50 Most Iconic Star Wars Costumes

39. Queen Amidala in the Office

As part of my research for this massive undertaking, I acquired a copy of Dressing a Galaxy, which I have already referred to many times and will do so many more times. In the back of the book, there’s a visual reference guide to every costume worn in the first six films, arranged by character. Not counting robes and shawls as separate costumes, Padmé Amidala has 39 costumes, 41 with the robes and shawls. It does not count her handmaidens’, even when they are posing as her, either.

I bring this up here because this costume is absolutely gorgeous, and yet it doesn’t rank higher because we see it for one scene. The young queen wears this to sit in the office before she addresses the Galactic Senate in TPM, then she changes for the address, and then she changes after the address. The overall effect is one of opulence, but there’s also no time to let any of these visually arresting looks sink in.

(This will probably not be the first time I complain about this.)

Now to the actual costume. You can see the obvious influences from Japanese kimono, down to the wide obi and under-robes in coordinating colors. This costume is also about the lightest thing she wears in TPM when discussing palette, aside from the celebration gown she wears at the end.

Notably, this look influenced Queen Apailana’s funeral wear from ROTS at Padmé’s funeral, as noted in Galaxy, which is why it gets a place on this list (48).