10 Best Star Wars Costumes From the Original Trilogy

Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope connected with audiences in a million ways, bringing them into a fully realized universe. The original trilogy of Star Wars will always be a brilliant achievement, starting with George Lucas and working its way down. The care taken into every aspect of the trilogy was apparent in every frame, adding to its immersion. One of the keys to the success of Star Wars was the costuming. Right from the beginning, the original trilogy Star Wars had amazing costumes, works of art that told stories completely on their own.

The original trilogy debuted several iconic looks, ones that have been etched into pop culture’s subconscious. The visual language of Star Wars has become shorthand in sci-fi, and the costumes played a major role in that. These ten costumes are the best in Star Wars‘s original trilogy, creating iconic looks that changed pop culture and sci-fi forever.

Stormtroopers

Everyone remembers the first time they saw stormtrooper in the first Star Wars movie because it was probably a frightening experience. These white-clad, helmeted ghosts burst out of fire and smoke to systematically slaughter a group of Rebel soldiers. They were ruthless and efficient, and they looked scary. The helmets look like skulls, keying into a primal fear, and the plastic, segmented armor gave them a futuristic insectoid look, adding to the aura of the stormtrooper. Of course, this couldn’t last; they were the cannon fodder; however, they looked amazing. It redefined what henchmen in a sci-fi movie should be.

Boba Fett

There are few characters more defined by their costume in the original trilogy than Boba Fett. In fact, an argument can be made that Boba Fett was all costume in his appearances in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Boba Fett was the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy, or so we were told, and he had the armor to prove it. Boba Fett’s bounty hunter armor told a story in and of itself. It was well worn; Boba Fett definitely survived many battles wearing it. His helmet was fierce, its imposing T-visor and harsh, angular cheekbones giving it an air of menace. The half-cape was a nice touch, hearkening back to the gunfighters of old. The ammo bandoliers, the braided Wookie scalps, and the weapon studded bracers spoke to how dangerous Fett was. His jetpack/rocket launcher was the piece de resistance, showing that he could move quickly and carried heavy firepower.

Imperial Guards

The Imperial Guardsmen armor is the best armor in the original trilogy. It starts with the blood red cloak. The way it completely covers the trooper body not only makes an Imperial Guard look like a spirit made out of blood floating around the Emperor, but also leaves whoever is looking at them guessing. Anything could be under that cloak; weapons, heavier armor, heck, we didn’t even know if there were humans under there. The helmet, with its black visor and shinier surface than most Imperial trooper armor, is a masterpiece, setting off the fierce, magical aura of the armor.

The Imperial Guards don’t feel human — the missing limbs and different silhouette doesn’t match what we in our head think of when we think of people. They are intimidating and frightening. It’s a masterful design, and stands taller than any other armor in the Empire.

Yoda

Yoda’s robes are another example of visual storytelling with a character’s costume. We’re introduced to Yoda as a concept by Obi-Wan Kenobi, who tells Luke to go find the powerful Jedi Master. This gave fans a certain idea, one based perhaps on Obi-Wan’s own robes. Luke believes that Yoda is a powerful warrior, so when he meets the diminutive Jedi Master in threadbare robes, he doesn’t believe that this can the great Jedi Master Yoda. He soon learns otherwise, and we get our glimpse behind the facade, behind the misconceptions, to the true Yoda — an old man gone to seed, but still surviving. His robes speak of long years in the swamps, still standing up to ravages of the elements and time, waiting for something.

That’s basically Yoda as a character, and that’s why Yoda’s robes are one of the best costumes in the original trilogy. Yoda’s robes do everything they need to do to communicate things to the audience about the character, things that will become text in the movie as it goes on. Add in his cool utility belt and his gnarled cane, and Yoda’s costume is the perfect look. If only he had the snake around his neck like the original Kenner action figure did.

Obi-Wan Kenobi

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Obi-Wan’s Kenboi’s robes have a sort of reverence to them, even if they’re dirty and have seen better days. The soiled white of the tunic speaks to the years spent on Tattooine, the dirt getting into the fibers. The brown under section absorbs all of the grime, providing a nice contrast. The cloak is careworn, having saved Obi-Wan in the desert, from the sun and the sand. The belt is old but still strong, serving its purposes for decades, somehow even stronger from its time on Tattooine.

This was the first glimpse of a Jedi for Star Wars fans, and it set up what they’d look like in the years to come. It has a great color pattern to it — brown cloak, white tunic, brown under layer. These are the clothes that Obi-Wan had been saving for the moment that he was to meet Luke and tell him the truth; they’re special. All of this is said by the robes themselves. They’re so simple, yet they’re also a piece of complex storytelling.

