The Amazement Behind Star Wars' Costumes!

By Shrey Sankalp

Star Wars has been around for as long as anyone can remember with the very first film premiering all the way back in 1977. The astonishing storylines of epic battles in space and the emotional impacting characters in a galaxy far far away have left fans hooked for decades. The adventures aren't even close to coming to an end after the release of a new Star Wars trilogy in 2015 with one more film set to come out next year and even the release of two anthology films telling different yet vital stories in the galaxy far, far, away. There's still much more to come in the nearby future because after Disney's purchase of Lucasfilm, they're doing their best to provide for the fans.

Now, what's the fascination behind the Star Wars saga? The idea that one man, George Lucas, had a spark of imagination that led to the creation of an entirely different galaxy is mindblowing. Though, it's just the galaxy itself, the different cultures in those galaxies with the immense amount of different species that have been created. Those cultures are best represented in their costumes. There are many costumes that go around in the Star Wars universe, whether with the main characters or in the background.

Han Solo's Space Cowboy Costume!

It's not hard to imagine the concept George Lucas was aiming towards when creating the character of Han Solo and how Han Solo's costume defines his character. Many of the Star Wars costumes fans see on-screen, while they represent the characters in completely foreign planets, are actually inspired by historical and present costumes and outfits people may be familiar with. For example, Han Solo's costume is completely inspired by old Western culture with the notorious gunslinging cowboys. Han Solo's costume has the vest, the boots, and the gun holster on his side to create the perfect space cowboy costume.

The only accessory his Star Wars costume may be missing is a cowboy hat which, for sure, would be something exciting to see while he's in shootouts with Stormtroopers. Han Solo's costume is also a part of his attitude, he doesn't just dress as a space cowboy, Han Solo is a space cowboy. With his fearless and confident attitude, Han Solo might as well be kicking the doors open to every bar he walks into, just like those old Clint Eastwood films.

What's Cooler Than a Samurai Monk?

When envisioning the Jedi Order, George Lucas looked for nobility and wiseness in the Jedi and that was a factor that must be represented in the Star Wars costumes of the Jedi. To find the inspiration for the costumes in the first couple of drafts in designs, George Lucas went back to 1956  for his ideas, specifically from a Japanese film named Seven Samurai. The costumes in the film gave George Lucas a spark of interest when imagining how to design the Jedi costumes, not just with the robes and the lightsabers but also with their culture.

Now more on the culture part, another factor that helped George Lucas with the Star Wars costumes and the religion itself, he dabbled in the beliefs and attire of monks. Jedi, very similar to monks seek peace and balance while also maintaining themselves and their mindsets. A famous requirement of being a Jedi that was inspired by monks is their chastity and the refusal to marry, this belief is said to be that if they were to allow themselves to fall in love, it would interfere with their emotions and judgment. After watching every Star Wars film, you can feel the vibe that emits from the Jedi's costumes from Luke, Obi-Wan's, and even Yoda's costume and their costumes represent who they are and what they stand for. Each Star War costume has had some sort of inspiration from cultures we are familiar with today and the history of all Star Wars costume is much more in depth than you think.

The Pure Evil Design of Darth Vader's Costume!

In Revenge of The Sith, A New Hope, and Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars fans have seen the darkness and ruthlessness in the Sith Lord known as Darth Vader. The heavy breathing combined with the full black mechanical suit and the long black cape, everybody was aware that he was the bad guy with no light in him. When creating a character such as this, it's important to find the perfection in a costume design that would perfectly embody what this character stands for. While behind-the-scenes, it was a process when hitting the drawing board, the Darth Vader costume we know today is the most classic and greatest design. The inspiration for Darth Vader's costume wasn't too difficult to find as George Lucas, who is known to look at history for his ideas, had to look at all of the evil embodiments in the past.

For Darth Vader's costume, the most vital part, his helmet, actually came from the Nazis. History will always remember the Nazis as one of the worst plagues to ever be brought on to the Earth. When even looking at the uniforms worn by SS soldiers in the museum, you imagine nothing but pure evil. So why not take the inspiration from those uniforms and combine it with the darkest person in the galaxy. That's exactly the idea that floated around in creating the part of Darth Vader's costume that stands out the most. Not only Darth Vader's costume but his army, the Stormtroopers, were named and inspired by the German Stormtroopers in World War I. This unforgettable Star Wars costume will always remain to be a perfect classic in movie history.

The Beauty Behind The Royalty of The Star Wars Universe!

In the Star Wars prequels, with the humongous amount of different costume designs, one variety of different costumes for one character was that of Queen Amidala, best known as Anakin Skywalker's wife, Padme. The many dresses and different concepts for Padme's costume in different scenes throughout the prequels scream fashion, culture, and art. Padme's costume went through possibly the most intense process when imagining the different designs and that's something clearly displayed in the different finished results. This is in no way surprising as well when recognizing the role of Padme in Star Wars. As a queen, Padme's costumes had to represent royalty in the best way. Queens are supposed to stand out, shine and a give off a presence in the room. That's what the costume designers and George Lucas hoped to achieve and that's exactly what was seen on-screen throughout the prequels.

The Star Wars costume designers that were putting together many of Padme's costumes looked to "Eastern royalty and pre-Raphaelite models" for the basis of their designs. Some of the Star Wars costumes even took months to put together but every piece of fabric is so well detailed that at every angle of each costume, it will leave fans and fashion artists in awe.

There's Still More Many Star Wars Costumes to Come!

The design process for all of these Star Wars costumes and more were carefully and patiently carried out and definitely wasn't done with ease. Even tho the steps in production were vigorous, the finished costumes gave fans ten cinematically beautiful films. There's still a lot more to look forward to with Disney having a lot of future Star Wars films in talks and in motion. So make sure to stay tuned and ready to dive down more in the depth into the galaxy, far, far, away!