The Best Costumes of the Star Wars Saga

by Cláudio Alves

When I was a child my dad gifted me with the tapes of the original Star Wars trilogy and then took me to see The Phantom Menace when I was just five. Other kids left the theatre thinking of pod races and cool fights, but what most fascinated me were Queen Amidala's astounding costumes. As soon as I got home I started sketching ideas of what other crazy attires she could have worn and an obsession with movie costumes was born. I'd only consider dedicating my college studies to it many years later, but that didn't stop me from filling boxes full of drawings of the Naboo Queen and her mother in a variety of extravagant fashions.

In honor of the end of the Skywalker saga, let's take a look back to the franchise's many chapters in search of its very best costumes. Costume design is one of the few elements where the quality never wavered across nine movies, despite a single costume design nomination and win from the Academy (for the 1977 original).

There was plenty to choose from. To avoid any character dominating the list, the self-imposed limitation is one costume per character. 

Honorable Mentions: The many permutations of the Jedi's classic garb including Darth Maul's black version of it, Snoke's red Pretorian guard, Queen Apailana's funereal splendor and the jacket Finn got from his sexy boyfriend...

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Showbiz History: Dead Poets, The Crown, and Annie Potts' Debut

Happy birthday June 2nd-ers! Here's what was happening in showbiz or showbiz-related history on the day you were born...

1740 The Marquis de Sade is born. Lives on in immortal infamy and morphs into Geoffrey Rush in 2000 for the SAG & Golden Globe nominated Quills. I always forget that that movie WON Best Picture at the NBR and then wasn't even Oscar nominated for Best Picture (a thing that doesn't happen super often.)

1865 The American Civil War reaches a major turning point signalling the end (basically) when the final Confederate army ceases to exist with a surrender in Missississippi. There's a million movies on the matter (well, not that event in particular). The wounds have obviously become reinfected of late, so expect even more.

1904 Athlete and movie star Johnny Weismuller born in Austria-Hungary (in what is now Romania)...

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Say What?! Luke Got Lewks

Chris here. It's reassuring to know that we won't have to just rely on Laura Dern's mauve-haired character to serve us the fashion when Star Wars - The Last Jedi arrives at the end of the year. Mark Hamill is on the cover of Hungary's Mozimania magazine, and is Luke ever giving us a look. Here we get a detailed glimpse at how Luke Skywalker is holding up on that island mountain paradise - and there is a suspicious similarity to his now scar-faced nephew Kylo Ren.

But no matter the brooding, because who knew Hamill would be such a fashion cover girl with this Luke Lewk. In the comments tell us: what's his fashion catchphrase?

Teasing "The Last Jedi"

Click to see the poster largeStar Wars: The Last Jedi opens this December to once again hog all the media attention and all the box office and probably 3 or so Oscar nominations, too. (Here is the new poster to the left.)

The hilariously drama queen thing about the title and Luke Skywalker's pronouncement at the end of the new teaser is that we (i.e. everyone on the planet with any sense) know there will never be a "last" Jedi. Not with literally billions to be made every single year from milking this franchise until no one cares anymore ... an event that surely won't occur in our lifetimes. 

Exhausting as it can be sometimes to live inside a film culture that wants the exact same things annually: two Marvels, two DCs scattered from spring to Fall, a Star Wars movie each Christmas, at least 15 concurrent bi-annual franchises and a few ever-discussed franchises that are infrequent (James Bond for one), Disney has done a bang-up job stoking the fire for annual Star Wars adventures, a fire that would burn bright without any stoking whatsoever!

But they stoke well you must admit. Here is the excellent teaser for The Last Jedi, which is mostly focused on Luke and Rey with a few key shots reminding us of the other players. 

What'cha think? 

Link Came Back

Vanity Fair's Emma Watson cover story (with a really cool photoshoot by Tim Walker that of course is getting flak due to one semi-topless photo)
Daily News JJ Abrams says Mark Hamill will be up for an Oscar for The Last Jedi next year. Uff, we're going there already? (What is it with blockbuster teams especially that like to make these predictions. Remember when Vin Diesel was sure Fast & Furious was going to be a Best Picture nominee?)
Variety a movie theater in London plays a prank, showing a bit of La La Land before a Moonlight screening
Variety a movie theater in Alabama, one of those states that just can't help being a stereotype of itself, won't show Disney's new Beauty & the Beast due to...
TFE ...the earlier announcement that there'd be a gay character 

Playbill Hairspray Live!'s directing duo will reunite for the live version of Bye Bye Birdie -- that's good news as I really think Hairspray Live was by far the best of these productions yet
THR strange cast assembled for what's billed as a romantic drama that has something to do with death. Irreplaceable You will star hotties with star hotties Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Michiel Huisman as well as Christopher Walker and Steve Coogan
i09 filmmakers discussing why video game movies always suck 
/Film Disney may reboot Tron for... Jared Leto. Hrmmm. 

Oscar Crumbs
Jezebel an Oscars story we accidentally didn't cover but for a brief mention on the podcast - Oscar winner Patricia Arquette is understandably upset that Alexis Arquette was left out of the In Memoriam montage 
AV Club Sir Ian McKellen's advice to awards show presenters to avoid the Beatty/Dunaway fiasco 

Off Screen
The Hairpin "Everyone wants to be this raccoon" Amen
Theater Mania Sondheim and Bernadette Peters attend the opening night of the new Off Broadway production of Sweeney Todd, with the theater transformed into a pie shop. The show has already extended its run all the way through December. Wheeee 

Mark Harris's Book Gets a Documentary Version
Yes, I wish we were talking about Pictures at a Revolution (because we can never get enough Oscar lore) but it's his book about Hollywood directors during World War II which is also fascinating. Here's the trailer for Five Came Back which premieres at the end of the month