Further thoughts on fashion and historical influences on certain costumes in the prequels, PART 3
CONTINUED FROM OVER HERE https://polgarawolf.livejournal.com/266070.html WHICH WAS CONTINUED FROM OVER HERE https://polgarawolf.livejournal.com/265905.html BECAUSE OF THE LJ'S IDIOTIC/FRUSTRATING AS ALL GET OUT CHARACTER LIMITS!!!
Stonroy Soma https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Unidentified_draped_senator and https://preview.redd.it/bxg9jwdky3151.jpg?width=960&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=2eec9c1157750e679bf35fd879d18956beaeced7 and http://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/liana-merian_tpm05.png (who was reported as being from Delaya on Wookieepedia several years ago, when I first really began taking my Thwarting the Revenge of the Sith trio seriously enough to start expanding the AU into an actual series, probably not long after RotS would’ve been coming out on video/DVD) though canon apparently now says that he’s from Alderaan and merely another political aide for Bail Antilles. I still operate according to the old information, that he is from Delaya, and my take on the character has always been that either he’s a Representative specifically from that world - like Jar Jar Binks is for the Gungans on Naboo in AotC and RotS - who’s therefore attached to the Alderaanian delegation or else is another Junior Senator for the Alderaan system/sector, strictly for Delaya) is also in off-white (though his is a cream or even vanilla color that clearly has a bit of yellow to it), though apparently it’s a robe of some sort https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/2/23/Stonroy_Soma.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20170410095208&path-prefix=nl with what seems to be a much smaller upright collar https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/star-wars-canon/images/c/c0/BailAgrippa_TPM.png/revision/latest?cb=20181012194143 beneath what looks like a richly colored (possibly quilted? If not, there’s definitely a lining - it looks sort of golden or coppery-golden - and the pattern of intersecting gold lines and what resembles a thicker square gold frame still might be sewn on to the purple fabric that makes up the top layer of the garment) variation on either a Greek himation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himation or else an unusually heavy Roman toga https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toga with a print.
Meanwhile, the almost pinkish-gold off-white (either a yellowy vanilla or a richer champagne or champagne pink hue that, in some photos, looks like it also has a sort of misty rose/seashell pink glow to it) gown Liana Merian https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Liana_Merian/Legends and http://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/liana-merian_tpm05.png is wearing as one of Senator Bail Antilles’ aides in TPM looks like a highly simplified, looser-cut version of one of Mon Mothma’s costumes http://www.padawansguide.com/monmothma.shtml in RotS, specifically the one she’s wearing in the meeting of concerned Senators in Padmé’s apartment https://i.pinimg.com/originals/85/c8/14/85c814f18a6af3c7c915ca730ee5e7d8.jpg and https://64.media.tumblr.com/8f318e306da9a7cb9761782973a83708/tumblr_olg5syt71k1up92cxo4_1280.png (the one where Padmé’s wearing the purple-belted green velvet http://www.rebelshaven.com/SWFFAQ/greenrobe.php and http://www.padawansguide.com/green.shtml gown clearly based on a Medieval houppelande https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houppelande). Liana’s costume also rather like it also could’ve been designed originally for Padmé, given that she’s wearing what looks like the same style of buns that Padmé does in packing scene http://www.padawansguide.com/silver.shtml and http://www.rebelshaven.com/SWFFAQ/packing.php in AotC and also the reunion scene with Anakin http://www.rebelshaven.com/SWFFAQ/leia.php and http://www.padawansguide.com/hairbuns.shtml in RotS and that the sleeve style is something seen over and over on costumes worn by various Nabooians (when they aren’t wearing Medieval/Victorian bishop sleeves http://chilestheatre.com/history-of-sleeves-1.pdf and https://genealogylady.net/2015/07/26/fashion-moments-bishop-sleeve/ and https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Bishops_sleeve.jpg) - the very Victorian https://www.geriwalton.com/gigot-or-leg-of-mutton-sleeves-of-the-1800s/ leg of mutton/gigot - in that it’s full/loose at the top but also has a wide cuff fastened tightly to the forearm.
The whole look is likely meant to be evocative of Leia in the OT - especially A New Hope - too, of course, but that’s reflexive, since it’s referent of another Alderaanian, or at least of someone who’s essentially raised there and who doubtlessly self-identifies, in the time frame of the OT, as Alderaanian. Regardless, the buns in Liana’s hair aren’t actually shaped like Leia’s (in)famous cinnamon buns, but instead are clearly modelled on the traditional Hopi squash blossom whorl or butterfly whorl https://pinsndls.com/2012/10/18/mystery-monday-the-squash-blossom-as-a-symbol-of-fertility/ and https://designyoutrust.com/2020/06/stunning-vintage-photos-of-young-hopi-maidens-with-their-traditional-hairstyle-from-the-1900s-and-1910s/ and https://i.pinimg.com/originals/5d/e6/5b/5de65bf746a891fa9d297ebdfefa6f80.jpg and http://www.whitewolfpack.com/2017/12/hopi-squash-blossom-story-behind-iconic.html). In any case, the loose cut and essential lack of structure to the gown (in combination with the upright collar) makes it look like they might’ve been going for something either based on a Victorian Mother Hubbard dress https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Hubbard_dress and https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/2738187 or else a version of 1950s/1960s/1970s/1990s long A-line https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-line_(clothing) dress, but it also looks like someone took the main body of a fairly plain robe or dress (like a very early, extremely basic Medieval European tunic/dress https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_medieval_European_dress or even the long gown of early Medieval Anglo-Saxons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_dress but without a cloak of some sort to go over it or even a belt to give it any sense of structure. Arguably, it would also slightly resemble a Rus Medieval kaftan or at least a Medieval Slavic kaftan, only without the obvious decorative closures down the chest, if not for the sleeves), put an upright https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_collar mandarin collar on it, and then stuck sleeves in the style of 15th century Late Medieval/mid-Victorian bishop sleeves http://chilestheatre.com/history-of-sleeves-1.pdf and https://genealogylady.net/2015/07/26/fashion-moments-bishop-sleeve/ on it.
(The two costumes Mon Mothma wears http://www.padawansguide.com/monmothma.shtml in RotS http://www.padawansguide.com/monmothma/mothma3.jpg technically both look like far more elaborate - and, in the case of the one mentioned above https://i.pinimg.com/originals/85/c8/14/85c814f18a6af3c7c915ca730ee5e7d8.jpg and https://64.media.tumblr.com/8f318e306da9a7cb9761782973a83708/tumblr_olg5syt71k1up92cxo4_1280.png with the same 15th century Late Medieval/mid-Victorian bishop sleeves as on Liana Merian’s costume, clearly much more fitted - versions of what the Alderaanian political aide http://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/liana-merian_tpm05.png and https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Liana_Merian/Legends is wearing in TPM. Mon Mothma’s second costume in RotS, which she’s wearing during another meeting of concerned Senators from the Loyalist Committee - specifically the one in Bail’s office, where Padmé is wearing an elaborate purple/burgundy velvet gown http://www.padawansguide.com/revelation.shtml and http://www.rebelshaven.com/SWFFAQ/revelation.php and Mon Mothma can be seen clearly among the other Senators in several of the stills and behind the scenes photos - with the ornate silver metallic headdress/crown https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net/v1/images/mon-mothma-3-retina_d142ca96.jpeg?region=0%2C0%2C1200%2C509 that has connected round, domed shapes low on the sides suggesting a Medieval reticulated headdress https://world4.eu/reticulated-headdress/ and https://rosaliegilbert.com/headdresses.html known as a crespine or crispinette or cauls http://bloshka.info/2020/09/26/crespine/ and https://sartorialadventure.tumblr.com/post/188436114831/the-crispinette-or-caul-came-into-fashion-in-the and http://seducedbyhistory.blogspot.com/2009/09/head-coverings-of-medieval-english.html and also suggesting the same basic shape as Liana’s hairstyle, with one bun on either side of her head, is very close to the same sort of gold-tinged champagne color as Liana’s gown and, being made of pin-tucked silk, also has the same kind of sheen to the fabric [which Mon Mothma’s other outfit, of a similar color but made of felted wool, clearly does not]. It may have sleeves in a very different style that clearly grow much, much wider further down on her arms http://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/monMotha3.fw_.png and http://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/mothma3.jpg and are distinctly inspired by High Medieval dagged https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/dagging/ sleeves and hanging sleeves http://www.theweebsite.com/sewing/sleeves/history.html and it may have her attached chain of office https://overanalysingstarwars.tumblr.com/post/128700528674/mon-mothma-whats-her-story and what Trisha Biggar on page 112 of her Dressing a Galaxy: The Costumes of Star Wars describes as a “tabard” as a sort of attached overlay that include the upright, very tall collar and likely reaches to the floor when her arms are lowered, in addition to quite possibly either being made of two pieces - as the main body of the dress with the attached sleeves and “tabard” overlay reaching to approximately her upper or middle calves, with a longer skirt beneath that, reaching the floor - or else specifically in layers like a much looser take on a late Victorian https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1880s_in_Western_fashion or Edwardian https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1900s_in_Western_fashion and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1910s_in_Western_fashion dress crossed with a Victorian Mother Hubbard dress https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Hubbard_dress and https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/2738187 but the high upright neck [clearly based on a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_collar mandarin collar], long sleeves, and overall rather loose A-line shape are also very like Liana’s costume. Frankly, both of Mon Mothma’s costumes and Liana Merian’s costume are also all fairly obvious hodgepodges of wildly differing eras of fashion, though, to be fair, this is also true for many, many other costumes in the prequel films.)
