50 Most Iconic Star Wars Costumes

From Return of the Jedi (1983). Image via Lucasfilm/Disney.

9. Emperor Palpatine

Incidentally, for Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious, we could have easily put in shots from AOTC or ROTS, because the costumers for the original trilogy very purposefully didn’t change much of the aesthetic first established in TESB and ROTJ for Sidious (Dressing a Galaxy, 33). In fact, the AOTC robes used the original neck clasp from the first trilogy (33).

In short, why change a good thing? Emperor Palpatine’s black hood and robes tie him to Vader, his apprentice, and to the Sith in general. Notably, Palpatine doesn’t start wearing hoods until his face becomes damaged in ROTS. However, ROTS looks for the chancellor start getting higher collars and darker colors — as Palpatine brings Anakin over to the dark side, his costumes start getting darker as well.

The other major color Darth Sidious employs is red, which he wears in ROTS to address the Senate during the birth of the Galactic Empire. Befitting his identity as chancellor, it incorporates plush velvets, but keeps the hooded robes of the Sith.

The costumes themselves are relatively simple by Star Wars standards, particularly for the prequel trilogy, but it’s the Emperor’s damaged face and yellow eyes that do most of the talking, along with the dark black.