Battle dress

"Before, if we died we were all going together, blown up on the royal starship or something. But you'll be alone. You'll be exposed. And you'll be Amidala."
"I know."
"I want to be noble and tell you I won't order you to do it. But that would be cowardly, too, and you deserve better than letting me make a martyr of you."
"I appreciate that. My hands are yours."

―Padmé Amidala and Sabé, preparing to wear battle dresses into the Battle of Naboo^[3]

Battle dress was a type of combat attire worn by the Queen of Naboo and her handmaidens. They could be layered with another dress or worn over trousers. The dresses had protective features, such as blast-damping fabric and concussive absorbing material, but when Naboo was peaceful, the garments were largely ceremonial.

Queen Padmé Amidala had multiple styles of battle dress in her extensive wardrobe. During the Invasion of Naboo in 32 BBY, uniform maroon and gold battle dresses were worn by Amidala and four of her handmaidens; the black and red royal battle dress was worn by the Queen's decoy, Sabé, along with traditional royal makeup. Although Sabé initially presented herself as the Queen using this attire in the first diplomatic meeting with the Gungans, Amidala soon stepped forward to reveal the truth. Thanks in part to their battle dresses, Amidala and Sabé fooled Viceroy Nute Gunray long enough to secure the throne room of Theed Royal Palace during the Battle of Naboo.

Amidala continued to wear the handmaiden's battle dress during her reign. While serving in the Galactic Senate during the Clone Wars, Senator Amidala wore a modified version for a skirmish on her homeworld and in other events.

Description

Padmé Amidala in the handmaiden's style of battle dress

Battle dress was a type of Naboo clothing that was worn by certain members of the Royal House of Naboo,^[2] as the dress offered mobility while in combat.^[6] It became largely ceremonial during many years of peace on the planet Naboo.^[2]

The Queen's royal battle dress^[2] included a broad, black waistband fastened over a textured black surcoat that was layered over a long, red dress made of blast-damping fabric.^[4] It was worn with a sturdy pair of boots and a headdress held in place with pins. The incorporated wig^[3] was split into two large bundles of rolled hair on either side of the head, with each encircled by a pair of thick red bands, extending from a large metal headband.^[1]

Naboo Royal Handmaidens wore battle dresses as their uniforms in combat. The uniform included a maroon dress^[3] made of dark velvet with a lighter-colored satin finish on the lining. The side seams of the dress, the hem of the interior lining, and the trousers had gold trim stripes^[5] that were bright enough to see at night.^[3] The coat-like dress had billowing sleeves layered over ones that were fitted, and the trousers were tucked into knee-high black boots. The handmaidens also wore a belt with a metal buckle and armed themselves with blasters.^[1]

History

"Viceroy! Your occupation here has ended."

―Sabé, tricking Viceroy Nute Gunray by wearing the royal battle dress^[1]

As a senator, Amidala wore a modified handmaiden's style of battle dress.

Padmé Amidala's extensive wardrobe included both the royal attire and the version worn by her handmaidens.^[3] Amidala's multiple battle dresses became necessary when she was Queen during the Invasion of Naboo^[1] in 32 BBY.^[7] For the first diplomatic meeting with the Gungans at the Gungan Sacred Place, Sabé acted as the Queen's decoy, wearing the royal battle dress with the Queen's scar of remembrance and other makeup, while Amidala wore the same uniform as the other handmaidens:^[1] Eirtaé, Rabé, Saché, and Yané. Rabé added hair ties made from concussive absorbing material that was taken from the lining of another dress to provide the handmaiden version with limited protection from a heavy blow or a falling debris.^[3]

Although Amidala revealed her true identity to secure Boss Rugor Nass's trust,^[1] Sabé and Amidala had a serious discussion about continuing to wear the disguises to take back Theed from the Trade Federation with the full knowledge that Sabé would be risking her life.^[3] During the Battle of Naboo, the battle dresses successfully confused the Neimoidian Viceroy Nute Gunray. When Sabé arrived outside the throne room of Theed Royal Palace, looking more like the image of the Queen in that moment than the actual Amidala, she drew attention to herself to lure away the battle droids. Amidala was then able to secure her throne room alongside the Royal Naboo Security Forces.^[1]

Later during her reign, Amidala used the handmaiden's battle dress when a sando aqua monster disturbed the royal boathouse.^[8] It remained in her wardrobe as the Senator of Naboo. During the Clone Wars, she wore it for a mission with her husband, Anakin Skywalker, that was unexpectedly joined by his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano.^[9] She also donned a version with sleeves gathered at the wrists for a skirmish on her homeworld.^[10]

Behind the scenes

Battle dresses were created for the 1999 prequel trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.^[1] Artist Iain McCaig conceptualized the designs and the finished costumes were realized by costume designer Trisha Biggar and her department. McCaig's initial concept featured straps across the belly, but they were removed from subsequent concepts as they would be awkward and uncomfortable to wear in reality.^[11]

The Queen's battle dress was initially designed for Amidala herself, but was instead worn by Keira Knightley, who was cast as Sabé based on her resemblance to Natalie Portman.^[12] It took one person over one month to complete the finished costume. Silkworm pods from India were woven into a silk net, removed at the top of the costume, and then individually stitched back on, creating the shape of the shoulders.^[13]

The in-universe clothing items were both identified as "battle dress" in Star Wars Legends reference materials such as Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary,^[14] but the new canon version of Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary, New Edition only identifies the version worn by Sabé as "battle dress" and omits^[2] the page that had explicitly identified the handmaiden version.^[14] The novel Queen's Peril uses the descriptions "maroon dresses" and "maroon and gold battle uniform" for the handmaidens.^[3] Queen's Shadow mentions "the battle dress," but does not specify which outfit the term is referring to.^[15] For the purposes of this article, it has been assumed that the Legends term still applies to both sets of attire, and an erroneous hyphen used in Star Wars Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded has been omitted.