Remembering The Phantom Menace

25 years later, Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace is back in theatres and our contributors and editor reflect on the much-maligned blockbuster prequel.

THIS IS MY DECOY: Padmé Amidala’s Costumes in Phantom Menace

by Gabrielle Marceau

The Handmaiden is active and approachable. She wears a utility belt and clothes that allow her to kneel down and speak to the boy, her tone is safe and playful like a babysitter’s. The Queen on the other hand is formal and intimidating, when she speaks her voice is low and flat and the things she says are unequivocal.

A friend told me that while watching Episode I - The Phantom Menace as a child, she assumed Padmé’s extravagant costumes—the sculptural headdresses that looked like horns of an extinct animal, floor-length cloaks with lanterns sewn into their folds, sheet-white face paint—were what she would wear when she grew up. I suppose I did as well. But I was still a kid, and at that time, in my world, the worst thing you could be was girly. On one hot day, a group of kids watched as I stuck my sneakered foot into the compost bin. I had a hot pink t-shirt, low-top Converses and I wanted to prove that I was no girl. The Handmaiden is a tomboy, but warm and flirtatious. The Queen is commanding and cold, but hyper-feminine.