Emperor Palpatine

The Empire is full of great looking uniforms — the stormtroopers and their variants, the Imperial officers’ uniforms, the TIE pilots, Darth Vader — and fans wondered just how the Emperor would look. As a result he’s sort of a disappointment when he comes down the ramp from his shuttle. However, the more we learn about the Emperor and what he is — a yawning void drawing in all light and energy — his jet black robes are the perfect accoutrement for him.

While black robes may seem too simple for an intergalactic emperor, it’s easy to see they’re very fine robes; there’s a sense of opulence to them, that they’re more expensive than starships. As black as they are, they are almost certainly tailor made. They’re the nicest quality robes in the original trilogy, a trilogy full of robes, and they feel like they were woven from the blackness of space itself. Simple and effective.

Princess Leia’s White Dress

Princess Leia’s white dress is a Hollywood icon. It’s a perfect white dress but it’s understated, which says a lot about Princess Leia as a person. She’s not going to wear something ostentatious, because she isn’t above her people, she’s in the trenches with them. She’s royalty, and she needs to look the part, but she’s also not going to throw it in anyone’s place. Plus, it serves as an amazing contrast for Darth Vader’s armor — a speck of pure light standing in defiance of the void of death across from her. On top of that, she has some no-nonsense well worn boots. This is a princess who is going to fight with her people.

Any of Princess Leia’s original costumes could be in this spot, and honestly, her Rebel uniform from The Empire Strikes Back is probably a “better” costume. However, this is the look that everyone thinks of when they hear the name “Princess Leia.” It’s the epitome of who the character is, an eye-catching dress that has become one of sci-fi’s most important costumes of all time.

Luke Skywalker’s Black Clothes

Luke Skywalker’s costume throughout the original trilogy tell the story of the character. His white clothes from A New Hope are pure and so is he, having lived his whole life sheltered away. His costumes in The Empire Strikes Back are a bit darker, Luke having fought in a war. He’s stepped away from purity, but the light is still there. In Return of the Jedi, Luke has switched to black, and it said something about where his headspace was at. He was no longer the hopeful child, but a seasoned warrior. Luke Skywalker had killed over a million people with one shot; he had learned terrible truths and lost parts of himself. He was a different character, one on the precipice of the rest of his life.

Luke Skywalker looked perfect in black. From the moment he walks into Jabba’s Palace and fans get a look at his black cloak and cloths, everyone knew that this was a different Luke Skywalker than we had seen before. He was moving towards his destiny and the purity that had been his anchor for so long was gone. It was all about choice now — would he choose the darkness encroaching around him or would he let it flow through him? That’s what Luke Skywalker’s black costume said, and it’s why it’s such an iconic design.

Snowtroopers

The unique thing about the stormtrooper armor is that it’s such a great base to work from. Look at all the trooper designs ever since; they took the clay of the stormtrooper armor and expanded upon it, like the snowtrooper. For some reason, it has a skirt. The helmet even has a skirt. It feels more like it was designed to be a look rather than anything that looked like traditional combat armor, and that’s kind of the point.

Snowtrooper armor is definitely functional for arctic deserts like Hoth however. What makes the snowtrooper armor so great is that it actually uses the color white in a smart way. Let’s be real — stormtrooper armor doesn’t offer much protection, so sticking out like a sore thumb feels like a bad idea. Though snowtrooper armor looks like it has even less protection than stormtrooper armor, the fact that it blends into the snow works. While the stormtrooper face plate design is iconic, the snowtrooper armor makes perfect sense for what it is. It’s definitely not going to protect you and it will set on fire if you aren’t careful, but it looks amazing.

Darth Vader in A New Hope

Darth Vader’s armor is the most recognizable costume in the Star Wars movies, and has been merchandized to an insane extent. If the stormtroopers were ghosts with skull heads and blaster rifles, Darth Vader was evil itself, the matte black garments contrasting beautifully with his shiny helmet and angular face plate. While Vader’s armor is great throughout the trilogy, the version seen in A New Hope remains the best Vader armor. The mask is more severe, its angles seeming sharp enough to cut anyone who touches them. The eyes were different as well, with a hint of red in the lens.

Darth Vader’s armor was unlike anything anyone had seen, yet another new thing that Star Wars brought to the world. It infused the character with an immense fear. Vader was a monster, and he looked the part. He was part man and machine, an enigma that we would get to know over the next five movies. Even his armor looked half as good, Darth Vader would still be a good character. However, the fact that his costumes looks as good as it does was a huge feather in his cap, and allowed him to become one of the most iconic villains of all time.