The gold bikini-style costume that Carrie Fisher wore as Princess Leia while making “Return of the Jedi” in the “Star Wars” franchise has sold for $175,000, according to the auction house that handled the sale.
The costume was made famous when Fisher wore it at the start of the 1983 film when Leia was captured by Jabba the Hutt at his palace on Tatooine and forced to be a slave.
The costume, one of the most memorable in the “ Star Wars” movies, was sold on Friday by Dallas-based Heritage Auctions.
Joe Maddalena, Heritage’s executive vice president, said the costume that was sold was one that was screen tested and worn by Fisher on the movie’s set but ultimately did not make it onto the final version of the film as it was switched out for one that was more comfortable.
Fisher, who shared her strong feelings about the costume over the years, revealed in 2016 that she thought Lucas was “kidding” when he first showed her the bikini, saying she felt “nearly naked, which is not a style choice for me … It wasn’t my choice.?
Miller added soft material to the costume so that Fisher would be more comfortable in it.
“However, she still didn’t like it. I don’t blame her,” he once said in an interview. “I did put leather on the back of it to help it feel better.?
The seven-piece ensemble, which includes a bikini brassiere, bikini plates, hip rings, an armlet and bracelet, was designed by the late Richard Miller, the chief sculptor for Industrial Light & Magic, the visual effects company founded by Star Wars creator George Lucas.
A miniature aircraft from the first Star Wars film, A New Hope, also sold for US$1.55m (£1.2m, A$2.36m) at the auction. The miniature Y-Wing Starfighter, which helped bring down the Death
Star in A New Hope, was one of only two miniatures created for the production.
It was designed by US artist Colin Cantwell, after Lucas gave the direction that he wanted the film’s aircraft to have “distinct shapes so that the audience could immediately tell whether a ship was a ‘good guy’ or ‘a bad guy, according to Heritage Auctions.
The Hollywood auction also included a movie poster from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home by Bob Peak, which sold for $106,250; a Thor hammer from Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World, which sold for $81,250; and a Mandalorian helmet, bought for $40,000.
The wand used by Daniel Radcliffe in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban sold for $52,000, while an outfit worn by Macauley Culkin in the first Home Alone film sold for $47,500.
Princess Leia’s costume has become one of the most famous costumes in film history. It last sold for $96,000 at a Star Wars memorabilia auction in 2015.
Joe Maddalena, Heritage’s executive vice president, said the costume that was sold was one that was screen tested and worn by Fisher on the movie’s set but ultimately did not make it onto the final version of the film as it was switched out for one that was more comfortable.
The auction house said the costume sparked a bidding war among collectors.
Maddalena said he wasn’t surprised by the attention bidders gave to the costume as well as to a model of a Y-wing fighter that took on the Death Star in the original “Star Wars” film that sold for $1.55 million. He said “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” have very avid fan bases
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