The costume of Sateen Vestswe https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Sateen_Vestswe/Legends and http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y267/amberleewriter/Bail%20aides/9bd8e219.jpg (Bail Organa’s bodyguard in RotS. DISNEY!SW canon is apparently now calling him another aide, but the old canon and EU both say he’s Bail’s bodyguard, from a family that’s served the Royal House of Alderaan for forty generations, with no exceptions, so in my book, he’s Bail’s bodyguard who probably acts like he’s another political aide while they’re on Coruscant, so as to not be obvious as his bodyguard) is wearing something quite similar in overall look to what the other male characters from Alderaan/Delaya are wearing, particularly Senator Organa’s costume https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c7/4f/05/c74f059cabb1d68ddcff143f445543fe.jpg and http://www.scififantasynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Mon-Mothma-Bail-Organa-Padme-episode-3.jpg during one of his meetings with fellow Senators and members of the Loyalist Committee about Palpatine’s continued use of emergency powers, the war, the future of democracy in the Republic, etc. (the meeting in Bail’s office, where Padmé is wearing the elaborate purple/burgundy velvet gown http://www.rebelshaven.com/SWFFAQ/revelation.php and http://www.padawansguide.com/revelation.shtml and Bail can clearly be seen in several of the stills and behind the scenes photos for that particular costume) though the color palette seems to have more in common with what can be seen in the promotional shot of what Bail’s wearing http://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/1.png when he goes to try to investigate the burning of the Jedi Temple (though, since what Bail’s wearing in that scene looks much more grey on film, it’s possible that, on film, Sateen Vestswe’s costume might’ve also appeared more grey). It’s clearly another military-inspired uniform, with familiar looking matching trousers (tucked into polished tall black leather books) and a seemingly seamless shirt with a prominent upright mandarin collar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_collar like those found with Nehru jacket/suits https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nehru_jacket in what looks like a medium-light, slightly murky (almost olive drab) green, belted at the waist (with the shirt tucked in) by a fairly wide looking leather belt holding a sidearm on the right, topped by an open long overcoat or overrobe (which looks like it hits around mid-calf) in a much dark shade of dull green (almost a dark forest green/evergreen or hunter green, dark enough to almost be mistaken for a faded black in shadow or from a distance).
Interestingly, there are two fairly wide bands (the one that goes around the base of the upright collar is more narrow than the other, but even it looks like it’s probably around three inches wide and the lower, wider band looks half again as wide, visibly much wider than the width of the character’s hand across the palm) on Sateen’s shirt of what looks like purely decorative detail but is likely meant to be reinforced bands of protective material (it looks textured/pebbled, almost like hide of some sort) that, ’in verse, is almost certainly blast-resistant/cut-resistant material of some kind. The overcoat/overrobe is also interesting, in that his has sleeves so long that they are rolled back in long cuff (clearly longer than the actor’s entire hand) and yet there’s no decorative or contrasting fabric revealed by those rolled cuffs (possibly the sleeves are so long, in ’verse, so that they can be rolled down to protect the hands, in an emergency or a firefight, and are being worn rolled up to make them seem simply decorative). The shape of the overcoat/overrobe is very evocative of Regency/Victorian greatcoats: specifically, it seems to be based on kind of carrick/garrick or coachman’s coat https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/carrick-coat/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1795%E2%80%931820_in_Western_fashion#Changes_in_fashionand https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1795%E2%80%931820_in_Western_fashion#Men's_fashion and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1830s_in_Western_fashion#Men's_fashion that first became popular during the Napoleonic wars (there are a lot of so-called Gothic steampunk greatcoats also based on this design, which essentially involves three to five short capelets attached to a tall/upright collar of a greatcoat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatcoat), though, in this case, the three layers of “capelets” seem to be sewn down and they’re abbreviated over the shoulder/sides of the arms, cut in a slanted/curved manner that means the silhouette of the overcoat from the front looks a bit like Bail Organa’s clearly Victorian-inspired shawl-collared blue leather shearling coat https://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/3.jpg and https://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2-1.png and https://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/1-2.jpg and https://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/starwars3-movie-screencaps.com-2837.jpg and creates the same sort of extended vertical line around the shoulder that’s present in so many of the other Alderaanian uniforms (and several other Nabooian costumes, as well) and is pretty clearly based on by European Baroque fashions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1650%E2%80%931700_in_Western_European_fashion There is visible darker material (possibly leather?) at the tops of all three levels of the modified capelets, reinforcing the shape and making them rigid enough that the overlay clearly wraps around the back to some extent; however, unfortunately, there are apparently no images of the back of this costume, so there’s no telling if the back piece is simply goes straight back around him or if it forms a triangular-shaped hem like what’s on the front of the garment (meaning that it likely extends far enough down the back at the center to essentially reach the waist, much like the shearling, modified shawl collar of Bail’s blue leather greatcoat https://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/starwars3-movie-screencaps.com-2837.jpg does). Regardless, his overcoat is clearly inspired by Regency/Victorian greatcoats like carrick/garrick or coachman’s coat and by Victorian fashions in general.
The fashions worn by the men clearly seem to lean towards military-influenced uniforms of Nehru jackets or Nehru suits https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nehru_jacket with a prominent upright mandarin collar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_collar and occasional Greco-Roman influences (like the stole or modified palla https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palla_(garment) or pallium https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallium_(Roman_cloak) Bail Antilles is wearing in TPM, the large wrapped garment Stonray Soma is wearing in TPM that is clearly based on a Greek himation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himation and/or a heavy/slightly modified Roman toga https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toga with a print, and the cloak-like, diagonally cut poncho that Raymus Antilles and Bail Organa both wear at some point in RotS, which are pretty clearly based on Roman paenula or casula https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paenula though the way that they’re cut, to leave one arm essentially uncovered, is also evocative of the Greek abolla https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolla which would be fastened to leave an arm free). Corla Metonae https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Corla_Metonae/Legends and https://starwars.fandom.com/nl/wiki/Corla_Metonae is in a very similar military-influenced uniform of matching overshirt and fitted trousers that looks like a slightly modified Nehru jacket/suit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nehru_jacket with a prominent upright mandarin collar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_collar (if anything, the collar on her uniform is even taller than some of those on the similar men’s uniforms) in RotS. Liana Merian https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Liana_Merian/Legends is wearing a gown in TPM that also clearly includes an upright mandarin collar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_collar while Sheltay Retrac’s costume http://www.rebelshaven.com/SWFFAQ/sheltay.php and http://www.padawansguide.com/sheltay.shtml in RotS has a high collar that is either also based on mandarin collars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_collar or else based on polo necks/turtlenecks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polo_neck (or both). In her single appearance in RotS, Breha is apparently the only character on film from Alderaan/Delaya who doesn’t have an upright collar http://www.rebelshaven.com/SWFFAQ/breha.php and http://www.padawansguide.com/brehaorgana.shtml of some sort.
