Dress For Wedding

Carrie Fisher's complicated relationship with her iconic Princess Leia gold bikini

There are few film costumes more iconic - or controversial - than the "slave bikini" which Carrie Fisher donned in the 1983 Star Wars film Return of the Jedi.

While for Star Wars fans around the world the fascination with the sculptural two-piece has never really gone away - it is one of the most popular guises seen at fan conventions and the original sold for $96,000 at auction last year - Fisher's untimely death has seen the images of her wearing the bikini beamed around the world once again.

"Sass underpinned by pure steel" was the phrase used by The Telegraph's film critic Robbie Collin to describe Fisher's approach to playing Princess Leia, but it's also a neat way to sum up not only the bikini itself but the somewhat complicated relationship which Fisher - always an ardent feminist - had with the skimpy costume which had undeniably given her sex symbol status, whether she liked it or not.

"I remember that iron bikini I wore in 'Episode VI': what supermodels will eventually wear in the seventh ring of Hell," Fisher once wrote in Newsweek.

However there was a narrative behind that bikini which meant it was imbued with a more empowering message than some of those sultry film stills might suggest.

In a 2015 interview with the Wall Street Journal, she responded to controversy about an action figure which portrayed Princess Leia in the bikini. Fred Hill, a father of two daughters, had been shocked to see that version of the toy on offer to young children.

"Tell them that a giant slug captured me and forced me to wear that stupid outfit, and then I killed him because I didn’t like it. And then I took it off. Backstage," Fisher advised Hill to tell his daughters, referring to the way her character uses the chains attached to the bikini to strangle Jabba the Hutt.

It's no glowing review but it's a rare example of a bikini taking on more significance than straightforward sex appeal.

"His eyes started sparkling when we talked about it," Aggie Rodgers, Stars Wars's costume designer told Wired of George Lucas's enthusiasm for the fleeting costume change (around two minutes of screen time) which took Fisher to get out of the long white robes she had worn until that point and into the metal bikini.

"The costume is a type that can be traced to earlier films, such as Myrna Loy’s turn as the native dancing girl in The Desert Song from 1929, Yvonne De Carlo in Slave Girl, 1947, and Maria Montez adventure films from the 1940s," wrote Dwight Bowers, curator at the National Museum of American History.

"These early vamp characters functioned largely as sexual objects, waiting to be moulded by a male character. With the Leia slave bikini, George Lucas, however, turns the idea of 'object' on its head. Leia is not a character that needs to be moulded. She is exposed and temporarily humiliated, but she is in control, plotting her revenge.

"Ironically, and somewhat brilliantly, the vehicle for her revenge is the costume itself ―she uses her own chains to strangle her monstrous captor."

So how did the bikini - which some call the "Hutt-slayer" costume in a more positive recognition of its role in the plot - come into existence?

The swirling design was inspired the work of Frank Frazetta, the renowned fantasy artist who was admired by Lucas. "He really loved [the female] form," Rodgers remembered.

"I wanted 25 yards of fabric to be flowing through the scene but we couldn't make that work," Fisher added of her dramatic vision for the costume.

A Dunedin designer making use of an ever-replenishing Otago resource will make her debut on the catwalk next year.

iD Dunedin Fashion Week has announced its line-up for the 18th version of the show.

New Zealand outdoor brand Swanndri will join regular labels Carlson, NOM*d and Company of Strangers in the line-up for the March event.

Another designer new to the show at the Dunedin Railway Station show is Lapin, a range of luxury rabbit fur coats, designed by Jane Avery.

The Dunedin designer, a former television reporter for the Holmes show, said she had been making clothes for 15 years, and had been keen to start a fashion business.

She moved to Dunedin in 2011, and her parents moved too, from Templeton to Bannockburn.

"You go for a walk up there, clap your hands and the ground moves," she said, referring to the rabbit

problem in the area.

