The Threads Thread: Clothing & Costumes in AOTC

I just love the way Padme?s hair in AOTC resembles Leia?s sweet roll hairstyle from ANH. I think it is a neat little parallel from mother to daughter

 

I would love to have seen the look on Jimmy Smits' face when he went into wardrobe and the costumer said "See this giant, ultimate turtleneck? Guess who's wearing THIS in the movie!" Yikes! Run for your lives!

I can see Jimmy taking George aside and saying, "hey, George, can we talk? What's up with the giant turtleneck?"

 

[image=http://www.starwars.com/databank/character/bailorgana/img/eu_bg.jpg]

Please click on the above picture and get a good look at the expression on Jimmy Smits' face. He seems to be saying, "I'm in a Star Wars film. This thing will be view, analysed, and critiqued for the rest of history. And I'm wearing this."

P.S. I like your new signature, Darthkarma

 

LOL @ rsterling78!

 

Yet again, I find myself in the minority. Hold onto your socks folks.

I actually really like Bail Organa's outfit, turtle-neck colar and all. I think it looks nice and ornate. It's made in great colors. To me, it just has an air of nobility about it.

 

[image=http://www.costumes.org/history/corel498/498015.jpg]
The Knight with His Hand on His Breast by El Greco, circa 1570
(60 Kb); Oil on canvas, 81 x 66 cm (31 7/8 x 26"); Museo del Prado, Madrid

[image=http://www.starwars.com/databank/character/bailorgana/img/eu_bg.jpg]

I thought that the Bail Organa costume looked good and was an interpretation of late 16th Century Spanish noble garb. To have lace would have been way close to our world, so instead the wool layers were built up with that texture. Actually, the first time I saw AOTC I thought it was lace and Bail's costume immediately reminded me of this El Greco painting I have linked above. Like other noble SW costumes, it also has a Japanese influence, here in the over robe and the obi-like belt.

Padme's blue senatorial gown (the one she wears when meeting Yoda) is also from the same time period. Padme and Bail could walk into the Elizabethan court and be accepted in that garb.

 

i wanne be an extra.
[image=http://www.starwars.com/episode-ii/imageattack/2002/08/img/ep2-1a-3794.jpg]

mommie i fallen and can't get up!

[image=http://www.starwars.com/episode-ii/imageattack/2002/07/img/ep2-1a-29737]

So hot
[image=http://www.starwars.com/episode-ii/imageattack/2002/07/img/ep2-1a-20252.jpg]

 

Bail Organa, hon, the outfit isn't that bad! I think the velvet trim is classy

 

Wow, Falls_the_Shadow, thanks for pointing that out. I knew there was a reason why it seemed like an outfit of great nobility to me, but I just couldn't place it. (My brain doesn't like to work sometimes.) Thanks again!

Hooyah!

 

Falls the Shadow - Bail Organa's costume is appropriate for his character, you made an interesting comparison with costume 16th-century nobility. And I think GL wants to express the grace and elegance of the Republic through the costumes the characters wear.

 

Jedi-girl, given Lucas's love for research, I'm sure there's something to that 16th century connection.

 

Hmmm...why doesn't Princess Leia wear that 16th Century style of clothing in ANH?

Princess Leia: Governor Tarkin, I should have expected to find you holding Vader's leash. I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board.

Tarkin: What in God's name is that ridiculous dress you're wearing? I'm surprised to you could get in the elevator with that thing on!

 

Princess Leia: Governor Tarkin, I should have expected to find you holding Vader's leash. I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board.

Tarkin: What in God's name is that ridiculous dress you're wearing? I'm surprised to you could get in the elevator with that thing on!

Hooyah!

rsterling78, that's so great. I swear, you have such great wit!

 

What's up with that grotesque thing Palpatine was wearing when he was addressing the Senate? The sleeves were bizarre looking.

 

You're welcome, KosmicKnine.

And now for something completely different. I think I have found a photo of Paulo.

[image=http://billslater.com/elvis_1968.jpg]

[image=http://www.sgtfretsurfer.com/Grilled-Sarlacc/c/padme/dinner_07.jpg]

Wouldn't they make a cute couple?

 

My favorite clothing/costumes were/are all of Padme's/Natalies. She had 18 costumes and wow were they beautiful.I wish I had something like that I would were it all the time (even to school! although I'd get in trouble since we have a dress code)But if I had to say which one was my all time favorite I probably couldn't tell ya!

 

I definitely know which Padmé outfit was my favorite! It's the pinkish/peachish one that she wears at the lake country when she and Anakin first kiss. I love how that dress flows around her body like it's made out of wisps of cloud or a babbling brook flowing around her.

Hooyah!

 

You're right. That outfit is sexy, feminine, and very alluring.

And the perfect outfit in which to chase Shaaks!

 

That gown Padme' wore on the terrace on Naboo when Anakin was meditating...woof!
One of the sexiest costumes ever,
maybe even more than the leather outfit by the fireplace.

 

Even I was impressed by Padme's terrace gown, whoa! Best outfit in the whole movie. Really!

Just looked carefully at Bail Organa's pic--that's no turtleneck! It's the textured foam packing material we pull off the bottoms of the cardboard boxes that some of the electronics gear we get arrives in. They didn't even bother tailoring it, just wrapped a couple of sheets around his wrists and tied another around his neck!

Me, I'm partial to Poggle's skirt. Just the mental image of him sitting slowly down on his hocks...having to reach behind with one hand to lift that skirt and smooth it back... Scarey. And how about that Separatist with the long ring-laden neck and the horn 'o plenty hat? Try picturing the shape of the head that could fit INSIDE that hat. Even scarier...