For the characters from Alderaan/Delaya, the only other exceptions to the military-influenced uniforms of Nehru jackets or Nehru suits https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nehru_jacket with a prominent upright mandarin collar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_collar (sometimes with some occasional Greco-Roman influences, too) seem to involve Bail Organa, particularly his Senate costume (which is he also wearing in the balcony seen on Coruscant, with Palpatine and several other Senators/government officials, overlooking ranks of the clone soldiers) https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/9/93/Palpatine_on_balcony.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20141103101206 and http://www.padawansguide.com/bail.shtml and https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/4/48/Parade.png/revision/latest?cb=20180211191423 and https://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Bail_Organa-New_FactFile.jpg in AotC, the darkish blue, basically floor-length, shawl-collared, shearling-lined, leather coat/overrobe http://www.padawansguide.com/others/sheltay.jpg and https://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/1-2.jpg he wears towards the beginning of RotS (in the scene where several Senators, etc., come out to greet Anakin Skywalker and the returned Palpatine, successfully rescued from his “kidnapping” by the Separatists. Bail pauses to speak to Anakin briefly https://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/starwars3-movie-screencaps.com-2869.jpg before continuing on after Palpatine and the others [which is when the reunion between Anakin and Padmé occurs]) over what appears to be the same outfit that he’s wearing (without the coat) when he brings Leia to his Breha, on Alderaan http://www.rebelshaven.com/SWFFAQ/images/breha/brehascreen9.jpg and http://www.padawansguide.com/others/breha9.jpg (which is basically the same sort of military-inspired costume as he wears on the Tantive III when he rescues Yoda and then picks up Obi-Wan and the twins, only the Nehru jacket now reaches to approximately his mid-calves - he still seems to have trousers underneath, though it’s hard to tell what color they are, because of his evidently quite tall black boots - and has the same kind of invisible right-side closure that both the military uniforms of the GAR https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Republic_military_uniforms and the Empire https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Imperial_military_uniforms/Legends have), and the essentially floor-length fancy velvet cape/cloak (or long sleeveless robe) with the X-shaped attached silvery metal piece (like some kind of strange combination of pauldrons that have somehow grown together into a sort of extremely abbreviated upper breastplate. Photos of this costume from exhibits strongly hint that the top of this X actually continues completely around the back of his shoulders, so that there’s a loop we don’t see across his back to help anchor the entire thing. The bottom of the X, which is obscured by the drape of the velvet, most likely ends short of wrapping around to the armpits) http://powerofcostume.si.edu/bailOrgana.html and https://www.starwars.com/databank/bail-organa and https://i.pinimg.com/originals/2e/5d/44/2e5d4400f9ec57e6d80c20337ab8cf2a.jpg and https://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/starwars3-movie-screencaps.com-11084.jpg he seems to be wearing over yet another Nehru jacket (with what looks like a silver torque or torc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torc that’s pressed tight enough to be holding the collar shut! He also has silvery vambraces and it looks like his Nehru jacket/tunic has a leather belt with a silver buckle of some sort) and either matching or else very dark trousers in the infamous “liberty dies” Senate scene.
The cloak/sleeveless robe with the large metal anchoring piece can probably be safely said to have been inspired by a cross between fantasy clichés (if we presume the metal piece evolved from something meant to fit over regular armor of some sort, either for added protection or else simply to anchor a cloak/sleeves robe like it does in RotS, for more formal occasions) and a basic full-length cloak https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloak or long, loose, cape-like/cloak-like mantle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantle_(clothing) worn by both men and women from the 12th to the 16th centuries, the silver torque/torc, on the other hand, is clearly inspired by Bronze Age and Celtic torques/torcs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torc even though it’s plain, if polished, fairly flat metal. On the other hand, shawl collars or lapels - the kind that have a continuous curve to them - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapel#Types_of_lapel apparently started with Victorian smoking jackets, and, although shearling (or the use of sheepskin) has been around since the Stone Age https://www.gq.com.au/style/style-101/the-history-of-shearling-jackets/image-gallery/ab6cd8dd680f6d3d1ca891ee3a827721 and https://americanmystique.com/blog/shearling-bomber-jackets/ shearling coats https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shearling_coat are apparently also a Victorian creation https://www.bodaskins.com/blogs/stories/boda-skins-history-of-shearling So that adds a Victorian shearling coat with a Victorian shawl collar - a shawl collar that curves out far enough at their tops to give him that same sense of an extended vertical line at the shoulders that’s so clearly based on/inspired by European Baroque fashions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1650%E2%80%931700_in_Western_European_fashion and which, in a twist on normal shawl collars, curves around the back of his shoulders and then extends in a soft triangular shape down his back either to or almost to the center of his waist in the back https://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/starwars3-movie-screencaps.com-2837.jpg (in a way that makes me wonder if, in ’verse, the leather of the coat and the backing of the “shearling” isn’t actually something blast-resistant, to give Bail added protection, especially against possible attacks from behind), in a way that seems evocative both of the capelets often attached to men’s Regency/Victorian greatcoats [for nineteenth century military uniforms and casual wear for the wealthy] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatcoat and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1795%E2%80%931820_in_Western_fashion#Changes_in_fashionand https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1795%E2%80%931820_in_Western_fashion#Men's_fashion and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1830s_in_Western_fashion#Men's_fashion and also the kind of triangular/pointed yokes and overlays often found on women’s Victorian gowns https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1830s_in_Western_fashion and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1840s_in_Western_fashion and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1860s_in_Western_fashion and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1870s_in_Western_fashion and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1880s_in_Western_fashion which reinforces the overall Victorian feel to the garment - to a Bronze Age/Celtic torque or torc, and a fairly generic Medieval mantle/cloak to the mix (with a bit of fantasy armor cliché for added flavor).
As for Bail’s Senate costume in AotC . . . honestly, it’s very different from anything/everything else he wears in the prequels. There are two layers of seemingly quite heavy looking shirts/tunics and a long (apparently mid- to lower-calf, judging by promotional images and film stills in the Chancellor’s office that show Bail and other Senators from the side/behind and such https://starwarslatinamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/The-Attack-of-the-Clones_P%C3%A1gina_16-scaled.jpg and https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net/v1/images/bail-organa-history-1_9928919b.jpeg?region=0%2C0%2C800%2C343 and https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/5/5e/Bail_Organa-FactFile.png/revision/latest?cb=20130224154551), open, heavily pleated velvet overrobe with three-quarter length sleeves over that, along with dark trousers (evidently to match the robe) and the typical tall black boots Bail seems to favor wearing. The open overrobe - which looks rather like an unbelted academic houppelande https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houppelande but might also be inspired somewhat by Persian kaftans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaftan - seems to be made out of extremely dark blue velvet and it has panels of grey/silver embroidered Alderaanian knotwork (at least it looks like two heart-shapes turned sideways, points outwards, as the basis for a knotwork pattern [inside a rectangular frame made of additional, smaller fancy scrollwork and/or possible adapted knotwork]. This main/largest knotwork pattern is probably loosely based on the Crest of Alderaan https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Crest_of_Alderaan/Legends which is the symbol of House Organa, too), which apparently run from just below the shoulders down to around his midthigh (or around where, if his arms are relaxed as this sides, the middle knuckles of his hands http://alexeysmirnov1977.com/Images/SWOFF_C/C.ORG2.jpg would be). On the back of the overrobe, there are two more embroidered panels of evidently the same knotwork in framing scrollwork https://www.starwars.com/databank/bail-organa reaching from just below his shoulders to probably also approximately midthigh.
