Queen Amidala, and other queens of Naboo, have some very recognizable makeup, this post is about Queen Amidala’s makeup, which, while having similar makeup, other Queen’s of Neboo have slightly different makeup and will not be featured in this Amidala specific post.Â
These are good videos the show the application technique for the Queen Amidala makeup.
(Note: That the makeup technique for applying is helpful, however, it it not movie accurate.)
(Note: These may also help with the application of makeup for other Queens from Naboo, however, other Queens of Naboo’s royal makeup is not the same as Amidala’s even though it is similar so there will be some differences.)
Makeup Application To Avoid For Movie Accurate Makeup:
Winged Eyeliner
Eye Shadow (of any kind, other then white for setting powder)
Tight Lining Or Lining The Water Line
Colors Other Then White For The Setting Powder
(Note: using setting powder other then true no color or if you can’t get that white will change the color of the cream base)
Forgetting To Use Red Setting Powder For The Lips And Dots, which can result in smearing
Colors Other Than White For The Base
(Note: the makeup used in the movie was a porciline white, it is a warmer softer white not as harsh as clown white.)
(When its suggest that colors other then white should not be used, this means that even the lightest shade of regular foundation is not going to be light enough for Queen Amidala’s face base makeup, the makeup used in the film was a specific movie foundation.)
(TPM: Queen Amidala: Royal Naboo Makeup Chart) (Images From: Fit For A Queen)
EYE LINER (BROWN/BLACK) + MASCARA: GIVENCHY PRIZM TOME
*PILLAR BOX* OR BRIGHT RED
DOTS EITHER SIDE OF CHEEKS
‘LIKE’ LIP PEN
+ SAME COLOUR ON TOP LIP
+ SEMI-CIRCLE ON LOWER LIP.
NARS FIRE DOWN BELOW.
LANCOME EW?VCIL BLACK MAICAEA? OR MAICACA
WHITE BASE COLOUR
THE RESULT OF THIS MAKE UP GIVER A JAMNESE ‘KISUKI’ EFFERT, SO MUST BE EXECUTED WITH BOLDNESS FOR MAXIMUM EFFECT, “
Makeup Suggestions:
When applying Queen Amidala makeup remember to color in the eyebrows and pay attention to the shape that is seen in the movie.
Use brown/black instead of true black may help keep the dark color without having a harsh line.Â
RCMA has a no color powder that may be helpful for setting the base face makeup without changing the color and without using a white powder which may also change the color a little.
Queen Amidala’s Royal Naboo Makeup, though similar to other queens of Naboo, is unique to her. This is a breakdown of the approximation of Amidala’s makeup placement and techniques. We will be looking at both Padme and Sabe wearing the makeup because Sabe is wearing the Amidala makeup as her decoy. Colors and brands will be covered more in part – 2 of this post.
Breakdown:
Face Base:
Queen Amidala’s white face makeup is cream makeup base from RCMA. This was made special for the Star Wars movies by the company. An important note about this makeup is that though it is called Porcelain, other makeup’s with that name are not the same shade. In this case it means that it is a specific shade of white with a warm under tone to it which was special made for the Star Wars’s movies. The white base covers the entire face and is lightly applied over the ears and down the neck. Note that the white base is blended more with the skin on the ears and neck so make a less harsh white color.
Eyes & Eyebrows:
the royal Amidala makeup has a eyeliner and masquara as well, both are applied lightly, the liner applied above and blew the lashes, not at all on the water lines. The liner is also slightly smudgy so it is not a harsh line.
The eyebrows are filled in too lightly, the brow is filled in naturally, not over drawn, but simply to make a darker more dramatic line.
(Amidala eyebrows filled in, natural shape)
The image of Amidala in the makeup chair is very nice because it shows not only the application of the brow liner, but also shows the lid clearly, though this is in the middle of the makeup so we cannot know for sure, it is a good bet that only setting powder is applied to the lids, no real color. We do think that maybe it’s a white or pearl white possibly, however, a no color setting powder would also do very well.
(Amidala in makeup chair, filling in eyebrows)
Cheek Dots:
The cheek dots are the same color as the lips, which in this case is Nars Fire Down Red.
