21. Action Padmé on Geonosis
I’ll just go ahead and defend the headline for this entry by pointing to Dressing a Galaxy, which informs us that this outfit did get dubbed the “Action Outfit” for AOTC (74-75). It’s the third of Natalie Portman’s still-probably-not-stipulated-in-her-contract pants outfits on this list, and it’s almost certainly the most famous.
Why? Natalie Portman actually gets to bare her midriff and then get in on the action! When she, Anakin, and Obi-Wan get thrown into the colosseum on Geonosis, ostensibly to be killed, she does not sit around and let the nexu eat her or wait for Anakin and Obi-Wan to help rescue her.
No, instead she slips a lock pick into her mouth, then starts kicking at the creature in order to stop it from biting her after climbing atop the column she’s chained to. It does manage to claw some of her top off and injure her, but she’s generally handling the situation pretty well for not having any Force powers and without the blaster she brings onto the planet.
She manages to snag another one, though, for the ensuing aggressive negotiations during the Battle of Geonosis. It actually also evokes Leia’s Hoth outfit, both in terms of hairstyle (though Padmé’s hair is, as per usual, more drawn back than Leia’s) and in the use of white with silver accents.