Under that overrobe, there’s a sort of visibly brocaded/textured tunic of a brighter medium blue over a darker or duller background of slate blue, cinched by a wide (visibly wider than Bail’s hand is across his palm) belt (with at least two large pouches visibly built into it. There may be others hidden by the drape of the overrobe) at his waist (the garment seems to reach to around or possibly just above his knees http://alexeysmirnov1977.com/Images/SWOFF_C/C.ORG2.jpg since it’s longer than the knotwork on the overrobe reaches in front. There’s no telling, though, if it has sleeves at all or simply sleeves enough shorter than on the darker overrobe for them not to show, even when Bail has his arms crossed in front of him), and, beneath that, a fairly light blue shirt or sweater or undertunic made out of an even more thickly visibly textured (and likely heavy, which is why I keep wanting to say it’s a sweater. There are bands/ribs on the material that visibly stand up from the rest of the material by what looks like at least a good half an inch and it clearly also looks like it has some stretch/give to it too) material, with long sleeves that come down just past the wrists/around the top of his thumbs (and so show quite a bit past the end of the sleeves of the overrobe) and an extremely high collar (it almost looks like a turtleneck or polo neck that’s been scrunched down slightly instead of folded over. The top of it is practically up around his jawline). He is also wearing a fairly heavy silver necklace/chain that looks as if it just long enough http://alexeysmirnov1977.com/Images/SWOFF_C/C.ORG3.jpg to go around that tall collar and still have a bit of slack in the chain.
The outfit would seem to be fairly basic - the overrobe is pretty obviously Medieval (it’s either based on some sort of kaftan/caftan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaftan or else it’s based on a houppelande https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houppelande if not some combination of the two things), the belted tunic and the pants could also pass as Medieval, and, though the sweater-like underlayer looks very modern, especially that high collar like a slightly scrunched turtleneck or polo neck https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polo_neck it’s technically also Medieval, given that knights in the 1500s wore shirts with tall necks specially made to help avoid severe chaffing from chainmail https://www.lanecrawford.com/discover/the-history-of-turtlenecks-102600016-20210217/ and http://www.stitchfashion.com/home/a-stitch-in-time-the-history-of-turtlenecks The texture - the way that it looks like an extremely thick sweater - is possibly not historically accurate, though. In fact, the heavier textures of most if not all of the fabrics in the overall outfit, the embroidery on the front and back of the velvet overrobe, and all over pattern of brocade on the tunic seem almost more Elizabethan (and, again, the tall neck of the lightest garment would actually fit with that time period, though it would need a ruff or ruffle of some sort on top to really fit with the era. The way that the material so clearly has texture to it almost evokes a sort of small ruff, in an odd fashion, though) in feel, rather than High or even Late Medieval.
In any case, it seems pretty clear that Alderaan fashion in the prequel films is a bit of a hodgepodge of styles - Late Medieval to borderline Elizabethan; Medieval European; Victorian; Bronze Age/Celtic; Medieval Anglo-Saxon; Greco-Roman; Mod/Indian-inspired (for the Nehru jacket/suit)/Chinese-inspired (for the upright mandarin collar); 17th-19th century military-inspired with frog closures, very Husarentressen; Edwardian; Art Deco; Medieval kaftans/caftans, Rus as well as Persian; a few seemingly fantasy cliché sort of flourishes; a bit of almost modern sensibility to some things; and then we also have Queen Breha, with her “palace gown” that mixes Medieval/Renaissance styles with Elizabethan designs/the Spanish style of the latter half of the 1500s (particularly in regards to the overall shape of the sleeves and the fact that they’re slit) with certain qualities found in Victorian fashions, coupled with a variation on a Spanish mantilla https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantilla and a hairstyle that essentially doubles as a Renaissance-style painted/sculpted halo/corona https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_(religious_iconography) that might also be informed by Mexican braided ribbon hairstyles, plus also some elements in the overall design of the gown that arguably could be influenced by Filipino designs, too, including the traditional Maria Clara or Filipiniana https://www.tatlerasia.com/power-purpose/ideas-education/the-history-of-filipiniana and/or the baro’t saya or baro at saya https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baro%27t_saya (hence also the rather Spanish and/or Spanish/Elizabethan Spanish/Renaissance/Medieval feel to the whole thing). To be fair, though, Coruscant/the Core seems a bit of a hodgepodge, too, as does Chandrila (those two outfits for Mon Mothma are kind of all over the place), and definitely as also does Naboo (who has everyone else beat when it comes to disparate cultural inspirations and influences from various epochs/eras of fashion).
Alderaan/Delaya definitely seems to have a much stronger Greco-Roman vibe than others (i.e., Chandrilans, Coruscanti/the Core, and Nabooians) in the prequels (the Directoire style https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directoire_style and Neoclassicism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoclassicism#Neoclassicism_and_fashion in general honestly can’t account for all of the Greek/Roman items of clothing on characters from Alderaan/Delaya in TPM and RotS, especially not when they’re being worn almost exclusively by the men), but there’s still a sort of follow-through from Alderaan/Delaya to Chandrila to Naboo, if one takes into account certain similarities between Liana Merian’s costume in TPM and Sheltay Retrac’s costume in RotS with Mon Mothma’s two costumes in RotS (and technically also definitely her costumes in later films, etc.) and certain Naboo costumes in the prequels that are either clearly inspired by the Directoire style and/or Neoclassicalism or else Edwardian fashions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1900s_in_Western_fashion and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1910s_in_Western_fashion (like the Delphos gowns https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphos_gown) and/or Art Deco https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Deco (if not some combination of these styles). (There’s even more overlap/similarity among the sorts of fashions found on characters from Alderaan/Delaya and Chandrila and Naboo if one takes into account Core fashions in general, including the typical sort of clothing that most of the Jedi on Coruscant wear, which has echoes in the dropped shoulders and the extended vertical line at the shoulder in so much of Alderaanian fashions, in the tabard on one of Mon Mothma’s two costumes and the dropped shoulders/extended vertical line at the shoulder of both of her costumes, and in the dropped shoulders/extended vertical line at the shoulder of many of the Nabooian costumes as well as several of the deeply cowled hoods on many of the handmaiden costumes.)
There are actually fewer clear equivalencies for some of the other Naboo costumes - especially those more obviously influenced/inspired by East Asian (i.e., Chinese, Japanese, Mongolian, Korean, Taiwanese, and etc.) styles (and also at least some Southeast Asian fashions [i.e., Cambodian, Laotian, Thai, Burman/Burmese, Malaysian, Vietnamese, Brunei/Malay, Timorese, Indonesian, Singaporean, Filipino, and etc.], too) - elsewhere (especially if one basically disregards the Jedi on Coruscant and the strong likelihood that their more traditional style[s] of robes have likely influenced at least some of the fashion/clothing choices among the many people of the various worlds/moons/etc. they’ve helped/saved, over the millennia), though this is why I’ve been trying to make it clear that, in ’verse, Naboo has probably picked up on (and also likely adapted) these fashions due to multiple marriages and alliances with various other populated worlds/systems in the Chommell sector (or otherwise nearby to them, enough that they would likely have reliable trade relations with them), such as Karlinus. If Grizmallt is where at least some if not most of the Western/Southwest Asian (i.e., Mesopotamian, Iranian, Anatolian, Cypriot, Levantine, the Sinai Peninsula, the Arabian Peninsula, Transcaucasia of the Caucasus Region, etc.) and South Asian (i.e., Afghani, Indian, Pakistani, Nepalese, Dhivehin, Sinhalese, Bangladeshis, Bhutanese, etc.) styles come from - or if most of the more clearly South Asian influences are from Grizmallt and some of the more Western/Southwest Asian inspirations are from Uriash, on Naboo, which was not settled by people from Grizmallt or any world/system associated with Grizmallt - then, logically, that’s where other obvious equivalencies and similarites in fashion/traditional wardrobe would come from/show up (we just don’t get to see them because we aren’t presented with any named characters in the prequels from Grizmallt).
CONTINUED OVER HERE https://polgarawolf.livejournal.com/266583.html BECAUSE OF THE LJ'S IDIOTIC CHARACTER LIMITS!!!
