Most popular inspirations for fashion designers come from different cultures from all over the world. Today, we are going to focus on the cultural inspiration on two of Padme or Queen Amidala’s dresses from Star Wars.
These two designs have asian cultural inspirations. The color red, popular in east asian culture (esp. in China), symbolize traditional bridal colour, good luck, celebration, joy, vitality, long life, money, recognition, propriety… etc.
Regarding the headdress for the second picture, this headdress comes from traditional Mongolian wedding dress:
This wedding dress not only inspired the Queen’s headdress, but also her sleeves, large, spacious.
The Queen’s dresses are also inspired by other east asian’s wedding dresses:
The first wedding dresses are Korean while the second is Chinese. Both dresses are long, prominently red, and has large spacious sleeves.
Other than Padme’s dress, her makeup has also been inspired by the east Asian cultures. Her face is pale with two red dots drawn on her cheeks. This particular face makeup is once again inspired by Mongolians and Koreans. Called the Yeonji Gonji in Korea, the two red dots have been part of Korea and Mongolia’s culture for hundreds of years.
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(A Goguryeo woman with make-up on her face)
The face, coated with white powder, is pale, which symbolizes one’s wealth. A woman who has a pale face, in ancient east Asia, was seen as someone who did not have to work. A pale face is still desired in South Korea.
It is very interesting to see the inspirations of any type of creation and to learn from it. Our creations, be it sculpture, painting, or clothing, are inspired by the things that our eyes have viewed in our lives, by the ideas that our ears have heard. Learning from the creation of Queen Amidala’s dress, it is important to keep our eyes open as we go through our daily life. Look through the newspaper. Take a stroll outside. Read a history book. Everything can become an inspiration.
Here’s an exercise: study a culture, any culture, and create something from it. Many of my characters from Providence have been heavily influenced by different type of cultures. It takes time to research, but, in the end, it’s all worth it.
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