Galactic Style Guide – Formalwear I

Welcome back to another installment of the Galactic Style Guide, the monthly series where we break down the ‘Star Wars aesthetic’ to help you create a more authentic ‘outer persona’! While quality reenacting and living history are geared more towards the ‘common’ experience, Disney’s Galactic Starcruiser hotel experience is billing itself as a luxury cruise, and I’ve seen plenty of folks online asking, ‘What am I supposed to wear???’ With that in mind, I’ve combed my reference library and collected some examples of formal outfits to help get an idea of what ‘fancy dress’ looks like in the Galaxy Far, Far Away.
Since any discussion of in-universe formalwear is really a discussion of the clothing of the galactic upstrata, and since the Original Trilogy is—aside from Leia—generally not concerned with these kinds of characters, our best examples from top-tier sources come from the Prequel films (which were very much focused on galactic elites). One thing’s for sure: Trisha Biggar’s costume designs reveal a clear preference for robes, cloaks, and coats in late-Republic senators’ clothing:

“There are a lot of senators in Episode III. George wanted to show them in traditional costumes—each senator’s outfit coming from a different culture, like an Asian Buddhist monk, or someone from Turkey or somewhere else in the Middle East, but all made a bit high tech. Alien, but humanized. They wear decorated hats; it’s all very formal.”

Sang Jun Lee, Dressing a Galaxy, p98.

Taken as a whole, it becomes clear that these kinds of voluminous garments are a world apart from the more familiar no-frills, practical wear of most OT characters! However, I recently came across an Episode VI costume-reference Polaroid of a ‘Rebel dignitary’, who seems to be keeping the senator vibes alive in 4 ABY:

We can gain further insight into what getting ‘dressed up’ in the GFFA looks like by examining the wealthy patrons of the Galaxies Opera House seen in Episode III. It seems pretty clear the rule of thumb is ‘anything goes’!

One key element of upstrata fashion that I haven’t yet seen many mention in discussion of Galactic Starcruiser costuming is HATS. While—with some exceptions—many senators don’t go in for headgear, for opera patrons the more extravagant or outlandish the better!:

Including an outrageous hat of any sort would be a great way to take things to the next level and really sell ones’ impression as a wealthy GFFA citizen. (For a complete breakdown of in-universe hats of all sorts, see the Galactic Style Guide entries for January, February, and March 2021, or just type hats in the search bar at the top!)

One final individual I want to call attention to is Bail Organa’s bodyguard, Sateen Vestswe. While he only appears onscreen for a few seconds, it seems his Alderaanian fashion sense lives on, because one of the outfits available for Halcyon guests to purchase is a clear nod to his awesome, broad-shouldered green coat:

Hopefully these examples have provided some ideas for cruise-goers, which might be tricky since Disney’s costume guidelines for the Galactic Starcruiser seem to prohibit guests from wearing long, full robes or cloaks.
Are there any individuals I’ve left out? As usual, let me know in the comments below and be sure to check back for next month’s installment of the Galactic Style Guide, when we’ll look at galactic formalwear from the various Expanded Universe materials, which thankfully are less ‘giant Prequel-style robes’ and more ‘suits and fancy dresses’. See you then!

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