Again, sorry about the font apparently randomly changing types whenever it feels like it: I genuinely have no idea why it's doing it (I am copying and pasting from a Word document that has the same font in the same size throughout its entirety) and I don't know how to fix it, short of trying to retype the entire document here and I just don't have the time to do that.
Stonroy Soma https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Unidentified_draped_senator and https://preview.redd.it/bxg9jwdky3151.jpg?width=960&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=2eec9c1157750e679bf35fd879d18956beaeced7 and http://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/liana-merian_tpm05.png (who was reported as being from Delaya on Wookieepedia several years ago, when I first really began taking my Thwarting the Revenge of the Sith trio seriously enough to start expanding the AU into an actual series, probably not long after RotS would’ve been coming out on video/DVD) though canon apparently now says that he’s from Alderaan and merely another political aide for Bail Antilles. I still operate according to the old information, that he is from Delaya, and my take on the character has always been that either he’s a Representative specifically from that world - like Jar Jar Binks is for the Gungans on Naboo in AotC and RotS - who’s therefore attached to the Alderaanian delegation or else is another Junior Senator for the Alderaan system/sector, strictly for Delaya) is also in off-white (though his is a cream or even vanilla color that clearly has a bit of yellow to it), though apparently it’s a robe of some sort https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/2/23/Stonroy_Soma.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20170410095208&path-prefix=nl with what seems to be a much smaller upright collar https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/star-wars-canon/images/c/c0/BailAgrippa_TPM.png/revision/latest?cb=20181012194143 beneath what looks like a richly colored (possibly quilted? If not, there’s definitely a lining - it looks sort of golden or coppery-golden - and the pattern of intersecting gold lines and what resembles a thicker square gold frame still might be sewn on to the purple fabric that makes up the top layer of the garment) variation on either a Greek himation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himation or else an unusually heavy Roman toga https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toga with a print.
Meanwhile, the almost pinkish-gold off-white (either a yellowy vanilla or a richer champagne or champagne pink hue that, in some photos, looks like it also has a sort of misty rose/seashell pink glow to it) gown Liana Merian https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Liana_Merian/Legends and http://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/liana-merian_tpm05.png is wearing as one of Senator Bail Antilles’ aides in TPM looks like a highly simplified, looser-cut version of one of Mon Mothma’s costumes http://www.padawansguide.com/monmothma.shtml in RotS, specifically the one she’s wearing in the meeting of concerned Senators in Padmé’s apartment https://i.pinimg.com/originals/85/c8/14/85c814f18a6af3c7c915ca730ee5e7d8.jpg and https://64.media.tumblr.com/8f318e306da9a7cb9761782973a83708/tumblr_olg5syt71k1up92cxo4_1280.png (the one where Padmé’s wearing the purple-belted green velvet http://www.rebelshaven.com/SWFFAQ/greenrobe.php and http://www.padawansguide.com/green.shtml gown clearly based on a Medieval houppelande https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houppelande). Liana’s costume also rather like it also could’ve been designed originally for Padmé, given that she’s wearing what looks like the same style of buns that Padmé does in packing scene http://www.padawansguide.com/silver.shtml and http://www.rebelshaven.com/SWFFAQ/packing.php in AotC and also the reunion scene with Anakin http://www.rebelshaven.com/SWFFAQ/leia.php and http://www.padawansguide.com/hairbuns.shtml in RotS and that the sleeve style is something seen over and over on costumes worn by various Nabooians (when they aren’t wearing Medieval/Victorian bishop sleeves http://chilestheatre.com/history-of-sleeves-1.pdf and https://genealogylady.net/2015/07/26/fashion-moments-bishop-sleeve/ and https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Bishops_sleeve.jpg) - the very Victorian https://www.geriwalton.com/gigot-or-leg-of-mutton-sleeves-of-the-1800s/ leg of mutton/gigot - in that it’s full/loose at the top but also has a wide cuff fastened tightly to the forearm.
The whole look is likely meant to be evocative of Leia in the OT - especially A New Hope - too, of course, but that’s reflexive, since it’s referent of another Alderaanian, or at least of someone who’s essentially raised there and who doubtlessly self-identifies, in the time frame of the OT, as Alderaanian. Regardless, the buns in Liana’s hair aren’t actually shaped like Leia’s (in)famous cinnamon buns, but instead are clearly modelled on the traditional Hopi squash blossom whorl or butterfly whorl https://pinsndls.com/2012/10/18/mystery-monday-the-squash-blossom-as-a-symbol-of-fertility/ and https://designyoutrust.com/2020/06/stunning-vintage-photos-of-young-hopi-maidens-with-their-traditional-hairstyle-from-the-1900s-and-1910s/ and https://i.pinimg.com/originals/5d/e6/5b/5de65bf746a891fa9d297ebdfefa6f80.jpg and http://www.whitewolfpack.com/2017/12/hopi-squash-blossom-story-behind-iconic.html). In any case, the loose cut and essential lack of structure to the gown (in combination with the upright collar) makes it look like they might’ve been going for something either based on a Victorian Mother Hubbard dress https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Hubbard_dress and https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/2738187 or else a version of 1950s/1960s/1970s/1990s long A-line https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-line_(clothing) dress, but it also looks like someone took the main body of a fairly plain robe or dress (like a very early, extremely basic Medieval European tunic/dress https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_medieval_European_dress or even the long gown of early Medieval Anglo-Saxons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_dress but without a cloak of some sort to go over it or even a belt to give it any sense of structure. Arguably, it would also slightly resemble a Rus Medieval kaftan or at least a Medieval Slavic kaftan, only without the obvious decorative closures down the chest, if not for the sleeves), put an upright https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_collar mandarin collar on it, and then stuck sleeves in the style of 15th century Late Medieval/mid-Victorian bishop sleeves http://chilestheatre.com/history-of-sleeves-1.pdf and https://genealogylady.net/2015/07/26/fashion-moments-bishop-sleeve/ on it.
(The two costumes Mon Mothma wears http://www.padawansguide.com/monmothma.shtml in RotS http://www.padawansguide.com/monmothma/mothma3.jpg technically both look like far more elaborate - and, in the case of the one mentioned above https://i.pinimg.com/originals/85/c8/14/85c814f18a6af3c7c915ca730ee5e7d8.jpg and https://64.media.tumblr.com/8f318e306da9a7cb9761782973a83708/tumblr_olg5syt71k1up92cxo4_1280.png with the same 15th century Late Medieval/mid-Victorian bishop sleeves as on Liana Merian’s costume, clearly much more fitted - versions of what the Alderaanian political aide http://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/liana-merian_tpm05.png and https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Liana_Merian/Legends is wearing in TPM. Mon Mothma’s second costume in RotS, which she’s wearing during another meeting of concerned Senators from the Loyalist Committee - specifically the one in Bail’s office, where Padmé is wearing an elaborate purple/burgundy velvet gown http://www.padawansguide.com/revelation.shtml and http://www.rebelshaven.com/SWFFAQ/revelation.php and Mon Mothma can be seen clearly among the other Senators in several of the stills and behind the scenes photos - with the ornate silver metallic headdress/crown https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net/v1/images/mon-mothma-3-retina_d142ca96.jpeg?region=0%2C0%2C1200%2C509 that has connected round, domed shapes low on the sides suggesting a Medieval reticulated headdress https://world4.eu/reticulated-headdress/ and https://rosaliegilbert.com/headdresses.html known as a crespine or crispinette or cauls http://bloshka.info/2020/09/26/crespine/ and https://sartorialadventure.tumblr.com/post/188436114831/the-crispinette-or-caul-came-into-fashion-in-the and http://seducedbyhistory.blogspot.com/2009/09/head-coverings-of-medieval-english.html and also suggesting the same basic shape as Liana’s hairstyle, with one bun on either side of her head, is very close to the same sort of gold-tinged champagne color as Liana’s gown and, being made of pin-tucked silk, also has the same kind of sheen to the fabric [which Mon Mothma’s other outfit, of a similar color but made of felted wool, clearly does not]. It may have sleeves in a very different style that clearly grow much, much wider further down on her arms http://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/monMotha3.fw_.png and http://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/mothma3.jpg and are distinctly inspired by High Medieval dagged https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/dagging/ sleeves and hanging sleeves http://www.theweebsite.com/sewing/sleeves/history.html and it may have her attached chain of office https://overanalysingstarwars.tumblr.com/post/128700528674/mon-mothma-whats-her-story and what Trisha Biggar on page 112 of her Dressing a Galaxy: The Costumes of Star Wars describes as a “tabard” as a sort of attached overlay that include the upright, very tall collar and likely reaches to the floor when her arms are lowered, in addition to quite possibly either being made of two pieces - as the main body of the dress with the attached sleeves and “tabard” overlay reaching to approximately her upper or middle calves, with a longer skirt beneath that, reaching the floor - or else specifically in layers like a much looser take on a late Victorian https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1880s_in_Western_fashion or Edwardian https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1900s_in_Western_fashion and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1910s_in_Western_fashion dress crossed with a Victorian Mother Hubbard dress https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Hubbard_dress and https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/2738187 but the high upright neck [clearly based on a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_collar mandarin collar], long sleeves, and overall rather loose A-line shape are also very like Liana’s costume. Frankly, both of Mon Mothma’s costumes and Liana Merian’s costume are also all fairly obvious hodgepodges of wildly differing eras of fashion, though, to be fair, this is also true for many, many other costumes in the prequel films.)
