As my birthday falls the day after Star Wars day, I started a tradition of recreating a Star Wars dress each spring, with a practical twist.
The first year, I decided to start the tradition the morning of, which resulted in a shabby throw-together of Leia’s Cloud City outfit. In 2022 and 2023, I chose from Padme’s extensive wardrobes, both on-screen and in concept art, and created a dress inspired by the Lake gown and one based on a concept art, which I suspect may have been an early idea for her Picnic gown. (See here)
This year I decided to make some updates to the concept dress, which I generally refer to as the Spring dress.
The Design & Fabrics
I replaced the open neckline with an inset of the rose gold chiffon, backed by the dusty rose lining.
The sleeves are bishop sleeves with elasticized wrists and can be worn full-length or pushed above the elbow. Originally, I planned to replicated the dotted sleeves using beading, but I’ve decided to leave it off in both iterations. I also left the sleeves the natural color, rather than dyeing it the deeper mustard tone.
As you can see, I also originally planned on a decorative tie waist that I could put over the dress to give the fit I prefer; I may add that and all the beadwork at the neckline and sleeves next year. I replaced the off-the shoulder puff with eyelet trim, which reminds me vaguely of Princess Diana’s wedding dress.
Unfortunately, I barely documented the creation process, but I do have screenshot of all the fabrics purchased from Fabric Supplier on Etsy.
I always try to keep my fabric choices under $5 a yard, which is difficult to do. The fabric at Fabric Supplier was inexpensive and shipping was free, which is always a plus!
The pattern-drafting was fairly simple: I drafted the bishop sleeves with unbalanced fullness from a vintage pattern-drafting book I thrifted a number of years ago. The body of the dress is based on the combination of a long-sleeved tee and my favorite skirt at the time, done by simply laying them on top of the fabric and cutting out around them.
Accessories
I created two pearl strands for my hair, not original to the Star Wars concept art, but something I thought would add to the simple base (I may also have been turning it into a dress from an unwritten Ransom spin-off).
Using crystal pearls in several colors, shapes, and sizes, interspersed with gold crystal seed beads, I slipped these all on bendable beading wire, attaching it to a pair of veil clips, using the holes meant for thread. I wound these through my hair for the photo shoot, but I also had the pink jacquard ribbon as a diadem, per the Star Wars concept.
Lastly, there’s the satin shantung brooch, which, while I made it a little wonky, has the Naboo insignia marked in pink fabric marker. Embroidery would be fantastic to do on an upgrade, but for now, since I haven’t worn the brooch outside the photo shoot, I’m leaving it as is.
Updates
This year’s updates mostly comprised of adjustments to the originally-crooked pleats at the neckline in front and back, as well as the lace trim, and adjusting areas of the hem before restitching it.
Side Notes
Surprisingly, I didn’t have much of the frequently-mentioned trouble with chiffon, which could have something to do with it being polyester, versus something like silk.
Another observation is that it’s the most comfortable of all the dresses I’ve made, being lightweight with a cotton under layer. It is still semi-sheer, so I still wear a petticoat and tee underneath (which saves on wash and wear!), but that’s generally how I wear dresses anyway.
Possible Future Updates:
Beading on the neckline and sleeves, the waist tie, remaking the brooch, and/or the purse I originally designed to replace the tie/brooch.
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