Finally posting these!
So last fall I wanted a “reference” I could use for my Dapper Day Leia dresses (senatorial and bespin), so I decided I’d just draw them, starting with senatorial and using the vintage pattern illustration as inspiration.
I did Senatorial and Bespin and then thought, I have all these other ideas for Dapper Leia looks that I know I’m not going to have the time or money to get to doing them all. So — I decided I’d just keep drawing!
At first I did want to stay in the 50s for everything – since both of my existing Leia dresses were very 50s-inspired, but over the course of the project I dropped that rule and just tried to keep it to “mid-century” hence the name. Sometimes a 40s look worked better – like some WW2 era patterns for Leia’s rebel uniform – and I dropped down into the 1920s for little Leia outfits, and into the 60s/70s for sequel era. But I’ll get into the details of each as we go along.
Obviously Senatorial is based on my own dress I made last year. For my dress I used a vintage Butterick pattern, which unfortunately I don’t know the number of and can’t find it online. (The corner of the envelope was destroyed – I’ll have to get the pattern pieces out again and see if it’s printed on there). But I loved that vintage illustration on the envelope, so that’s what I used as the starting point for this piece.
Ceremonial – Simplicity 1555 c. 1934
This was the first one where I had to let go of the idea of sticking to 40s/50s, because a 1930s style bias cut gown just worked for ceremonial. While looking for inspiration, I came across some golden era hollywood costumes and one of them including a large “bow” shaped applique made of sequins across the hips, and I decided to use that idea to do Leia’s belt here.
Marvel Comics – Simplicity 3949 – c. 1952
This is one of my favs. Love the cape.
Jedi Leia – Simplicity 2927 – c.1959
The large collar of this pattern worked great as a stand-in for the grey yoke of the jedi dress.
Splinter of the Minds’ Eye – Butterick 9474 c. 1950s (vest) and
Butterick 7557 c. 1950s (cigarette pants)
I LOVE this one, though I don’t know if it would stand on its own as a costume outside of this project. It’s just giving me super smart beatnik college girl in the 50s Leia.
Hoth – Vogue 7439 c. 1951
Leia’s more tactical/uniform looks were difficult to translate. I struggled with wanting to do them all as dresses or not – in the end, I decided to NOT do them all as dresses and to give her some range and some more casual looks than everything being petticoated-skirts. So this cute little jumpsuit was great for Hoth.
Bespin – Butterick 6290 just as base. costume made from Butterick B6094
Of course this one is based on my actual costume from 2019, which I used a modern pattern for, so I didn’t have a vintage pattern to fall back on like I did for senatorial. I found another vintage pattern in my collection to use as inspiration for the drawing instead.
Boushh – 1930s unknown – 1930s, repro available from MrsDepew 3052
Another one I really struggled with, how do I make BOUSHH dapper? I decided to look at vintage hunting outfits (because, y’know, bounty hunter), and finally stumbled on this incredible 1930s look. I’m obsessed. This is another one I’d love to make.
Huttslayer – Simplicity 3250 – c. 1950s
There were SO many cute little crop top outfits from the 50s I came across, and I thought this top and loose fitting pants was perfect. The loose fitting kimono-style shawl I imagined with sequins and embroidery that would call the metal work of the original bikini to mind. She’s totally ready to leave the party and strangle a mob boss on her way out.
Rebel Uniform/Endor – Simplicity 4104 – c. 1942
As I said earlier, WW2 era patterns were a nice fit for her uniform looks. This coverall pattern made for a cute take on the rebel uniform, and I decided to carry it over to Endor too…
Ewok Village – Simplicity 3583 – c.1951 + reference from 1950s pattern book
So I came across this playsuit pattern that had a little appliqued rabbit above the interior pocket of the skirt and I knew immediately that was my ewok village look, with the ewok replacing the rabbit.
Wedding Dress – McCall’s 9577 – c.1953
Ok back to the gowns!! There were so many beautiful formal/full length gown 1950s patterns to choose from. I thought this one with this seaming at the waist and the shawl standing in as the sleeves worked well for the wedding dress. I imagine just yards and yards and yards of seaform green tulle…
Honeymoon – Simplicity 4089 – c. 1940s
The little hip pieces of the honeymoon dress and the standing collar just screamed 1940s boss babe with a peplum top to me.
