If you’ve ever seen Star Wars, I’m sure you’ll agree with me when I say Padmé Amidala had the most exotic, detailed costumes in the movie. From her Senate gown to her vacation retreat ombré dress, this queen knew how to set trends in the galaxy. 

I decided to question her costumes: how they were made, the fabrics used in their design, and the history behind them. First, I made my plan on my Star Wars pitch form. I jotted down my question, how I would answer it, what I would use to answer it, and so much more.   

  Next, it was time to research. I drew information from dozens of sites, and constantly wrote down new ideas. I researched the designer first, following that was the inspirations, next I read about the fabrics, and finally to tie it all together, the fun facts. 

  
When research was finished, I created my slideshow. Editing my photos was key. I cropped them, made colours more vibrant, brightened them and even made a couple using Paper by 53. After the long and elaborate process of editing and creating my photos, I made them into slides uing a theme from Canva. Making my slides was a difficult task, because I was always changing things around; Fonts had to be spaced right and pictures had to be clear and balanced. After I approved each and every slide, I imported them into iMovie. I had loads of frustration when I realized my Crawl Creator app wouldn’t let me save the intro I had made up. Instead, I had to make one in Canva. The musical process was also problematic, to Mr. Hughes (and well, everyone’s) horror, I had to play a song off my phone into my iPad. Terrible, but 99% good music is better than none at all, right? 

  
  

 After a long and tiring process of making my movie, it was time to paint my dress. Now, I’m really no artist, and if you’ve seen my post A Magic Quilt Part II, you know that. Unfortunately, I had a painting on a real canvas but it got ruined (no, you don’t need details..) so I improvised and used thick paper and my 5 small bottles of paint. Go me. I personally think I could have spent more time on this part. 

  Here is a picture of my final project 
  The presentation itself however, was not the end. How could it be? The exhibition was the B I G part. My group was assigned to Dagobah, the planet inhabited by Yoda. We planned out everything in a Google Doc; we had to organize food, costumes, decorations, a piece that incorporated the audience, music and everything in between. 

 

Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos of the exhibition. However, I was really happy that we worked so well with the grade 10’s and everything was organized. Lots of people came and appreciated our hard work and effort put into the exhibition and projects.  

I learned a lot about not only just Padmé Amidala’s character, but how designers draw inspiration for basically anything. I found out things about cultures around the world that I would never think of wanting to know, but it was really interesting and a fun project. I didn’t just learn from my project, but I learned from my mistakes. I focused so much on details I didn’t need and then had to rush to complete my visual piece. I also learned about the strengths and weaknesses of my peers when we were working together to create Dagobah. I’m excited for next time, because now I have the experience of being a part of this type of project, and I know what to expect.  
May the force be with you! 

to watch my video on Padmé Amidala’s costumes, click here.