ashleywick Going to miss you girls - come to NY soon #moroccanmoments @asmallworld @alabama__worley @l-atitude(x)
fit for a queen : throne room gown
“Because we were going to have one actress playing a dual role in the film, we had to design costumes for her as the Queen that would serve to hide her identity.” The complexity and size of the dress, however, lead to a difficult, involved construction. McCaig suggested to George Lucas that they design a dress with ‘lanterns’ in it, and while Lucas responded skeptically, he allowed the dress to be attempted. Consequently, for eight weeks and for a cost of $60,000 the costuming department strived to make this dress work. Construction began with an undergarment shaped like an ice-cream cone that was fitted perfectly to Natalie Portman. Several layers of canvas were needed to not only maintain the bell shape, but to support the weight of the wires and lights connected to the batteries necessary to light-up the dress. And while the costume was originally going to be velvet, lighting issues mandated a change to silk. The headdress was a complex construction as well. Intricate gold work covered the headdress while vintage red lace was used as an overlay on the blade-shaped side panels. Similar to the Eastern influence of many of the other TPM gowns, Trisha Biggar felt this ensemble had a “a sort of Chinese Imperial feel.”
