One of the downsides of Star Wars Episode VII coming over 20 years after Return of the Jedi is we missed a lot of big life moments for Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, and Han Solo. When we next saw them in the movies, life had hit them pretty hard. But Lucasfilm has been filling in those gaps in the publishing space and one such moment is now in the spotlight: Princess Leia and Han Solo’s wedding.
Star Wars: The Princess and the Scoundrel by Beth Revis was released earlier this month and it follows Han and Leia’s relationship immediately following Jedi, leading up to and including their wedding. And when people think of weddings, they think of wedding dresses. Leia’s dress is described in the book, but since it’s a book, you can’t see it, right? Or can you?
Variety has acquired official concept art of Princess Leia’s wedding dress done by artist Tara Phillips.
Lovely colour and design of the dress aside, I think it’s just so fascinating that Lucasfilm hired Phillips to do concept art of a dress in a book. There is almost no need for it. Revis’ prose describes it beautifully. In fact, here’s that, from a excerpt of the wedding scene also at Variety (head there to read the whole thing):
Leia wore a gown made of soft meadow green, embroidered with flowers similar to the ones bedecking the outside of the temple. It hung loose over her body, yet it wasn’t shapeless. The sides were open, giving her space to move her legs and expose the laces of her white fur boots that went all the way up to her knees. She held a bouquet of wildflowers tied with the same bit of lacing woven in her hair, and Han suspected that Leia had picked the flowers just before she’d climbed the ladder to the temple.
Leia’s long hair hung in loose waves down her back, with two small braids framing her face to keep locks out of her way. She wore flowers but no jewels. She looked more nymph than princess.
So you can picture it in your mind; you don’t need to actually picture it. In most cases that would seem excessive. But no, these images were made 100% for Star Wars fans, especially cosplayers who were thinking “I’d love to one day dress up as Princess Leia at her wedding.” And now they can. That’s just such an awesome use of resources to do something nice for the hardcore fans.
Star Wars: The Princess and the Scoundrel, which also features the couple honeymooning on the same ship you can sleep in at Walt Disney World, is now available wherever books are sold.
Want more Gizmodo news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
Editor’s Note: Release dates within this article are based in the U.S., but will be updated with local Australian dates as soon as we know more.