Congratulations to you both.
I've loved Padme's wedding dress ever since I saw it in the movie and your wife's turned out beautifully.
The Padme wedding dress/coat/headpiece took me about 2 years to make.
For the better part of two years I had been searching for materials that would be the closest match and have the most compatible feeling to the materials used in the movie costume.
The costume created for the movie was made from a hand-made, one-of-a-kind, antique bedspread that would be impossible to duplicate.
After searching for over a year, I decided that these materials that I had used are the closest to what would be able to represent the spirit of this costume.
I began construction of the headpiece in late 2003 and constructed the coat and dress in summer of 2004. Growth issues with my daughter caused me to wait to build this costume since it is a very fitted floor-length dress. I wanted it to fit her perfectly for the formal presentation.
I used home décor materials for the fashion fabric of the dress and coat. The dress is fully lined with a satin lining.
The dress is based on Simplicity pattern #9162 view D. I opted to use the neckline and sleeves of view B. I built the dress as sleeveless, and incorporated the sheer sleeves between the fashion fabric and the sleeve facing.
The coat is based on Simplicity pattern #9533 view A. I omitted the lining since I was using a sheer fabric.
I omitted the shoulder roll and cuffs on the sleeves to allow my version to look more like what I am attempting to recreate.
I am not sure whether either of those patterns are even still available at retail.
I used multiple layers of various lace pieces to create the heavily textured ornamentation on the front of the dress and around the front of the coat. I machine basted the larger lace pieces in place and then hand sewed them down. I spend almost 2 months hand-sewing hundreds and hundreds of pearls into the lace to add to the opulence of the over-all look.
The headpiece consists of over a dozen mostly hand-made, vintage lace pieces that I repaired and assembled to recreate the look and feeling of the headpiece worn in the movie. I tea-dyed some of the pieces so they would have the aged look, yet be a more consistent off-white/ivory color. I spent several more weeks hand-sewing hundreds and hundreds of pearls into these pieces. These lace pieces are sewn onto a base.
& before any one asks me to make them one of these, I couldn't possibly duplicate this presentation for all of the time that I put into this piece, as well as the materials I used are also unique. This is a completely one-of-a-kind work of art.
I liked it so much that I also made a doll version:
I used a Hasbro Star Wars Episode II Geonosis Battle Padme 12" doll for this costume. At the time I made this, very few still reference pictures of this costume were available. I searched for properly-scaled materials that would be the closest match and have the most compatible feeling to the materials used in the movie costume, yet be appropriate for the 12" scale. I used ivory-toned bridal satins & sheers for the fashion fabric of the dress and coat. The dress is fully lined with a satin lining. Both the dress and coat are based on a miniaturized versions of full-sized patterns. I used miniture lace pieces to create the textured ornamentation on the front of the dress and around the front of the coat. The headpiece also consists of lace pieces that I assembled to recreate the look and feeling of the headpiece worn in the movie. I hand-sewed many pearls and miniature buttons into the lace to add to the opulence of the over-all look. The doll itself needed to be painted, since her body, arms and legs were all white. My husband created a matching flesh-tone to paint her arms since they can be seen through the sheer sleeves of the dress. He also painted her neckline, since the doll's original outfit was a long-sleeved turtle neck.