The costume of Sateen Vestswe https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Sateen_Vestswe/Legends and http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y267/amberleewriter/Bail%20aides/9bd8e219.jpg (Bail Organa’s bodyguard in RotS. DISNEY!SW canon is apparently now calling him another aide, but the old canon and EU both say he’s Bail’s bodyguard, from a family that’s served the Royal House of Alderaan for forty generations, with no exceptions, so in my book, he’s Bail’s bodyguard who probably acts like he’s another political aide while they’re on Coruscant, so as to not be obvious as his bodyguard) is wearing something quite similar in overall look to what the other male characters from Alderaan/Delaya are wearing, particularly Senator Organa’s costume https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c7/4f/05/c74f059cabb1d68ddcff143f445543fe.jpg and http://www.scififantasynetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Mon-Mothma-Bail-Organa-Padme-episode-3.jpg during one of his meetings with fellow Senators and members of the Loyalist Committee about Palpatine’s continued use of emergency powers, the war, the future of democracy in the Republic, etc. (the meeting in Bail’s office, where Padmé is wearing the elaborate purple/burgundy velvet gown http://www.rebelshaven.com/SWFFAQ/revelation.php and http://www.padawansguide.com/revelation.shtml and Bail can clearly be seen in several of the stills and behind the scenes photos for that particular costume) though the color palette seems to have more in common with what can be seen in the promotional shot of what Bail’s wearing http://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/1.png when he goes to try to investigate the burning of the Jedi Temple (though, since what Bail’s wearing in that scene looks much more grey on film, it’s possible that, on film, Sateen Vestswe’s costume might’ve also appeared more grey). It’s clearly another military-inspired uniform, with familiar looking matching trousers (tucked into polished tall black leather books) and a seemingly seamless shirt with a prominent upright mandarin collar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_collar like those found with Nehru jacket/suits https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nehru_jacket in what looks like a medium-light, slightly murky (almost olive drab) green, belted at the waist (with the shirt tucked in) by a fairly wide looking leather belt holding a sidearm on the right, topped by an open long overcoat or overrobe (which looks like it hits around mid-calf) in a much dark shade of dull green (almost a dark forest green/evergreen or hunter green, dark enough to almost be mistaken for a faded black in shadow or from a distance).
Interestingly, there are two fairly wide bands (the one that goes around the base of the upright collar is more narrow than the other, but even it looks like it’s probably around three inches wide and the lower, wider band looks half again as wide, visibly much wider than the width of the character’s hand across the palm) on Sateen’s shirt of what looks like purely decorative detail but is likely meant to be reinforced bands of protective material (it looks textured/pebbled, almost like hide of some sort) that, ’in verse, is almost certainly blast-resistant/cut-resistant material of some kind. The overcoat/overrobe is also interesting, in that his has sleeves so long that they are rolled back in long cuff (clearly longer than the actor’s entire hand) and yet there’s no decorative or contrasting fabric revealed by those rolled cuffs (possibly the sleeves are so long, in ’verse, so that they can be rolled down to protect the hands, in an emergency or a firefight, and are being worn rolled up to make them seem simply decorative). The shape of the overcoat/overrobe is very evocative of Regency/Victorian greatcoats: specifically, it seems to be based on kind of carrick/garrick or coachman’s coat https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/carrick-coat/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1795%E2%80%931820_in_Western_fashion#Changes_in_fashionand https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1795%E2%80%931820_in_Western_fashion#Men's_fashion and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1830s_in_Western_fashion#Men's_fashion that first became popular during the Napoleonic wars (there are a lot of so-called Gothic steampunk greatcoats also based on this design, which essentially involves three to five short capelets attached to a tall/upright collar of a greatcoat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatcoat), though, in this case, the three layers of “capelets” seem to be sewn down and they’re abbreviated over the shoulder/sides of the arms, cut in a slanted/curved manner that means the silhouette of the overcoat from the front looks a bit like Bail Organa’s clearly Victorian-inspired shawl-collared blue leather shearling coat https://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/3.jpg and https://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2-1.png and https://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/1-2.jpg and https://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/starwars3-movie-screencaps.com-2837.jpg and creates the same sort of extended vertical line around the shoulder that’s present in so many of the other Alderaanian uniforms (and several other Nabooian costumes, as well) and is pretty clearly based on by European Baroque fashions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1650%E2%80%931700_in_Western_European_fashion There is visible darker material (possibly leather?) at the tops of all three levels of the modified capelets, reinforcing the shape and making them rigid enough that the overlay clearly wraps around the back to some extent; however, unfortunately, there are apparently no images of the back of this costume, so there’s no telling if the back piece is simply goes straight back around him or if it forms a triangular-shaped hem like what’s on the front of the garment (meaning that it likely extends far enough down the back at the center to essentially reach the waist, much like the shearling, modified shawl collar of Bail’s blue leather greatcoat https://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/starwars3-movie-screencaps.com-2837.jpg does). Regardless, his overcoat is clearly inspired by Regency/Victorian greatcoats like carrick/garrick or coachman’s coat and by Victorian fashions in general.
The fashions worn by the men clearly seem to lean towards military-influenced uniforms of Nehru jackets or Nehru suits https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nehru_jacket with a prominent upright mandarin collar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_collar and occasional Greco-Roman influences (like the stole or modified palla https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palla_(garment) or pallium https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallium_(Roman_cloak) Bail Antilles is wearing in TPM, the large wrapped garment Stonray Soma is wearing in TPM that is clearly based on a Greek himation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himation and/or a heavy/slightly modified Roman toga https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toga with a print, and the cloak-like, diagonally cut poncho that Raymus Antilles and Bail Organa both wear at some point in RotS, which are pretty clearly based on Roman paenula or casula https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paenula though the way that they’re cut, to leave one arm essentially uncovered, is also evocative of the Greek abolla https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolla which would be fastened to leave an arm free). Corla Metonae https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Corla_Metonae/Legends and https://starwars.fandom.com/nl/wiki/Corla_Metonae is in a very similar military-influenced uniform of matching overshirt and fitted trousers that looks like a slightly modified Nehru jacket/suit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nehru_jacket with a prominent upright mandarin collar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_collar (if anything, the collar on her uniform is even taller than some of those on the similar men’s uniforms) in RotS. Liana Merian https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Liana_Merian/Legends is wearing a gown in TPM that also clearly includes an upright mandarin collar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_collar while Sheltay Retrac’s costume http://www.rebelshaven.com/SWFFAQ/sheltay.php and http://www.padawansguide.com/sheltay.shtml in RotS has a high collar that is either also based on mandarin collars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_collar or else based on polo necks/turtlenecks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polo_neck (or both). In her single appearance in RotS, Breha is apparently the only character on film from Alderaan/Delaya who doesn’t have an upright collar http://www.rebelshaven.com/SWFFAQ/breha.php and http://www.padawansguide.com/brehaorgana.shtml of some sort.
