Padmé Amidala Naberrie's costumes

"I'm Senator Amidala. Welcome to my crib."

Padmé Amidala Naberrie's costumes in the Star Wars prequel trilogy films were crafted by Trisha Biggar and her costume department, with concept artwork by Iain McCaig for all three films along with Dermot Power on Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones. For the films, all but two of the finished costumes in Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace were worn by Natalie Portman as Padmé Amidala Naberrie; those other two were instead finalized for her decoy Sabé, played by Keira Knightley. Portman, a stunt performer, and Verónica Segura all wore Cordé's robes in Attack of the Clones. Further visual looks for Padmé appear in tie-in books, the 2D Clone Wars shorts, 3D The Clone Wars animated series, and Star Wars comic books. Other costumes are described in text without being realized in artwork. Costumes exist for each of Padmé's personas—Padmé Naberrie, Queen Amidala, and Senator Amidala aren't left out.

Padmé's costumes have various in-universe names in one or both continuities via the Visual Dictionary series, The Visual Encyclopedia in the New Canon, or other materials; out-of-universe names from resources like Biggar's Dressing a Galaxy and museum exhibits; plus fans came up with nicknames that may be better known or more recognizable. For added confusion, terms like costume, dress, gown, robes, ensemble, and outfit are often used interchangeably. Costumes aren't known by a singular name, and this wiki isn't concerned with deciding just one is the most formal and accurate. Capitalization is also all over the place thanks to use of all-caps and title case, so for consistency, the headers here are in sentence case.

Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Star Wars Insider

In Insider #44, you talked about your love of fashion. Did you enjoy wearing the Queen's elaborate costumes?

Natalie Portman

I'm so lucky to have been able to wear them. I think they're some of the most beautiful—if not the most beautiful—costumes ever made for film. Trisha Biggar did an unbelievable job, and the people who made the original sketches did too. They did so much research into culture and other civilizations to come up with ideas, and obviously their own innovations. They spent so much time on the costumes, from the people who made the fabrics to people who put it together, and then finally the people who had to actually put it on me. It was just unbelievable, and it really helped me with the character, too—because you carry yourself so much differently when you're wearing that kind of gear.

— Discussing the costumes of Episode I

Throne room gown

The costume is worn throughout Amidala's first scenes. She communicates with the Trade Federation from her throne room before consulting her assembled advisors, and she stands alone and pensive at the palace windows. The throne room gown has three parts:

• a gold headpiece with a skullcap and faceframes,
• wide shoulders/collar piece with an embroidered stole hanging in front, trimmed in dark brown fur,
• and a crimson dress with lights above the flared hem.

Main article: Throne room gown

Black travel gown

aka "Travel Gown I", "Black Travel Dress", "Naboo Escape", "[Black] Invasion [Costume/Gown]", "dark travel gown"; described as "black feathered gown and headdress", "royal gown and headdress"

Flame-colored robes

aka "Flame Handmaiden Costume", "Flame Gown", "Ombréd [Velvet] Travel Gown", "Handmaiden Disguise"

Peasant dress disguise

aka "Tatooine Peasant" costume, "Tatooine Disguise", "Tatooine"; described as "rough-spun peasant clothes"

Lilac visitation outfit

aka "Palpatine Office Outfit I", "Gray Palpatine Office Outfit", "Pre-Senate Address", "Shiraya Fan Headress & Grey Kimono", "Shiraya Gown", "Coruscant Kimono Costume"

Senate gown

Amidala wore the Senate gown for two scenes set on Coruscant, without the cloak in the first and in full costume for her address to the Galactic Senate regarding the Trade Federation's invasion of Naboo. In- and out-of-universe materials both include gold, velvet, and silk taffeta. The costume consists of four pieces:

• the gold-accented headdress (called an escoffiate in-universe),
• a black cloak with peaked shoulders,
• a crimson top robe decorated with embroidered rosettes and trimmed with gold lapels and cuffs,
• and a vibrantly-colored, pleated underdress with beading and a cascading necklace at the collar.

Main article: Senate gown

Foreign residence gown

aka "Palpatine Office Outfit II", "Black Palpatine Office Outfit", "Post-Senate Address", "Black Coruscant Costume", "dark foreign residence gown"

Purple travel gown

aka "Travel Gown II", "Amidala's Traveling Gown", "Return to Naboo Costume", "dark purple traveling dress"

Battle dress (Handmaidens)

aka "Handmaiden Battle Costume"

Battle dress (Queen)

aka "Sabé Battle Dress", "Sabe's Decoy Costume", "Amidala's Battle Costume", "the Queen's battle dress", and (in doll form) "Ultimate Hair Queen Amidala"

Jubilation dress

aka "Parade Gown", "Celebration Gown"

Episode II: Attack of the Clones

"There are a lot of corsets that are very tight, which I'm sure everyone will notice. I didn't really believe it until I wore it. That's what's different about the costumes in Episode II as opposed to Episode I--whereas Episode I was queenly, it was still made for a young girl. Now I'm supposed to be a woman, so we've got a lot of midriff, and a lot of tight corsets."

