Padme's Packing Gown

Padme's Packing Gown

Or, how I spent a lot of my free time in August. : ) It started with an invite to a friend's 40th birthday party. A THEMED birthday party, where guests were encouraged to dress up. I was SO in!!! Could it be any more up my alley???  The theme was Star Wars. I'm not a Star Wars fan; I'm sure I must have seen some of the movies, but I don't remember them. I websurfed my favorite movie costume sites to look for costume ideas. I settled on the Padme packing gown from Episode 2 before I went to bed that night. (The gown is referred to as "the packing gown" because in the one scene she wears the gown, she is packing to leave for Naboo.) The gown is in the one movie for about 5 minutes, so it's not exactly iconic except maybe if you are an uber fan. ; ) But I loved it on first sight.  I started planning immediately for the costume, and also start watching some of the movies. I had Episode 1 on DVD, so I watched that, and ordered Episodes 2 and 3.  I am STILL waiting for 4, 5, and 6!!! I love John Williams, he is one of my favorite composers, so of course I've loved the movies so far.  I would have opted to do a Queen Amidala costume for the party, except I only had about a 3 week lead time, and that just wasn't enough time for the elaborate headresses. (Which isn't to say I won't attempt them in the future!) In any case, I have blogged the details of the entire construction, and will put that together with the pictures and release the making of blogs soon, but now that the party has come and gone, I wanted to at least share my latest costuming project.

I made every component of this from scratch, including the armbands, hair pieces, jewelry, and the chest placard. It is, without a doubt, one of my favorite costumes, and was a joy to make.

Close up of the embroidered chest placard. I REALLY wish I had more time to work on this; I totally fudged the middle part. I only tacked the pacard to the vest, so I could remove it and finish it. Some day, lol ; )

The original gown from the movie:

I still love it! And I hope there are more Star Wars parties in my future! (Except we all know I'd just make another costume anyhow, I super love the red Queen Amidala outfit. ; )

 

The making of the Padme Gown Blog Posts:  Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 The Making of the buttons Part 4 The Making of the hair forms Part 5 The Making of the head jewelry The Making of the armbands Part 6

Comments

dm
You nailed it! I bet no other costume came close to the quality.
Shannon
So, only one other adult was in a costume, and a few kids... I kinda thought that might happen, and I figured I was going a little overboard, but I NEVER miss a chance to dress up!!! : ) Thank you!!! : )
Michael
You are freaking amazing. LOL
Shannon
Haha, thank you!!!! And we SERIOUSLY are going to have a Star Wars party, LOL!!!!!! : )
diana
i can't believe you made the embroidered piece!!!! i thought you ordered it!
Lona Roberts
Unbelievable... a woman with many talents for sure!
Shannon
Thank you, Lona!! Why I decided to take on a big project in the middle of the capstone is beyond me, but this really was enormous amounts of fun. : )

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