For the characters from Alderaan/Delaya, the only other exceptions to the military-influenced uniforms of Nehru jackets or Nehru suits https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nehru_jacket with a prominent upright mandarin collar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_collar (sometimes with some occasional Greco-Roman influences, too) seem to involve Bail Organa, particularly his Senate costume (which is he also wearing in the balcony seen on Coruscant, with Palpatine and several other Senators/government officials, overlooking ranks of the clone soldiers) https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/9/93/Palpatine_on_balcony.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20141103101206 and http://www.padawansguide.com/bail.shtml and https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/4/48/Parade.png/revision/latest?cb=20180211191423 and https://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Bail_Organa-New_FactFile.jpg in AotC, the darkish blue, basically floor-length, shawl-collared, shearling-lined, leather coat/overrobe http://www.padawansguide.com/others/sheltay.jpg and https://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/1-2.jpg he wears towards the beginning of RotS (in the scene where several Senators, etc., come out to greet Anakin Skywalker and the returned Palpatine, successfully rescued from his “kidnapping” by the Separatists. Bail pauses to speak to Anakin briefly https://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/starwars3-movie-screencaps.com-2869.jpg before continuing on after Palpatine and the others [which is when the reunion between Anakin and Padmé occurs]) over what appears to be the same outfit that he’s wearing (without the coat) when he brings Leia to his Breha, on Alderaan http://www.rebelshaven.com/SWFFAQ/images/breha/brehascreen9.jpg and http://www.padawansguide.com/others/breha9.jpg (which is basically the same sort of military-inspired costume as he wears on the Tantive III when he rescues Yoda and then picks up Obi-Wan and the twins, only the Nehru jacket now reaches to approximately his mid-calves - he still seems to have trousers underneath, though it’s hard to tell what color they are, because of his evidently quite tall black boots - and has the same kind of invisible right-side closure that both the military uniforms of the GAR https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Republic_military_uniforms and the Empire https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Imperial_military_uniforms/Legends have), and the essentially floor-length fancy velvet cape/cloak (or long sleeveless robe) with the X-shaped attached silvery metal piece (like some kind of strange combination of pauldrons that have somehow grown together into a sort of extremely abbreviated upper breastplate. Photos of this costume from exhibits strongly hint that the top of this X actually continues completely around the back of his shoulders, so that there’s a loop we don’t see across his back to help anchor the entire thing. The bottom of the X, which is obscured by the drape of the velvet, most likely ends short of wrapping around to the armpits) http://powerofcostume.si.edu/bailOrgana.html and https://www.starwars.com/databank/bail-organa and https://i.pinimg.com/originals/2e/5d/44/2e5d4400f9ec57e6d80c20337ab8cf2a.jpg and https://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/starwars3-movie-screencaps.com-11084.jpg he seems to be wearing over yet another Nehru jacket (with what looks like a silver torque or torc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torc that’s pressed tight enough to be holding the collar shut! He also has silvery vambraces and it looks like his Nehru jacket/tunic has a leather belt with a silver buckle of some sort) and either matching or else very dark trousers in the infamous “liberty dies” Senate scene.
The cloak/sleeveless robe with the large metal anchoring piece can probably be safely said to have been inspired by a cross between fantasy clichés (if we presume the metal piece evolved from something meant to fit over regular armor of some sort, either for added protection or else simply to anchor a cloak/sleeves robe like it does in RotS, for more formal occasions) and a basic full-length cloak https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloak or long, loose, cape-like/cloak-like mantle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantle_(clothing) worn by both men and women from the 12th to the 16th centuries, the silver torque/torc, on the other hand, is clearly inspired by Bronze Age and Celtic torques/torcs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torc even though it’s plain, if polished, fairly flat metal. On the other hand, shawl collars or lapels - the kind that have a continuous curve to them - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapel#Types_of_lapel apparently started with Victorian smoking jackets, and, although shearling (or the use of sheepskin) has been around since the Stone Age https://www.gq.com.au/style/style-101/the-history-of-shearling-jackets/image-gallery/ab6cd8dd680f6d3d1ca891ee3a827721 and https://americanmystique.com/blog/shearling-bomber-jackets/ shearling coats https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shearling_coat are apparently also a Victorian creation https://www.bodaskins.com/blogs/stories/boda-skins-history-of-shearling So that adds a Victorian shearling coat with a Victorian shawl collar - a shawl collar that curves out far enough at their tops to give him that same sense of an extended vertical line at the shoulders that’s so clearly based on/inspired by European Baroque fashions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1650%E2%80%931700_in_Western_European_fashion and which, in a twist on normal shawl collars, curves around the back of his shoulders and then extends in a soft triangular shape down his back either to or almost to the center of his waist in the back https://www.senate.rebellegion.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/starwars3-movie-screencaps.com-2837.jpg (in a way that makes me wonder if, in ’verse, the leather of the coat and the backing of the “shearling” isn’t actually something blast-resistant, to give Bail added protection, especially against possible attacks from behind), in a way that seems evocative both of the capelets often attached to men’s Regency/Victorian greatcoats [for nineteenth century military uniforms and casual wear for the wealthy] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatcoat and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1795%E2%80%931820_in_Western_fashion#Changes_in_fashionand https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1795%E2%80%931820_in_Western_fashion#Men's_fashion and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1830s_in_Western_fashion#Men's_fashion and also the kind of triangular/pointed yokes and overlays often found on women’s Victorian gowns https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1830s_in_Western_fashion and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1840s_in_Western_fashion and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1860s_in_Western_fashion and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1870s_in_Western_fashion and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1880s_in_Western_fashion which reinforces the overall Victorian feel to the garment - to a Bronze Age/Celtic torque or torc, and a fairly generic Medieval mantle/cloak to the mix (with a bit of fantasy armor cliché for added flavor).
As for Bail’s Senate costume in AotC . . . honestly, it’s very different from anything/everything else he wears in the prequels. There are two layers of seemingly quite heavy looking shirts/tunics and a long (apparently mid- to lower-calf, judging by promotional images and film stills in the Chancellor’s office that show Bail and other Senators from the side/behind and such https://starwarslatinamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/The-Attack-of-the-Clones_P%C3%A1gina_16-scaled.jpg and https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net/v1/images/bail-organa-history-1_9928919b.jpeg?region=0%2C0%2C800%2C343 and https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/5/5e/Bail_Organa-FactFile.png/revision/latest?cb=20130224154551), open, heavily pleated velvet overrobe with three-quarter length sleeves over that, along with dark trousers (evidently to match the robe) and the typical tall black boots Bail seems to favor wearing. The open overrobe - which looks rather like an unbelted academic houppelande https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houppelande but might also be inspired somewhat by Persian kaftans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaftan - seems to be made out of extremely dark blue velvet and it has panels of grey/silver embroidered Alderaanian knotwork (at least it looks like two heart-shapes turned sideways, points outwards, as the basis for a knotwork pattern [inside a rectangular frame made of additional, smaller fancy scrollwork and/or possible adapted knotwork]. This main/largest knotwork pattern is probably loosely based on the Crest of Alderaan https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Crest_of_Alderaan/Legends which is the symbol of House Organa, too), which apparently run from just below the shoulders down to around his midthigh (or around where, if his arms are relaxed as this sides, the middle knuckles of his hands http://alexeysmirnov1977.com/Images/SWOFF_C/C.ORG2.jpg would be). On the back of the overrobe, there are two more embroidered panels of evidently the same knotwork in framing scrollwork https://www.starwars.com/databank/bail-organa reaching from just below his shoulders to probably also approximately midthigh.
