Princess Leia wore a variety of clothing in the first three Star Wars movies (episodes 4-6), from formal, to military, to downright sexy. Her gold bikini costume, also known as the slave girl costume, is the favorite amongst fans. This page will walk you through how to make a Princess Leia Halloween costume.

• Find durable bikini top and bottoms to work with

• Use gold fabric spray paint instead of real metal

• Find gold accessories at retail jewelry stores, online, or at the flea market

• In the future, avoid Jabba the Hut!

The Princess Leia gold bikini costume was featured in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, and skimpy was the preferred clothing choice for slave girls by the crime lord, Jabba the Hut. Here we’ll show you what you need to create a phenomenal Princess Leia gold bikini costume, worthy of being captured by 4,000 pound slug-like alien.

This is a moderately complex costume to create. It can be very difficult if you choose to use real metal, but here we’ll describe how to fake it and use metallic spray paint and easier to mold materials. You’ll need 2-4 hours to put this costume together and it will require some sewing ability.

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You’ll need the following items to complete the Princess Leia gold bikini costume:

1. Bikini top and bottom, dark in color, dark brown is typical. It should be made of a fabric that is durable and heavy weight. The top needs shoulder straps.
2. Two pieces of lightweight fabric, 8-10” in width, and 2-3 feet in length (depending on your height). Red is the typical color choice, but you can get creative.
3. Metallic Gold Fabric Spray Paint
4. Some pieces of scrap cloth that will be used to simulate the metal. This will be spray- painted, so it can be really any color, but if you start with gold or yellow, it’ll make the process easier.
5. A 1 foot x 1 foot piece of cardboard
6. A gold choker type of necklace, you can optionally make this out of cloth
7. Long, dangly gold earrings
8. Gold hair tie or band
9. Gold arm band
10. Sexy shoes, but wear something that’s comfortable. Black or dark colored shoes are preferred
11. Sewing machine and/or sewing needle, and yellow or gold thread
12. Fabric glue or gold buttons

The essence of the costume is the bikini itself.

1. The gold bikini top has ribbons of gold on it.
   1. Take your scrap cloth, cut it to ribbon size, and arrange it on the top as you like it.
   2. Once you have it arranged, paint it with the gold fabric paint.
   3. Let the paint dry and then sew the ribbons to the bikini top.
   4. Once you’re done with that, spray paint the shoulder straps gold.
2. The gold bikini bottom is a bit more difficult.
   1. Take your scrap cloth and create a belt with it that will go around most of your waist. This belt will attach to a piece of cardboard at the front of the waist.
   2. Cut the cardboard into a rounded bowl shape, and affix it to the belt with glue or buttons.
   3. Paint the belt and cardboard so that it looks like gold metal. You should be able to fit the belt around your waist somewhat snugly.
3. The next step in the bikini bottom is to add the “drapes”. These are called drapes, because they will drape between the legs, and look just like pleated drapes.
   1. Put on the bikini bottom and measure from the top of the bikini bottom to the floor. Then subtract 3 inches. This will be the length of the drape. The width of the drape is generally about 8-10 inches.
   2. Cut two pieces, one for the front and one for the back.
   3. Sew the drapes, pleating them as you sew, one to the front and one to the back. Once the drapes are sewn on, take the gold belt and sew this over the top.

Put on the following accessories to complete the costume.

1. The gold armband goes around the bicep of the left arm.
2. The gold choker-type of necklace should fit comfortably around the neck. #Put gold, dangly earrings on the ears – the more dangles, the better. #Optionally, a gold ankle bracelet can be added for effect, typically on the right ankle.
3. Tie up your hair into a single long braid (or use a hair extension if you don’t have long hair).
4. At the bottom of the braid, tie it with a gold hair tie.

Use makeup as you like, but generally colors to complement the costume are a good choice. Shoes should be comfortable, and you need to make sure that your feet won’t get caught up in the hanging drapes.

You’re now ready to be the Princess Leia slave girl.