will reappear later in the movie (it´s the Blue Linen Dress), but which we cannot see in this particular scene as the two starcrossed lovers are hidden in the shadows of a big column.

In the next two scenes of Anakin and Padme together we see her in her night gown as she tells her husband about her plans to give birth in the lake country on her home planet Naboo. Later in the night Anakin wakes up sweaty and panting due to having had a nightmare of Padme dying in childbirth; Padme leaves the comfort of her bed and tries to calm him down while they stand outside on the balcony terrace of her apartment.

I found a description of Padme´s night gown which reads as follows:

"Full sleeveless bias-cut floor-length gown with six spaghetti straps of a silk or silk-like charmeuse in a light blue with shades of steel, lavender or aqua.

The gown is cut into several panels to create five vertical lines of heirloom faggot stitch that fan out from the top center front to the hem.

The drape is attached at the back neck, then is folded and pinned at the hip line and the calf line by small drop of three silvery pearls to create a waterfall-like effect.

Large Art-Nouveau-like butterfly-shaped brooch of silver wire on a flat, thin base in a light blue with shades of steel, lavender or aqua, decorated with five silvery pearls. The brooch is affixed to the center front neckline; radiating from each side are three strands of silvery pearls of different lengths that sweep around the upper arms to be tacked at the center back neckline."

Here a closeup of the brooch:

It is a very romantic and feminine night gown with a hint of "lingerie", which looks quite flattering on a pregnant young woman. Because I feel that it still emphasizes her sexiness rather than her impending "motherhood". If one didn´t know that Padme is pregnant, one wouldn´t be able to tell for sure in this scene. You would simply think that she put on this lovely silky piece to look the most beautiful and sensual for her husband, whom she has missed during those long months of being away and fighting in the Outer Rim sieges.

I highly doubt however that it´s truly comfortable to sleep in for an entire night with all those strings of pearls around the body and the metal brooch across the chest :/

Next post coming up soon...

(left: Princess Olga Orlova photographed for the ball of 1903, right: Padmé)

(left: prima ballerina Anna Pavlova in traditional kokoshnik for a photo shoot, right: the kokoshnik-inspired headpiece for Padmé’s refugee disguise)

(left: Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna in traditional dress of nobility, right: concept art for Padmé’s refugee disguise)

So, the more I think about the kokoshnik they used for Padmé’s costume, the more I think about the symbolism present in the design

The кокошник (kokoshnik), is a traditional Russian headdress that many of us may already be familiar with - but what I find interesting is the reason why it was traditionally worn by women, and how that ties into a representation of Padmé’s past, while also foreshadowing her future.

These headdresses were worn for a variety of reasons (festivals, status, holidays, etc), by many different women, and at many different time periods throughout history. Most notably, it was often worn by newly married women, who were sometimes expected to wear it from the time of their marriage to the birth of their first child (though traditions and styles varied by region and time period).

As Anakin and Padmé set off on their journey, ultimately to fall in love and secretly marry, I wonder if perhaps the headdress represents their coming marriage as well as a hint towards the birth of Luke and Leia?

The gown is also interesting because it isn’t just Russian traditional clothing, but the clothing of nobility and court, specifically - possibly a nod to Padmé’s past as queen of Naboo and her status at the time of their first meeting.

Maybe I’m reading too much into it, who knows, but it’s interesting to think about?

HELMETS OF STAR WARS | via Topps

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Now, this is a story all about how My life got flipped-turned upside down There was an invasion and a gungan and some boy was there, too, and I'll tell you bout the time I was the Queen of Naboo.

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