— Natalie Portman, comparing her costumes in Episodes I and II

Star Wars Insider and StarWars.com reported that 19 outfits had been made for Padmé in AOTC. They may have been counting costumes worn with and without an outer layer (or before/after being torn) as separate designs, and it's unclear if Cordé's was counted as one of Padmé's.

Cordé

aka "Cordé's flowing robes"

Naboo starfighter pilot disguise

aka "N-1 Camouflage", "starfighter uniform disguise" (in all-caps)

Dark velvet dress with gold panel

aka "Senate Costume", "Senate Address", "Velvet Senate Costume"

Beaded indigo gown

aka "Loyalist Committee [Dress/Gown]", "African Elizabethan Outfit", "Chancellor's Office", "Senatorial Dress", "Senatorial gown"

Coruscant nightgown

Packing gown

aka "Gray Apartment Dress"

Thousand Moons disguise

aka "Refugee Disguise", "Gold Travel Costume", "Outland Peasant","Freighter Disguise", "Travel Dress", "P-9"; described as "Thousand Moons young matron's dress", "Style from the Thousand Moons system"

Naberrie family dinner outfit

aka "Naberrie Residence", "Return Home", "Family [Costume/Gown]", "P-6"

Lakeside gown

aka "Pastel Lake [Costume/Gown]", "Lake Country Arrival", "Lake Retreat Arrival Dress"

Summer meadow dress

aka "Meadow Picnic [Costume/Dress]", "Villa Retreat Gown", "Lake Country Meadow", "Meadow Dress", "P-19"

Black corset dress

aka "Corset Costume", "Lake Country Evening", "Lake Retreat Dining Gown with Feathered Cape", "Naboo Dining Gown" "black corset dress with metallic-effect skirt" (in all-caps), "leather-and-lace outfit", "P-7"

Nightgown and smocked robe

aka "Lake Country Morning", "Lake Retreat Nightgown and Smocked Robe", "Naboo Nightrobe"

Tatooine cloak and midriff outfit

aka "Tatooine Homestead Dress I", "Tatooine Arrival" (with cloak)/"Lars Homestead" (without cloak), "Tatooine Homestead Dress", "Tatooine Cloak", "Tatooine Midriff Costume", "P-18"

Tatooine poncho and dress

aka "Tatooine Homestead Dress II", "Lars Homestead Garage", "Blue Tatooine [Costume/Dress]", "Lars' Garage Blue Dress", "embroidered overcoat" (in all-caps), "P-17"

Action outfit

aka "Arena Outfit", "White Battle Costume", "White Geonosis Outfit", "Aggressive Negotiations", "Trip to Geonosis" (with cloak), "Geonosis Arena Battle" (without cloak), "Padmé's action outfit", "Action Girl", "Geonosis Arena Costume", "P-11"

Wedding dress and veil

Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

"Padmé ended up with 12 costumes this time, having in Episode II 18, and in Episode I probably 10 or 11. We initially thought she would have fewer costumes this time but, as always, it worked out there were more."

— Trisha Biggar, July 2003

"I'm pregnant" cloak

aka "'Leia Buns' Cloak", "[Long/Navy] Velvet Cloak", "Midnight-Blue Panne-Velvet Cloak", "Senate Landing"

Steel silk nightdress

aka "Veranda Nightgown", "Steel Blue Silk Nightgown", "Nightgown Twilight"/"Twilight Nightgown"

Burgundy cut velvet robes

"We see Padmé in Bail Organa's office. There's a formal quality required there, and the people she's meeting with are not to be aware that she's pregnant. So for that costume I wanted to have a feel of the ceremonial."

