sunnyskywalker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sunnyskywalker) wrote2007-02-06 09:22 pm
sunnyskywalker) wrote2007-02-06 09:22 pm
Entry tags:
Mmm, Star Wars Fashion Flashback
Waaaaay back in 2005, I posted a couple of entries in my starwars.com blog about how impractical certain clothing in Star Wars would be. For nostalgia purposes, I figured I'd repost them here. (Translation: I'm too busy to write something new, but want to procrastinate.)
Knights in White Tunics
June 02, 2005
Does anyone else think the Jedi robes are a little impractical?
I remember the first time I saw A New Hope thinking Obi-Wan was wearing an awful lot of layers. There's boots, trousers (at least, I presume; I can't see them), and a belt. So far, so good. But then there's the brown robe, at least one tunic, though I think it's actually two, and then a brown shirt underneath it all.
First of all, that's way too many layers for noon in the desert. Yes, you want to keep the sun and sand out - but the brown shirt and the robe should cover it! Why tunics too?
My confusion grew throughout the Prequel Trilogy. I don't care how in tune with the Force you are: long, multi-layered outfits are just not practical for fighting. Sure, Jedi often went on purely peaceful missions, and in those cases their "simple" (ha! even the queen has less layers sometimes!) attire was probably just fine - but aggressive negotiations seemed far from rare or unexpected, so why hamper themselves so much? Can you imagine how waterlogged Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan must have been after swimming to Otoh Gunga? Can you imagine how much drag those robes would have been exerting as they swam?
And even when they ditch the top robe to fight, they still have the issue of the other three layers. That much fabric restricts your movement. Especially when it's as thick as those tunics appear. I can see the reasoning behind Anakin's leather tunic-thingy (blast damping or something), but he still has too many layers under it. Again - why not just a thick shirt, maybe with a very thin undershirt, with the trousers and robe? If they're going to Hoth, they can bring sweatshirts. Or use the Force.
I decided I was overanalyzing the costumes and tried to forget about it - until I read a quote from either Hayden or Ewan, I can't remember, to the effect of, "The EIII duel was really hard because we kept getting tangled in our robes."
Someone should have told Yoda that if design practical clothing an order cannot, fall it will.
I also noticed that Luke does not choose to don the robes. He sticks to simpler attire. This gives me confidence in his ability to reform the Jedi Order better than it was before :D
Killer (on the clothing budget) Queen
June 05, 2005
In the same vein as Knights in White Tunics: why do Naboo officials wear such elaborate outfits?
"Because it's tradition." Yeah, sure. Check out the clothes (and the suspiciously familiar white facepaint) Queen Elizabeth I wore just four hundred years ago, or the crazy costumes of Louis XIV's court - that's our tradition in the West, but you don't see anyone dressing like that anymore, do you? You notice men don't wear silk stockings anymore either. Judges still wear black robes, and British barristers still wear wigs, but that's about it - and that's not very elaborate, really. Traditional costumes as elaborate as Elizabeth's or Amidala's just don't stay in fashion; they're too much of a hassle to put on and too cumbersome to wear. Furthermore, taxpayers get awfully troublesome when they're expected to pay for your manicures. Besides, when you have a country - or a planet - to govern, you just don't have time to spend four hours getting dressed and primped.
So why? Is the over-the-top fashion a sign that the Republic's decadence and corruption have reached even Naboo? Is it a clue that the office of Queen is usually just symbolic? (Maybe part of the reason Amidala was so beloved was because, unlike most Nubian monarchs, she actually did something.) Is it just because it looks cool - and don't get me wrong, I love Padme's clothes - and the queen needed to be able to swap places with a handmaiden without anyone noticing?
Come to think of it, none of those are mutually exlclusive, so why not all three?
This concludes today's flashback. We will return to our regularlyunscheduled programming shortly. I think I finally thought of an explanation for Cylon!Cally that would not be totally useless, so I'll probably get that up soon.