Under that overrobe, there’s a sort of visibly brocaded/textured tunic of a brighter medium blue over a darker or duller background of slate blue, cinched by a wide (visibly wider than Bail’s hand is across his palm) belt (with at least two large pouches visibly built into it. There may be others hidden by the drape of the overrobe) at his waist (the garment seems to reach to around or possibly just above his knees http://alexeysmirnov1977.com/Images/SWOFF_C/C.ORG2.jpg since it’s longer than the knotwork on the overrobe reaches in front. There’s no telling, though, if it has sleeves at all or simply sleeves enough shorter than on the darker overrobe for them not to show, even when Bail has his arms crossed in front of him), and, beneath that, a fairly light blue shirt or sweater or undertunic made out of an even more thickly visibly textured (and likely heavy, which is why I keep wanting to say it’s a sweater. There are bands/ribs on the material that visibly stand up from the rest of the material by what looks like at least a good half an inch and it clearly also looks like it has some stretch/give to it too) material, with long sleeves that come down just past the wrists/around the top of his thumbs (and so show quite a bit past the end of the sleeves of the overrobe) and an extremely high collar (it almost looks like a turtleneck or polo neck that’s been scrunched down slightly instead of folded over. The top of it is practically up around his jawline). He is also wearing a fairly heavy silver necklace/chain that looks as if it just long enough http://alexeysmirnov1977.com/Images/SWOFF_C/C.ORG3.jpg to go around that tall collar and still have a bit of slack in the chain.
The outfit would seem to be fairly basic - the overrobe is pretty obviously Medieval (it’s either based on some sort of kaftan/caftan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaftan or else it’s based on a houppelande https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houppelande if not some combination of the two things), the belted tunic and the pants could also pass as Medieval, and, though the sweater-like underlayer looks very modern, especially that high collar like a slightly scrunched turtleneck or polo neck https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polo_neck it’s technically also Medieval, given that knights in the 1500s wore shirts with tall necks specially made to help avoid severe chaffing from chainmail https://www.lanecrawford.com/discover/the-history-of-turtlenecks-102600016-20210217/ and http://www.stitchfashion.com/home/a-stitch-in-time-the-history-of-turtlenecks The texture - the way that it looks like an extremely thick sweater - is possibly not historically accurate, though. In fact, the heavier textures of most if not all of the fabrics in the overall outfit, the embroidery on the front and back of the velvet overrobe, and all over pattern of brocade on the tunic seem almost more Elizabethan (and, again, the tall neck of the lightest garment would actually fit with that time period, though it would need a ruff or ruffle of some sort on top to really fit with the era. The way that the material so clearly has texture to it almost evokes a sort of small ruff, in an odd fashion, though) in feel, rather than High or even Late Medieval.
In any case, it seems pretty clear that Alderaan fashion in the prequel films is a bit of a hodgepodge of styles - Late Medieval to borderline Elizabethan; Medieval European; Victorian; Bronze Age/Celtic; Medieval Anglo-Saxon; Greco-Roman; Mod/Indian-inspired (for the Nehru jacket/suit)/Chinese-inspired (for the upright mandarin collar); 17th-19th century military-inspired with frog closures, very Husarentressen; Edwardian; Art Deco; Medieval kaftans/caftans, Rus as well as Persian; a few seemingly fantasy cliché sort of flourishes; a bit of almost modern sensibility to some things; and then we also have Queen Breha, with her “palace gown” that mixes Medieval/Renaissance styles with Elizabethan designs/the Spanish style of the latter half of the 1500s (particularly in regards to the overall shape of the sleeves and the fact that they’re slit) with certain qualities found in Victorian fashions, coupled with a variation on a Spanish mantilla https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantilla and a hairstyle that essentially doubles as a Renaissance-style painted/sculpted halo/corona https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_(religious_iconography) that might also be informed by Mexican braided ribbon hairstyles, plus also some elements in the overall design of the gown that arguably could be influenced by Filipino designs, too, including the traditional Maria Clara or Filipiniana https://www.tatlerasia.com/power-purpose/ideas-education/the-history-of-filipiniana and/or the baro’t saya or baro at saya https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baro%27t_saya (hence also the rather Spanish and/or Spanish/Elizabethan Spanish/Renaissance/Medieval feel to the whole thing). To be fair, though, Coruscant/the Core seems a bit of a hodgepodge, too, as does Chandrila (those two outfits for Mon Mothma are kind of all over the place), and definitely as also does Naboo (who has everyone else beat when it comes to disparate cultural inspirations and influences from various epochs/eras of fashion).
Alderaan/Delaya definitely seems to have a much stronger Greco-Roman vibe than others (i.e., Chandrilans, Coruscanti/the Core, and Nabooians) in the prequels (the Directoire style https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directoire_style and Neoclassicism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoclassicism#Neoclassicism_and_fashion in general honestly can’t account for all of the Greek/Roman items of clothing on characters from Alderaan/Delaya in TPM and RotS, especially not when they’re being worn almost exclusively by the men), but there’s still a sort of follow-through from Alderaan/Delaya to Chandrila to Naboo, if one takes into account certain similarities between Liana Merian’s costume in TPM and Sheltay Retrac’s costume in RotS with Mon Mothma’s two costumes in RotS (and technically also definitely her costumes in later films, etc.) and certain Naboo costumes in the prequels that are either clearly inspired by the Directoire style and/or Neoclassicalism or else Edwardian fashions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1900s_in_Western_fashion and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1910s_in_Western_fashion (like the Delphos gowns https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphos_gown) and/or Art Deco https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Deco (if not some combination of these styles). (There’s even more overlap/similarity among the sorts of fashions found on characters from Alderaan/Delaya and Chandrila and Naboo if one takes into account Core fashions in general, including the typical sort of clothing that most of the Jedi on Coruscant wear, which has echoes in the dropped shoulders and the extended vertical line at the shoulder in so much of Alderaanian fashions, in the tabard on one of Mon Mothma’s two costumes and the dropped shoulders/extended vertical line at the shoulder of both of her costumes, and in the dropped shoulders/extended vertical line at the shoulder of many of the Nabooian costumes as well as several of the deeply cowled hoods on many of the handmaiden costumes.)
There are actually fewer clear equivalencies for some of the other Naboo costumes - especially those more obviously influenced/inspired by East Asian (i.e., Chinese, Japanese, Mongolian, Korean, Taiwanese, and etc.) styles (and also at least some Southeast Asian fashions [i.e., Cambodian, Laotian, Thai, Burman/Burmese, Malaysian, Vietnamese, Brunei/Malay, Timorese, Indonesian, Singaporean, Filipino, and etc.], too) - elsewhere (especially if one basically disregards the Jedi on Coruscant and the strong likelihood that their more traditional style[s] of robes have likely influenced at least some of the fashion/clothing choices among the many people of the various worlds/moons/etc. they’ve helped/saved, over the millennia), though this is why I’ve been trying to make it clear that, in ’verse, Naboo has probably picked up on (and also likely adapted) these fashions due to multiple marriages and alliances with various other populated worlds/systems in the Chommell sector (or otherwise nearby to them, enough that they would likely have reliable trade relations with them), such as Karlinus. If Grizmallt is where at least some if not most of the Western/Southwest Asian (i.e., Mesopotamian, Iranian, Anatolian, Cypriot, Levantine, the Sinai Peninsula, the Arabian Peninsula, Transcaucasia of the Caucasus Region, etc.) and South Asian (i.e., Afghani, Indian, Pakistani, Nepalese, Dhivehin, Sinhalese, Bangladeshis, Bhutanese, etc.) styles come from - or if most of the more clearly South Asian influences are from Grizmallt and some of the more Western/Southwest Asian inspirations are from Uriash, on Naboo, which was not settled by people from Grizmallt or any world/system associated with Grizmallt - then, logically, that’s where other obvious equivalencies and similarites in fashion/traditional wardrobe would come from/show up (we just don’t get to see them because we aren’t presented with any named characters in the prequels from Grizmallt).
CONTINUED OVER HERE https://polgarawolf.livejournal.com/266583.html BECAUSE OF THE LJ'S IDIOTIC CHARACTER LIMITS!!!
Again, sorry about the font apparently randomly changing types whenever it feels like it: I genuinely have no idea why it's doing it (I am copying and pasting from a Word document that has the same font in the same size throughout its entirety) and I don't know how to fix it, short of trying to retype the entire document here and I just don't have the time to do that.