SWFFAQ - Water Gown

Revenge of the Sith: Following her untimely death, Padmé's body is returned to Naboo for a solemn evening funeral. She is dressed in a blue-green underdress and a heavily-sequined cloak, and her hair is adorned with delicate flowers in a fittingly lovely tribute to the former queen.

Design: For the difficult task of creating the funeral gown for one of the main characters, the design team conjured up images of Opelia's death in Hamlet. Natalie Portman commented that the dress is "really really beautiful. I think Trisha wanted to get an ocean sense. Someone said to me that it was very 'Ophelia'. With the flowers and the hair, it does look like I'm drowning." Iain McCaig also noted that the flowers were meant to represent tears. How does one create a such a dress? The time-intensive process including dying and boiling the chiffon underdress to create a very thin fabric. Then, the bodice of the gown was finely smocked, while the skirt was hand-pleated. The cloak was made from a hand-painted devore velvet base, and then many sequins were sewn on and also attached in strips to create the look of flowing water.

To see how a comparison between Padmé and many different representations of Ophelia, click here!