Princess Leia's Gold Bikini Costume Sells for £140,000

The iconic gold bikini costume worn by Carrie Fisher in "Return of the Jedi" has been sold at auction for a whopping £140,000. The seven-piece outfit, which includes hip rings, an armlet, and a bracelet, was snapped up by an anonymous bidder during a two-day sale featuring over 500 pieces of Hollywood memorabilia.

The costume, which Princess Leia is forced to wear after being captured by Jabba the Hutt, has become a cult classic amongst "Star Wars" fans. Dallas-based Heritage Auctions, who hosted the sale, described it as "one of the most memorable" outfits in the franchise's history.

However, the costume has also attracted criticism for its sexualisation of Fisher and her character. In 2016, the late actress spoke out about her discomfort with the revealing outfit, telling NPR: "It wasn’t my choice. When (director George Lucas) showed me the outfit, I thought he was kidding and it made me very nervous."

Designed by costume designer Nilo Rodis-Jamero, the bikini was created by jeweller and sculptor Richard Miller using resin and urethane. In a behind-the-scenes documentary, Miller revealed that the costume's "skimpy" design was intended to illustrate how Fisher's character had grown throughout the original trilogy.

"George (Lucas) said, ‘We want to show that Princess Leia is growing up,’” recalled Miller, who sadly passed away in 2022. "The three episodes spanned a certain amount of time, so she got mature. And that’s why the slave costume was introduced."

Miller also admitted that Fisher "didn't like" the bikini, which he attributed to its poor fit. The garment was designed using a mannequin cast from Fisher's body, but when it came to filming, "she must have lost 10 pounds if not more,” he said. "So the costume really hung on her.”

The two-day Heritage Auctions sale, which concluded on Friday, fetched a combined £4.7 million. Another major highlight of the auction was a screen-used model of the Y-wing that leads an attack on the Death Star in 1977's "A New Hope".

Built by model maker Colin Cantwell, the starfighter sold for £1.25 million, making it the third-most expensive screen-used "Star Wars" prop ever sold. (The current record is held by an X-wing model, which fetched £2.5 million last October, while an R2-D2 unit sold for £2.2 million in 2017.)

Other notable items from the auction included an original "Scrooge McDuck" artwork, which sold for over £250,000, and the Oscar statuette awarded to Celeste Holm in 1974 for her Best Supporting Actress performance in "Gentleman’s Agreement," which fetched £75,000. A wand used by Daniel Radcliffe in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone" also sold for nearly £75,000, with a hammer from "Thor: The Dark World" and a sword from "Bram Stoker’s Dracula" also achieving five-figure sums.

“I’ve said it repeatedly: Collectors’ desire to own a piece of Hollywood history remains intense and insatiable, and we take great pride and pleasure in sharing these indelible moments,” said Heritage Auction’s executive vice president, Joe Maddalena, in a press release following the sale’s conclusion.