— Trisha Biggar, on the costume's use in a deleted scene

aka "Revelation Gown", "Veranda Sunset", "burgundy velvet costume" (in all-caps)

Peacock gown

aka "Peacock and Brown Ensemble", "Chancellor's Office" "peacock & brown dress" (in all-caps), "peacock gown with brown overcoat" (in all-caps)

Dark daytime dress

aka "[Blue/Navy] Linen [Dress/Gown]", "Black Beaded Gown", "Apartment Day"

Green velvet dress

aka "Green Robe", "Green Devoré Velvet Gown", "Apartment Sunset", "green cut velvet costume" (in all-caps),

Aqua georgette nightgown

aka "Aqua Nightgown", "Aqua Georgette Peignoir", "Apartment Pre-Dawn"

Nightgown and embroidered trim robe

aka "Blue Dressing Gown", "Veranda Afternoon", "dressing gown" (in all-caps), "nightdress and robe" (in all-caps)

Purple Senate gown

aka "Final Senate Appearance" "Senate Chamber", "purple puff-sleeved dress" (in all-caps)

Taupe action outfit

aka "Sleeveless [Brown] Outfit", "Mustafar"

Hospital robe

aka "Birthing [Costume/Gown]", "Polis Massa"

Funeral gown

"I think they call it the 'End Dress'. It's really, really beautiful. I think Trisha wanted to get an ocean sense. Someone said to me that it was very 'Ophelia.' With the flowers and the hair, it does look like I'm drowning."

— Natalie Portman

aka "Water Gown", "End Dress", "Naboo Funeral", "funeral costume" (in all-caps)

During the Clone Wars

Beaded purple gown

Beaded indigo gown from AOTC, but color-shifted and with a simplified silhouette for animation

Ambassadorial robes

Burgundy cut velvet robes from ROTS, minus the pregnancy-concealing crinoline and with more purple; also in a black variant for Obi-Wan's fake funeral

Purple Senate gown redux

Purple Senate gown from ROTS, minus the pregnancy-concealing crinoline

Details and other items

Scar of remembrance

The scar of remembrance, part of the monarch of Naboo's traditional royal makeup, was a stripe painted on the lower lip to recognize Naboo's history of war and years of suffering. Queen Amidala and her decoy Sabé both wore a red scar of remembrance. Other red-wearing Queens of Naboo were Jamillia and Dalné, along with Sosha Soruna in deep red, while Apailana used blue and Neeyutnee had purple.

Main article: Scar of remembrance

White thumbnail polish

The Legends Visual Dictionary entries on Queen Amidala's throne room gown say, "White thumbnail polish is the only tradition Amidala retains from her native village." The painted thumbnail is also pointed out on her foreign residence gown. The New Canon version similarly says "only the thumbnail is painted" on that costume, but not the reason for it. The IU backstory and photos used in the books don't match what's visible on-screen when she sits on her throne: a complete set of white-painted fingernails.

Padmé Naberrie's amulet

Padmé Naberrie's amulet, a treasured item worn as a necklace, changed hands from Padmé to Sabé when they began the decoy maneuver for the invasion of Naboo. In Legends, Padmé's parents crafted the amulet and gave it to her before she became Queen of Naboo. In the New Canon, Sabé keeps the necklace after the Battle of Naboo.

The amulet was created for the 1999 young readers book The Queen's Amulet. The book was a tie-in to Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace that was written by Julianne Balmain, illustrated by Matilda Harrison, and packaged with a plastic replica of the necklace. The amulet wasn't part of The Phantom Menace film, but it showed up again in Star Wars Episode I Journal: Queen Amidala by Jude Watson.

Main article: Padmé Naberrie's amulet

Japor snippet

aka "lucky charm"

In TPM, Anakin gives Padmé a necklace, saying it's so she'll remember him and it will bring her good fortune. Anakin obtained the japor ivory wood snippet through trading, carved it with "traditional Tatooine sand symbols", and strung it on a jerba leather cord.

Licensed links

• "Drawing Attention: Iain McCaig" (original link down) on <starwars.com>. Published 2001-10-19. (Archived on 2004-08-3)
• "Padmé Amidala, Costume P17" (original link down) on <starwars.com> (3 pages). Published 2002-01-07. (Archived on 2004-08-11)
• "Making Up is Hard to Do: Lesley Vanderwalt" (original link down) on <starwars.com>. Published 2002-02-15. (Archived on 2004-08-4)
• Rebel, Jedi, Princess, Queen: Star Wars™ and the Power of Costume (via Archive.org 2022 backup)

Fan resources

• The Padawan's Guide to Star Wars Costumes
• "Padmé" category on DIY The Galaxy Of Star Wars
• "Star Wars Costumes" on Naergi's Costuming Site
• Star Wars: Fit for a Queen (via Archive.org 2021 backup)
• Padmé's Wardrobe (via Archive.org 2008 backup)

Notes

Fan nicknames:

Production/behind-the-scenes names: