What would Star Wars be without the costumes that shape each character's personality and intentions, and transport us into another galaxy? From the black shiny helmet of Darth Vader's to Obi-Wan Kenobi's robe, each Star Wars costume has significance and a story behind.
The Star Wars costumes were inspired from both modern and ancient history. Drawn from Nazi's uniforms, from Buddhists Monks robes, or from classic Western movies, the outfits often represent the intentions of their wearer.
But as often, they happen to have a weird story behind. In Attack of the Clones, Padmé wore a wedding dress made from antique lace bedspread, and Mawhonic's costume was made from pebbles. These are few examples of how the Star Wars costumes are more than costumes.
Laela French from Lucas Museum of Narrative Art disclosed the stories behind the outfits from the legendary space opera. Laela French talked about the styles around the world that inspired the appearances of Darth Vader, Han Solo, Padme Amidala, and more. As we researched we also found funny yarns around the Star Wars costumes.
So we created a list of 7 interesting facts about the Star Wars costumes. Have fun!
7. If you see women who look like Han Solo, it's just normal
Han Solo's looks was drawn from classic Western films. However, its costume fit somehow in the scenery. The creator of the costume, Mollo, used a trick so the outfit made sense in the Star Wars universe. First of all, he did not add a cowboy hat and secondly he used red and yellow layers down the side of Han Solo's leggings.
Laela French thinks that many women dress like Han Solo: “There's a trend where a lot of women wear leggings, tall black boots, then T-shirts and puffy vests. They end up looking like Han Solo.”
What about Darth Vader's darkness?
6. Darth Vader's costume is related to the Holocaust
George Lucas created Darth Vader out of evil and darkness, and the costume had to reflect the evil essence of the dark lord. John Mollo was responsible to bring to life a costume that would represent this dark creature from head to toe.
Artist Ralph McQuarrie created a sketch of Darth Vader's costume – a bloated cloak and lugubrious breathing apparatus. Taking it from there, Mollo combined elements of various costumes with war and evil. The famous black helmet of Darth Vader is directly related with the headgear of the Nazis in WWII. And the breathing apparatus which resembles a gas mask is also suggestive in the context of a dark time in history ruled by Nazis.
What could've happened to C-3PO? On the next page.
5. C-3PO kept on falling apart
The Star Wars franchise started small, with a low budget and the first Star Wars movie, A New Hope was a challenge for Anthony Daniels who portrayed C-3PO. With a tight budget, the costume was poorly built and kept on falling apart every few minutes.
Imagine that. Filming an entire movie with a costume that dismembered every now and then. The shooting developes and concluded with a broken C-3PO costume.
At some point a part from the bottom dismembered and Daniels injured his leg, hence the sequences where he's wearing only the top half of C-3PO.
This costume has disappeared for 30 years. What happened to it all this time?
4. Alec Guinness' Obi-Wan Kenobi robe ended up at random Halloween parties
Alec Guinness portrayed Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: A New Hope and after the shooting was complete, the robe he wore disappeared. 30 years later, the costume was found in the registers of a costume retailer in London. The clerk who was checking the stock of the retailer noticed something strange about it and told his managr.
So they realized that the costume previously rented to the general public as a monk's robe was actually Obi-Wan Kenobi's famous cloak.
The retail company rented the outfit to Universal in 1999 for The Mummy, but mostly it was rented to the general public. After the great discovery the costume was sold at an auction for £54,000 in 2007.
Go on the next page and find what costumes were drawn from Samurai and Monk's culture.
3. Jedi's Star Wars costumes were inspired from Seven Samurai
Akira Kurosawa's 1956 film, Seven Samurai served as inspiration for George Lucas when it came to Jedi's brown, belted robes and mantles. And so the Samurai handling swords turned into Jedi wielding lightsabers. The inspiration for these costumes came also from Buddhist monks in China, Tibet, and Japan.
“Like monks, Jedi are not meant to be married; they're there to serve. There's a uniform to make them look like they belong together,” Laela French concluded. But the Jedi were not the only ones to wear costumes inspired from Samurai culture.
In Episode II, Zam Wessell, a bounty hunter from the planet Zolan wears a skirt that resembles the body armor of ancient Samurai.
Go on the next page to find out how Chewbacca was created.
2. George Lucas' dog inspired him to create Chewbacca
Peter Mayhew plays the role of Chewbacca, and he does it in a costume specially created to embody a half-animal that is also a kind of a civilized alien. Han Solo's Wookie sidekick came to life due to George Lucas' dog. One day, driving to work with his dog Indy in the front seat, Lucas was inspired to create Chewie just by looking at his furry friend Indy.
In the first installments, the furry costume was created from yak fur, and in recent movies from synthetic material. Each hair was sewed in the costume one by one.
Last but not a grandiose costume! Can grandiose be practical?
1. Queen Amidala's Star Wars costumes are sophisticated, yet so simple
Padmé made its first appearance as Queen Amidala in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and her outfits were extremely elaborate. Do you remember? Imagine Natalie Portman putting those costumes on and taking them off, she would spend more time doing so than acting. Well, thing is, they were created so they could be easily be removed.
Natalie could not be anything but relieved. "I wasn't the happiest of people having to wear the Senate costume with the big hairpiece, however. The outfits were made so they could be easily taken on and off because if you have to go to the bathroom at some point during the day, you can't spend five hours for a bathroom break. The hair and makeup usually took about two, two and a half hours, but the costumes took 15 minutes," she said.