Knights in White Tunics
June 02, 2005
Does anyone else think the Jedi robes are a little impractical?
I remember the first time I saw A New Hope thinking Obi-Wan was wearing an awful lot of layers. There's boots, trousers (at least, I presume; I can't see them), and a belt. So far, so good. But then there's the brown robe, at least one tunic, though I think it's actually two, and then a brown shirt underneath it all.
First of all, that's way too many layers for noon in the desert. Yes, you want to keep the sun and sand out - but the brown shirt and the robe should cover it! Why tunics too?
My confusion grew throughout the Prequel Trilogy. I don't care how in tune with the Force you are: long, multi-layered outfits are just not practical for fighting. Sure, Jedi often went on purely peaceful missions, and in those cases their "simple" (ha! even the queen has less layers sometimes!) attire was probably just fine - but aggressive negotiations seemed far from rare or unexpected, so why hamper themselves so much? Can you imagine how waterlogged Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan must have been after swimming to Otoh Gunga? Can you imagine how much drag those robes would have been exerting as they swam?
And even when they ditch the top robe to fight, they still have the issue of the other three layers. That much fabric restricts your movement. Especially when it's as thick as those tunics appear. I can see the reasoning behind Anakin's leather tunic-thingy (blast damping or something), but he still has too many layers under it. Again - why not just a thick shirt, maybe with a very thin undershirt, with the trousers and robe? If they're going to Hoth, they can bring sweatshirts. Or use the Force.
I decided I was overanalyzing the costumes and tried to forget about it - until I read a quote from either Hayden or Ewan, I can't remember, to the effect of, "The EIII duel was really hard because we kept getting tangled in our robes."
Someone should have told Yoda that if design practical clothing an order cannot, fall it will.
I also noticed that Luke does not choose to don the robes. He sticks to simpler attire. This gives me confidence in his ability to reform the Jedi Order better than it was before :D
Killer (on the clothing budget) Queen
June 05, 2005
In the same vein as Knights in White Tunics: why do Naboo officials wear such elaborate outfits?
"Because it's tradition." Yeah, sure. Check out the clothes (and the suspiciously familiar white facepaint) Queen Elizabeth I wore just four hundred years ago, or the crazy costumes of Louis XIV's court - that's our tradition in the West, but you don't see anyone dressing like that anymore, do you? You notice men don't wear silk stockings anymore either. Judges still wear black robes, and British barristers still wear wigs, but that's about it - and that's not very elaborate, really. Traditional costumes as elaborate as Elizabeth's or Amidala's just don't stay in fashion; they're too much of a hassle to put on and too cumbersome to wear. Furthermore, taxpayers get awfully troublesome when they're expected to pay for your manicures. Besides, when you have a country - or a planet - to govern, you just don't have time to spend four hours getting dressed and primped.
So why? Is the over-the-top fashion a sign that the Republic's decadence and corruption have reached even Naboo? Is it a clue that the office of Queen is usually just symbolic? (Maybe part of the reason Amidala was so beloved was because, unlike most Nubian monarchs, she actually did something.) Is it just because it looks cool - and don't get me wrong, I love Padme's clothes - and the queen needed to be able to swap places with a handmaiden without anyone noticing?
Come to think of it, none of those are mutually exlclusive, so why not all three?
This concludes today's flashback. We will return to our regularly
no subject
"need silk to go to all them happening dagobah parties, I do! When you go to party look so good you do not!" - from the upcoming movie "Disco dagobah"
Sorry - my silly carried me away. ;P
I think the development of Peasant Chic is a good theory. It mus be a little odd though - because on outer rim worlds a jedi would, at least in theory, blend in rather well. But in on the core worlds the Jedi with their peasant chic would instead stand apart from local fashion. maybe that was the point?
Also I didn't know the Amidala hair-connection to The Last Emperor - that is rather cool.