Star Wars: Fit for a Queen



The Phantom Menace: When her life is threatened, Amidala becomes Padmé, the handmaiden. With the ability to remove the Queen's identifying make-up and extravagant gowns, Padmé can easily and discretly complete her transformation from Queen to vigilant bodyguard and blend in with the other handmaidens. The five handmaidens don robes of soft trevella cloth colored with vibrant spectra-fade dye. The oversleeves of the gown are done in classic Naboo style and the hood masks the identities of the handmaidens, so Padmé can travel incognito. With the Queen in a sobre black dress, the handmaidens in their flame gowns provide a startling and beautiful contrast.

Design: While the Queen wore amazinginly complex costumes, the handmaidens' costumes were kept relatively simple. As Trisha Biggar explains: "We tried to keep the handmaidens in vertical costumes, with the Queen wearing all kinds of big diagonals and drapery to make her seem bigger than life -- and her handmaidens small and petite." What the Queen was wearing was always kept in mind while designing the handmaiden's gowns, so they would accentuate, not dominate, the Queen.

The Flame Gown was one of the more time-intensive handmaiden costumes. The gowns were originally constructed from while silk and vicose velvet, and each had to be fitted multiple times to the actresses. They were worked on till they were nearly complete, and then taken apart completely. The costumes were then dyed in small pieces, so when the handmaidens stood together, the color levels aligned; this also regulated the amount of dye used throughout the costumes. The gowns were dyed using a technique called ombré dyeing, meaning they were dyed from dark to light, from deep orange to pale yellow. The sleeves, hoods, and sashes were made from a bias-cut red silk crepe. The sleeves were trimmed with antique guipure lace designs dyed to match.

Note: GentleBant of the Royal Handmaiden Society got to wear a Lucasfilm replica of this gown for the Rose Parade in January 2007. Her pictures and analysis can be found here!



Promotional Photos


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Detail Shots


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Screenshots/Stills


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Behind the Scenes

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Concept Art

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