(Amidala cheek dots, center lines up with outer edge of eye ring)(Amidala cheek dots, center lines up with outer edge of eye ring)
Looking at the placement of the cheek dots we can see that the center of the dots lines up roughly under the outer edge of the iris ring.
(Outer edge of cheek dot lines up with outer corner of eye)(Outer edge of cheek dot lines up with outer corner of eye)
The outer edge of the cheek dots line up roughly with the outer corner of the eye.
(Center of cheek dots line up with center tip of nose)
The cheek dots center are roughly in line with the tip of Padme’s nose, as you can see in the images below for both Padme and Sabe the lines below and above the dots are more or less in line with the tip of their noses.
Lips:
The lips are the same color as the cheek dots, the top lip in filled in naturally with no over drawing. the bottom lip is filled in white with the face base with a small rectangle of the red lip color in the center of the lip. This lower stripe of lip color is squared at the bottom, though some pictures show a slightly more pointed angle to it bottom lip, the majority of the images show it to be square. This lower lip stripe is also roughly the width of the philtrum.
The Lake dress that Padme wears in Attack of the Clones is one of light flowing material, notably the beauty of the multi color ombre dyeing makes the gown even more stunning. Though like most of the posts in this series there is no proof that this gown was influential in the designing of Padme’s lake Dress, however, the pink and yellow light fabric seems to share a similar aesthetic.
The Valantino Gown is a vintage gown which we have not been able to find much on, however, it dose share similarities in fabric and color, light fabric has a flouting quality in both dresses. the gradient pink and yellow also are shared, however, the order is in reversed, Padme’s dress has yellow on top and pink on the bottom fading into other colors.
Mock-Fortuny pleating is featured in several Star Wars Costumes, all of them from Naboo. It seems to be a Naboo easthetic in the Galaxy Far Far Away. Unfortunately Fortuny Pleating is a lost wonder of the fashion world, in a nutshell the means to create the pleating died with Mariano Fortuny the man who invented it and as of yet has not fully been recovered. The Padawan’s Guide has already touched on the similarities between many of the Naboo clothing and Fortuny Pleating.
The Fortuny Dresses are sometimes refereed to as The Delphos Gown, and where very created to be a house dress and later a tea gown worn by wealthy woman at the turn of the 19th’s century. The wonderful thing about these original gowns is that they must be twisted into a small ball for storage, which means they take up very little room.
In Star Wars, Padme and her Handmaidens wear gowns with a similar pleating. Though it is not stated anywhere we have found yet that this was that the Delphos Gowns where an influence on the Naboo aesthetic, the light silks and unique pleating of the gowns makes a good case that they where.
Star Wars has many known and unknown inspirations and influences, this series will be focusing on similarities, possible influences and possible inspiration that helped shape the look of the Galaxy. Silhouettes, fabrics, and color palette among many, many other factors will all be looked at and explored.
Though there is no evidence we have come across to support this as fact, nevertheless, it is undeniable that Padme’s Green Velvet Gown that she wears in Revenge of the Sith shares many similarities to the The Arnolfini Portrait. Because of of these similarities we are looking at the possibility of this painting being the partial inspiration for the esthetic of Padme Green Velvet Robe.
The similarities between the gowns can be seen in
the color, dark greens,
the weight of the fabric, the paintings is a heavy wool and Padme’s is a heavy velvet.
long sleeves,
special linings, the Portraits is fur, Padme’s is patterned and purple
purple belts, though it is a little harder to tell if the paintings belt is purple for sure, never the less the belt placement is the same
a hood (Padme) and hood silhouette to the veil (Mrs. Arnolfini).
Special decorations on the sleeves,
long flowing gown that comes out from under the bust.
According to A Stitch In Time Episode 2, for a very long time people believed that the woman in the Arnolfini Portrait was pregnant. Though this is not the case, it is very easy to see why that would be assumed, she dose look pregnant, without a particular knowledge of the fashion and time period it is essay to assume. The woman in the painting has a silhouette that is similar to Padme’s, who is pregnant.
This is one of the few garments that we think is a spastic influence on a spastic dress instead of simply sharing a more common aesthetic.
