Leia's Metal Bikini

Introduction and origin
Leia's metal bikini refers to the infamous slave girl costume worn by Princess Leia when she was captive in crimelord Jabba the Hutt's palace, at the beginning of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. The costume consisted of brass and cloth top, brass bottom with loincloth and various adornments, including the chain, with which she was chained to Jabba and, ironically, used to strangle him later.

The Leia bikini was created by costume designer Aggie Guerard Rodgers, whose Hollywood career—three decades and running—began with Star Wars producer George Lucas' American Graffiti in 1975.

She recalls that Lucas gave her only general instructions about the scene in Jabba's palace, but clearly wanted something special for the costume. "His eyes started sparkling when we talked about it," says Rodgers.

She says the costume was inspired by the work of artist Frank Frazetta. "He really loved (the female) form," she says. "The fact that (Leia's costume is) such a female sensual costume, I think is terrific."

"Most of the crew are men, and they really enjoyed being on the set," Rodgers adds.

However, It could have been a completely different costume. "I wanted 25 yards of fabric to be flowing through the scene," Rodgers says of her original conception. "But we couldn’t make that work."

The costume department made a mold of Fisher's torso for a custom fit, and Rodgers says there were multiple versions of the outfit to accommodate different scenes, and for doubles as well. "One was a hard metal piece that (Fisher) wore when she was not doing any stunts, and one was a rubber piece that we formed so that she would be comfortable when doing stunts," she says. "It was lined (on the inside) with leather so it wouldn't chaffe her body."

The fansite
Leia's Metal Bikini is a fansite dedicated to Leia Organa's slave costume worn in Jabba's Palace in Return of the Jedi. It is currently maintained by Jamin Fite.

It include screenshots, photos and fan art of Leia in the bikini, as well as images of fans dressed in their own metal bikini costumes. There are also instructions on how to make a metal bikini costume.

Contents

 * What's New!
 * Slave Leia Gallery
 * "Friends" Episode
 * Fans in Costume
 * Fan Artwork
 * Make a Bikini
 * Buy a Bikini
 * Mailing List
 * Contact
 * Links
 * Make a Donation