Princess Leia's Gold ‘Star Wars’ Bikini Nets $175,000 at Auction

Obi-Wan Kenobi described the seedy cantina in 1977’s Star Wars as a “wretched hive of scum and villainy,” but Jabba the Hutt’s lair in the 1983 threequel Return of the Jedi is arguably worse. Cruel and capricious, the lecherous space slug delights in forcing the captive Princess Leia into an immodest gold bikini.

Now, more than four decades after the scene was filmed, one of the bikinis used in the production has sold for $175,000.

Offered by Heritage Auctions, the captive couture was worn by actress Carrie Fisher for screen tests to assess how the outfit would look on film. The lot consists of a brassiere, arm bracelet (or armlet), wrist bracelet, and waist bikini plates. A cloth skirt is also included, though it’s a recreation for display purposes and not original to the production.

As Smithsonian reports, the ensemble took root in popular culture quickly, with Fisher revealing more bare skin than the otherwise chaste Star Wars saga had previously displayed. The actress appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in the bikini to promote Jedi; decades later, Jennifer Aniston’s Rachel Green wore it on Friends to fulfill a fantasy for boyfriend Ross Geller (played by David Schwimmer).

The costume also provoked plenty of critical analysis in the intervening years, with critics believing it was reductive for the otherwise assertive Leia character to be subject to Jabba’s leering gaze.

Fisher herself was no fan of the scenes featuring the bikini, telling an interviewer that she thought Star Wars creator and Jedi producer George Lucas “was kidding” when he showed her the costume.

“He showed me sketches to frighten me into exercise, I think,” Fisher said. “He succeeded.”

Created by costume designer Aggie Guerard Rodgers and sculpted by Richard Miller, the outfit was said to be inspired in part by the works of fantasy illustrator Frank Frazetta. The bikini was made of resin, though a rubber version was used for stunt sequences. A bikini used in the actual film sold for $96,000 back in 2015.

The Heritage entertainment auction that concluded last week also featured sales of a 27.5-inch Y Wing model from Star Wars ($1.55 million); Mjölnir (Thor’s hammer) from 2013’s Thor: The Dark World ($81,250); and original poster artwork by Robert Peak for 1986’s Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ($106,250).

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