She said the furs were a byproduct of the South Island rabbit meat industry, and tanned in Invercargill. She hoped to turn the pest's fur into a resource on a par with possum fur.

Avery said she was "delighted, thrilled and very happy" to have made it to the catwalk.

The event's selector, Auckland stylist Sarah Stuart, said she was impressed by the quality of applicants.

Those chosen would create a dynamic and inspiring show.

"From dark, moody layering to feminine florals and colour, what I love about this show is its absolute variety."

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Christmas has 12 days, and they are all brilliant, but Christmas Eve is the best of all. The anticipation of all that lovely downtime and TV and permissive snacking is as delicious now as it was when you were hyped up to the eyeballs at the excitement of waking up to a stocking on the end of the bed and eating chocolate coins in the dark with your little sister.

It is also the most elegant day of Christmas. Tomorrow is about stuffing endless recycling sacks with wrapping paper and gorging yourself until you can’t move, but today the presents are under the tree and you can still fit into your clothes. It is without doubt a day to dress up for.

Even no, especially if you are staying in. We get into the habit of dressing up to go out and dressing down to stay in. If I’m going out to dinner, I think about what to wear; if I’m at home, I think about what to cook. It’s just practicalities, really. Going upstairs to change for dinner is all very charming in Downton Abbey, but in the absence of downstairs staff, it’s hard to make it work without jeopardising the risotto.

But Christmas Eve deserves star treatment. I’m talking cashmere, velvet, sequins, feathers. I don’t care if your plans involve Nigella’s make-ahead bread sauce and the only outing on the agenda is a last-minute dash to the shops for AA batteries: this is a night to bring the glamour. And I mean the gratifying, pleasurable part of dressing up, not the breathe-in-and-think-of-England party dresses. Fabrics that feel good and look special, in shapes that are easy to wear.

I like the relaxed, cocktail-in-hand-hostess attitude of a pair of wide, loose trousers, which you can wear with a silk T-shirt or over a long-sleeved body. I love a cosy, curvy sweater dress, especially with polka-dot sheer tights. But this year I want a mermaid skirt. We associate sequins with a brazen, short-and-tight mode of dressing, but they come into their own when worn with grandeur. There is something magical about sparkly scales slinking about your ankles, especially when worn with a silky blouse. Tomorrow you can spend in your PJs and slippers, but tonight is when the magic happens.

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A blow-dry can instantly elevate your look and your mood. It makes your hair look healthier, glossier and more voluminous. And yet, one of the biggest battles is making that polished finish last for an extra day. With Christmas and New Year’s Eve on the horizon, we asked the experts how we can extend the life of our blow-dry - regardless of hair type.

If you have fine hair...

“Dry shampoo will be your best friend after day two,” says Ken O’Rourke, hair stylist and Charles Worthington brand ambassador. “Spritz it into your roots to absorb any excess oil and then employ texturising spray through the mid-lengths and ends.” If you don’t have any dry shampoo to hand, talcum powder is good alternative.

If you have thick hair…

While dry shampoo is equally as beneficial, prepping your hair before blow-drying will also pay dividends. “Run a walnut-sized amount of mousse through your hair to give it extra volume and help hold your style for a bit longer,” says O’Rourke. When you hair starts to drop or look greasy, lightly spritz with water, blast with a hair-dryer and you can reactivate the mousse.

If you have coloured hair…

Coloured hair is often overlooked or sidelined as either fine or thick, but O’Rourke warns that water is the main enemy of coloured hair as it encourages fading. “Investing in a silk pillowcase can help as they allow the hair to slide around without creating friction or breakage.” The hair stylist and Redken ambassador Jonathan Long also recommends tying your hair up into a top knot using a scrunchie to retain your blow-dry’s shape.

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Why trampolining will get you in shape without any post-workout ache

Running is weird. Boring and intimidating to begin with, it gets into your bones. Literally. It really isn’t that good for a lot of us. Terrible for the facial muscles, too, apparently. