“Baby, throw on the slave Leia outfit and come over,” is something that every American male under 55 has thought at some point. Such is the power of costumes. Now, you can see the legendary bikini in person.
Discovery Times Square will open the exhibition Star Wars™ and the Power of Costume tomorrow, Nov. 14, at 226 West 44th Street and nerds everywhere couldn’t be more excited. Hand-crafted costumes such as the original Darth Vader suit and the aforementioned Leia, um, “unmentionables,”—which the faithful remember first appeared in 1983 in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi—will be on display.
But the big news is a special presentation for the exhibition that will feature seven additional costumes from the highly anticipated film opening Dec. 18, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Ahhh!
The latest installment of the saga, which reunites Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher (now carrying the title of General, not Princess) takes place about 30 years after Jedi.
You have to admit, George Lucas has created some amazing and timeless characters for his intergalactic soap opera, from the absurdly polite C-3PO to the shabbily dressed zen philosopher Obi-Wan Kenobi, and costume has played a major part in forming these identities—and perhaps yours?
The show, which is done in conjunction with the Smithsonian, both salutes and identifies the designers of the costumes, like Ralph McQuarrie and Stuart Freeborn, who crafted Chewbacca out of yak hair and mohair.
In the past, Discovery Times Square has hosted Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition, Leonardo da Vinci’s Workshop, and Harry Potter: The Exhibition, and is currently showing artifacts from the Hunger Games Trilogy (themed cupcakes are apparently available for birthday parties.)
Star Wars™ and the Power of Costume opens this Saturday, November 14. Tickets, at prices of $20 to $27.50 per person, are on sale now!