The three distinct colors that can for sure be seen in the above photo are pale pink, pale yellow, and pale green. These are similar to the colors that appear in the ribbons on the sleeves of the dress, so it’s possible that the same colors that appear in the ribbons also appear in the underskirt.
A close examination of photos from the movie and promo stills from The Padawan’s Guide, shows that there are visible colors underneath the gold/yellow over-skirt. The photo below shows a distinctive pink color to the underskirt.
One fan made costume took what appears to be the approach of making the underskirt with pastel colors fading into one another stripped diagonally across the skirt. (Note: that in the second photo below, with the over-skirt down, the fan made costume looks very slimier to the photos of the actual meadow picnic dress. With fain colors showing through the gold/yellow over-skirt.)
It appears that the direction of the pastel colors of the underskirts run more or less vertically.
(Note: The Padawan’s Guide says that “the skirt is only two layers “ of fabric. However, there is so much fabric that it may look like there are more layers then there actually are.)
The Dressing the Galaxy book, says that something like 50 yards of fabric where used in the making of the over-skirt. There is some debate on whether 50 yards could actually have been used. However, as it is a very tightly pleated skirt made out of very thin sheer fabric, 50 yards is not unrealistic, for this skirt. whether using 50 or 10 yards of fabric the underskirt should have the same volume as the over-skirt, a lot of fabric will be needed, in either case.
This products is simple to use, the color is a dark mat gold with a metallic gold thread accent. The product is good quality and is what you would expect from a crochet thread, the only con is with a lot of unraveling the gold metallic thread comes away from the base thread.
Products Pros:
Easily accessible
Affordably ($3.50, roughly)
Easy to use
Color seems accurate to movie
Products Cons:
Metallic Thread comes unwound with a lot of unraveling so if you need to restart your project several times this can be an issue.
(A possible fabric for making this gown might be Silk Crepe De Chine, as its a light silk fabric with a lot of drape and movement, it was also used in Leia’s Classic Political Gown in A New Hope 🙂 )
Aunt Lydias Crochet Thread is a grate option for making Padme’s meadow picnic bun covers. The color is a dark gold/yellow with metallic gold thread running through it much like the thread used in the movies.
Note: working with this thread is fairly simple, however, it is important to know that unraveling the project a lot will cause the metallic thread to come away from the gold/yellow base. Also note that this thread will wind up on itself.Â
Level of Difficulty: = Padawan
Youngling
Padawan
Senior Padawan
Jedi Knight
Jedi Master
Jedi Council Member
Grand Master Jedi Council
Force Ghost
Amidala for DIY Galaxy found the thread featured in the pictures at Jo-Ann’s Fabrics, however, it can also be found online at other stores.
Padme’s hairstyle has a center part on the top of her head, but no back part, the rest of her hair is pulled back into a low small bun on her base of her neck.
Hair Piece Over Bun:
(Small Bun Under Hair Piece)
Padme’s real hair, which it actually about shoulder length, is wrapped into a small bun that is tightly pinned at the base of her neck and has a hairnet of a matching dark color placed over it. Over top of that small bun the hair piece is place, this is made out of coils of hair that have been wrapped around a flexible base. This hair piece is attacked to the small bun and the coils are bent around the small bun.
Bun Coil Shape:
(Flatter Shape of Bun After Action)
Sometimes the bun is flattened a little, this appeaser to be from action as most of the time the bun appears rounded.
(Rounded Shape of Bun)
Height of Bun:
(The height of the bun)
The height of the bun rests below or roughly inline with the middle of the back of her head, a rough measurement is the top of the bun should be in line with or blow the bottom outer corner of the eyebrow. The bottom of the bun falls roughly in line with the her bottom lip.
Bun Width:
(Bun Width)
Padme’s bun is slightly narrower then the back of her head,
Number of Coils to Bun:
(Bun coils)
It appears that Padme’s bun coils in this image are about 7 separate coils, these coils are intertwined through each other and form into soft ovals, slightly rounder shapes and a few narrow ovals. Some are more ex-stream then others with number 2 in the image, highlighted by the orange, bent almost in half with a curved edge where it is bend around the small bun.