The gold bikini-style costume that Carrie Fisher wore as Princess Leia while making Return of the Jedi in the Star Wars franchise has sold for US$175,000, according to the auction house that handled the sale.
The costume was made famous when Fisher wore it at the start of the 1983 film when Leia was captured by Jabba the Hutt at his palace on Tatooine and forced to be a slave.
The costume, one of the most memorable in the Star Wars movies, was sold on Friday by Dallas-based Heritage Auctions.
Photo: Heritage Auctions via AP
Heritage Auctions executive vice president Joe Maddalena said the costume that was sold was one that was screen-tested and worn by Fisher on the movie’s set, but ultimately did not make it onto the final version of the film as it was switched out for one that was more comfortable.
The auction house said the costume sparked a bidding war among collectors.
Maddalena said he was not surprised by the attention bidders gave to the costume, as well as to a model of a Y-wing fighter that took on the Death Star in the original Star Wars film that sold for US$1.55 million. He said Star Wars and Star Trek have very avid fan bases.
“The power of Star Wars proves itself again. These movies are just so impactful,” Maddalena said.
In a November 2016 interview with the Fresh Air podcast, Fisher said wearing the costume was not her choice.
“When [director George Lucas] showed me the outfit, I thought he was kidding and it made me very nervous. I had to sit very straight because I couldn’t have lines on my sides, like little creases. No creases were allowed, so I had to sit very, very rigid straight,” said Fisher, who died about a month after the interview.
Richard Miller, who created the costume, said in an interview that is included in a Star Wars box set that he used soft material to build the costume so that Fisher could move around more freely.
“However, she still didn’t like it. I don’t blame her,” said Miller, who was the chief sculptor for Industrial Light & Magic, the visual effects company founded by Star Wars creator Lucas. “I did put leather on the back of it to help it feel better.”
The costume had its share of critics, who thought it sexualized Fisher for the franchise’s male fan base.
In Interview magazine in 2015, Fisher told actor Daisy Ridley, who starred in Star Wars: The Force Awakens: “You’re going to have people have fantasies about you. That will make you uncomfortable, I’m guessing.”
She pushed back against the idea of being a sex symbol and told Ridley to “fight for your outfit.”
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