 

That IS scary!

 

I really liked Padme's waredrobe.These are my top 3 that I really liked and wished I had.

1.
[image=http://www.natalieportman.com/images/movies/swep2/nataspadme.jpg]

2.
[image=http://www.natalieportman.com/images/movies/swep2/g-10.jpg]

3.
[image=http://www.natalieportman.com/images/movies/swep2/side_bg.jpg]

 

Kuna Tiori - if you want to fall back on reality you could say they all reeked bad, but this is in a galaxy far far away, if you're on a desert planet that has to have 'farmers' grope for water - I doubt there are showers readily available on every street corner. But I betcha there are dry chemical cleansers available. We have them in this galaxy and time. They don't work well, but they are available. So while I'm sure the Jedi reeked from time to time - they're on field missions not field trips, the ultra manners of the upper classes (Naboo/Coruscant) would refrain from making comment, while the lower denizens would understand, IMO.

The Jedi habits worked for me, full of tradition and layered, simple care fabrics. Now as for the cloaks. In TPM, Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan/Maul all ditched the cloaks before slugging it out. Neither Qui-Gon nor Obi-Wan had time to ditch them during the fight in the Nemoidian ship. Now I can see the Jedi wanting to hang onto their cloaks - they never know where they're going to end up and they may need them for warmth - but remarkably they keep them on while swimming to the Gungan city in TPM - which would have dragged them down considerably - and Obi-Wan strangely keeps his cloak on in his smackdown with Jango in AOTC in the rain. It's dragging him down and you can tell. But they're probably made of some future quick dry or ultra light weight insulating fiber. Still, I think there should be some consistency or common sense there.

Padme's outfits in AOTC once she got to Naboo were just a screaming example of talking out of both sides of her mouth. Girls, back me up here - haven't you done this on a date? Held a 'no touching' attitude, but dressed to kill or at least maim severely? OK, maybe it was just me. Uh huh. Didn't fool me. Didn't fool Anakin either. Padme SHOULD be dressing for action on Naboo. She's had assasination attempts made on her life and she's in heels and ballroom gowns. They're gorgeous and she looks great in them - but hardly practical, no? Normally you would wear jeans and a t-shirt on a picnic, especially where livestock or wild animals are grazing. Watch out for those shaakpats, fleas and ticks! So she reminded me more of the Victorian era picnics where everyone dressed 'appropriately', or think British Empire dressing for dinner even if you're in the wilds. The white jumpsuit was finally action-oriented wear. Her outfits when combined with the picture of what I imagined GL was intending worked for me.

As for the OT, it's a less glorious time. The people exist in an Empire that has less time, care and respect for couture/artistic excesses and traditional dressing. They go for utilitarian looks and quick care. Luke's outfit is essentially sweats, Han is wearing a torn down uniform and Leia is wearing DKNY (or Halston as it were) instead of Versace.

Falls the Shadow - thanks for finding that comparison of Bail's outfit with historical dress. I, too thought Bail's thick collar imitated a 'ruff' in some way, but that a ruff would be too Earth recognizable. His dress looks very galactic-Renaissance and does make the man for me. A politician and a royal.

It worked for me.

 

PadmeLeiaJaina posted this on the Symbolism of the A/A scenes thread, but it fits here too:

Art of Attack of The Clones book. Here are a few little snippets written about Anakin and particularly Padme and the evolution of things with them on Naboo:

While Queen Amidala's Ep 1 costumes emphazised traditional Tibetan and Mongolian designs, Lucas wanted the now-senator Padme to be attired in regal, Elizabethian finery for the new production.

When Padme things of her homeland, she hears the hypnotic cascading of Theed's distant waterfalls. Anakin, returning to the planet he first visited as a boy ten years before, recalls shimmering sunlight and flower-scented air. Naboo is truly an idyllic place for the storybook romance between Anakin and Padme to begin, particularly the remote lake country to which the budding lovers retreat. Anakin knows the Jedi oath forbids attachment: Padme knows her Senatorial demands leave no time for romance- but here, despite all, they share a first kiss.

This seductive outfit (the rainbow dress which the designers point out her hair is designed to look like a sea shell...) was part of the evolution of actress Natalie Portman's character from Ep 1. "Natalie seemed to want to be pretty in this film, and we were happy to oblige her," Ian McCraig smiled.


Unlike the regal and chaste wardrobe actrss NP wore as the Queen in TPM, Ep 2 designs could luxuriate in one of the greatest romances of the SW chronicles. "It's a love story,"McCraig remaked. "There's a lot more of a sexy, seductive element. And so the costumes we were looking at didn't have to hide Natalie this timel they were revealing her. George really loves the genre of romanticism, the Pre-Raphaelite look where whowing skin is more of an art. We leaned heavily toward that, which meant going back to the 20's and 30's, when costumes were very figure-hugging but demure. There was an innocence about that era, and we wanted to capture that."


Of Padme's confession scene outfit "Padme's costume was a mix of tribal and African refernces, with a bit of Iain's 'space nouveau' thrown in. The split sleeves and the way the cloth hangs were from Trisha Biggars knowledge of historical costume."

and finally

In a change from an early script, Lucas decided to end the latest chapter on a celebratory note- the wedding of Anakin and Padme. It's a poignant note, for the future holds none of the carefree bliss the lovers briefly experienced in the pastoral lake country of Naboo. "At one point George said the wedding might be at the center of the conflict, rather than an idyllic moment," McCraig recalled. "So I knew the wedding gown couldn't be too soft, it had to have an edge."

 

Those 3 pictures of Padme' above in her various outfits are the definitive reason
I lost count of how many times I saw AOTC.