The Heir To The Empire or Thrawn Trilogy was turned into a comic adaptation in the 1990’s. In the The Last Command, the 3rd part of that comic adaptation, Leia appears in a vest outfit very similar to her Bespin outfit from The Empire Strikes Back. I’m naming this outfit from the comics Leia’s Flame Vest outfit, because it has similarities to both Leia’s Bespin vest outfit and that coloration of Padme’s Flame handmaiden outfit from The Phantom Menace.
Translating Cartoon To Reality:
When translating an outfit from a drawn image to reality it is important to look at it as not a direct translation. A direct copy will end up looking cartnoonish and if that is not the intention for the outfit then it will not have the desired effect. Keeping an eye towards proportion will help avoid a cartoonish look, however, this also requires interpretation about proportions comic characters are not proportional to real humans. That said the comic still provides good guide lines for how the end product should turn out.
It is also important to note that when a outfit is being rendered in the drawn medium that both highlights and low lights are used to give definition to the character. (Especially in clothing that are black in color, since it would be very hard to show any kind of definition in black colored clothes without them.) However, these high and low lights are not meant to represent the kind of fabric the outfit is made out of.
When translating an outfit decisions about where seems go, and specific details have to be made without much help from the source images as often they are not a detail that is shown. However, with this particular outfit, since it is so close in design to Leia’s Bespin Vest outfit using the details from that outfit for Leia’s Flame Vest would work well.
Fabric:
The Bespin outfit the Leia wears in ESB is made out of Crepe de Chine silk, it seems likely that this outfit too would be made out of a similar fabric. Avoiding shiny fabrics is a good idea, shiny fabrics are rarely used in Star Wars.
Here is a little information on comics.
Here is a little information on how comics are made. This image is from a Zorro comic book with the intro written by Alex Toth. He talks here about drawing black clothes for the character Zorro, who wears an all black outfit. More specifically he talks about how shading, highlights and low-lights are used to give depth to black clothes in comics. These highlights and shading are some of the art techniques that are often taken to mean shiny or vinyl fabric choices when they are instead meant to show depth and dimension. This is not to say that shiny or vinyl fabrics are never being represented in comics but much less so then it would appear just by the art when these techniques are not taken into consideration.
It is also important to note that when a outfit is being rendered in the drawn medium that both highlights and low lights are used to give definition to the character. (Especially in clothing that is black in color, since it would be very hard to show any kind of definition in black colored clothes otherwise.) So these high and low lights are not meant to represent the kind of fabric the outfit is made out of.
Vest:
Vest Collar & Yoke:
Similarity to Leia’s Bespin vest, the collar on Leia’s Flame Vest is a semi Mandarin collar, it seems to be fairly blunt in some of the pictures, however, the more detailed pictures suggest that the collar has a slight curing at the very ends. Leia’s vest collar dose not come up past her jaw, instead stopped half way up her neck, similar in proportion to Leia’s Bespin vest collar. The collar on Leia’s Flame Vest is a deep red color.
The Yoke of Leia’s Flame Vest is burnt sunset yellow, the the yoke is similar is proportion and construction to Leia’s Bespin Vest. The soft diamond shape appears in the front and back of the yoke on Leia’s vest is the same in both Leia’s Flame and Bespin Vests.
Vest Body:
The body of the Flame Vest is deep red, and the construction appears like the Bespin vest. The red fabric is pleated or gathered which allows for a fuller skirt to the vest, see the pink arrows for the gathering. It’s likely pleated like the Bespin vest.
The arm howl for the vest ends roughly around the top of the elbow, the arm opening appears to be oval or circular. Like with Leia’s Bespin Vest, the vest likely falls to around Leia’s ankles.
Dress:
The Color of the dress Leia wears under the Flame Vest seems to be charcoal grey.
Neck:
The neckline for the dress that Leia wears with the Flame Vest has a boat neckline,
Sleeves:
The sleeves of the dress are strait sleeves, with a cropped length, they are longer then 3/4, however, they are not full length sleeves.
Dress Body:
The skirt of Leia’s dress is sleeted or gathered, the dress falls most likely to her ankles, the dress also appears to have an A line or slightly wide skirt. It appears that Leia is wearing a fabric covered leather diamond shaped belt similar to her Bespin belt. However, it also appears that the waistline for this dress is a V shape where the gathered skirt it attacked, the bodice appearing to be fitted similarly to the Bespin tunic.
Hair:
Leia’s hairstyle that she wears with her flame vest is simple, and almost a combination between Hoth Leia hair and Bespin Leia hair. Her hair has no part and instead is pulled back, a crown braid runs over the top of her head and the rest of her hair is left to hang down in a soft looping bubble that just touches her shoulders.
Inspirations & Similarities:
Clearly Leia’s Flame Vest is inspired by Leia’s Bespin outfit, however, there are also some similarities to some of Padmé’s costumes that are featured in the prequels. These comics came out before the Prequel Trilogy so the similarities to this outfit from the Prequel’s outfits is more coincidental. However, it also attests to the fact that the artist had an eye for what would be appropriate for Star Wars fashion.
The Hairstyles that Leia wears with her Flame Vest Outfit, has a similar back to the lower half of Padmé’s Purple Senate Outfit from ROTS. The looped over bottom part of the hairstyle has a similar shape and volume.
The similarity in color patterns between the flame handmaiden outfit from TPM and Leia’s Vest is why I’ve named it Leia’s Flame Vest. The deep red color of the body of the vest is similar to that of the under-sleeves sleeves and hip sash on the flame handmaiden outfit. the yellow skirt of the flame handmaiden outfit also is similare in color to Leia’s flame vest, through in this picture the yellow is a darker shade on Leia’s vest then the skirt of the TPM dress.
Leia’s Flame Vest, is very similar to the Bespin Vest she wears in The Empire Strikes Back. The collar and yoke are similar in construction, as well as shape and proportion.
Images From:
- The Padawans Guide
- Dark Horse: The Last Command Comics: By: DIYTGOSW
DIY The Galaxy Of Star Wars 