Jedi Flashback – Simplicity 6019 – c.1965
Admittedly not one of my favs. It was hard to translate into a realistic 50s outfit. And while I’m not totally in love with it, I do think it gives 1950s gal hiking through the italian countryside, which works for me as a stand-in for jedi training in the forest.
Legends Jedi – Simplicity 4307 – c 1950s swimsuit pattern
This one was based on a 50s swimsuit pattern. Transferred the tabard pattern to the little coat/cover-up.
Shadows of the Empire – Simplicity 1679
For this weird little blue outfit from the comics (always wanted to do it back in the day but never did), I thought let’s go wiggle dress. And kick it up a notch with a ton of sequins.
Naboo Delegate – Advance 6291 – c. 1952
This one was a lot of fun. Since it’s a fancier dress from the comics went ahead and did full formal here too. Instead of black and red I decided to do very dark red velvet and red. Just thought that looked more era appropriate.
Harbinger outfit – simplicity 4715 – c. 1950s
Another one of those pants/vest outfits from the comics, decided to keep this one casual too like Hoth and do a little top with shorts and a vest. She’s ready for camping in the 50s. (Maybe not with those shoes, but we don’t always make the best shoe choices for the situation, do we)
Cato Neimoidia – Simplicity 2404 – c 1957
Another one I felt could go full formal, and I really love how this one came out. And her clutch is Padme Lake dress inspired š
TFA jumpsuit – McCalls 8520 – c. early 1950s
When I came across this 50s jumpsuit pattern I immediately saved it because I knew I could use it for SOME Leia outfit, but which? Considered it for Hoth, rebel uniform, but finally assigned it to the TFA suit. Something about that popped collar just gives “General” Organa.
TFA Blue Dress – Vogue 7497 A – c. 1968
Now for the rest of the sequel era, I moved into the 60s/70s, because the era of caftans just works for General Leia’s less structured costumes. This late 60s dress was a good base for the blue dress.
Raddus Bridge – Style 4681 – c.1960s
One aspect I struggled with throughout the project was the idea of the reality of making and wearing these outfits to Dapper Day vs the fantasy. The fantasy side of my brain kept saying “make things bigger, longer, pants and jackets are fine!” The reality side of my brain kept saying “there is no way you could wear this to dapper day and not die of heat exhaustion, how can we fix that?” Looking at everything you can see in some cases the fantasy won, and in some cases the reality won. This is a mix of the 2, yes it’s a huge loose-fitting robe, but we are wearing it over a romper with shorts LOL
Crait – Simplicity 7544 – c. 1960s
I love how this one turned out, this poncho jacket was great for the Crait robe. If I still had my first version I’d be altering it to turn it into this right now…
ROS – Simplicity 5186 – c.1970s
HAD to go to the 70s for this one – that long vest over a pants and top just screamed Mary Tyler Moore.
Force Ghost – Vogue 6084 – c.1963
One of my favs. I’d love to make this one.
Lothal – Simplicity 2012 – c.1940s
And now going backwards because I didn’t want to start with these LOL. This little 1940s beach dress I thought was a cute variation on the Lothal outfit.
Lil Leia Yellow Outfit – McCall’s 5332 – c. 1925
I tried to go back into the 20s/30s for the Lil Leia outfits. But finding patterns that old for kids proved difficult, so I did end up hopping around and using whatever I could find that looked like it would work for the outfit. This one in particular is actually a little boys’ outfit, but I think it’s cute for this one, considering the context of the scene.
Lil Leia Red Outfit – McCall 5900 – c. 1920s
Had trouble with the colours on this one and kept tweaking the reds, but in the end I’m pretty happy with this little dress/matching shorts.
Lil Leia Green Outfit – Butterick 6239 -c. 1950s
Ok so I hopped back up to the 50s for this one, because this little girls’ jacket with attached capelet was too cute to not use for the green poncho.
Lil Leia White Outfit – Girl’s fashion plate circa 1930s
At the end I kinda had to give up on the idea of finding patterns and started looking at fashion plates instead. There just aren’t a lot of kids patterns that old left out there! But this little 1930s dress was a cute option for the white outfit.
So that’s my Leia collection. These were fun to do, and stay tuned for the sequel – I already have the first portion of Midcentury Padmes ready to go š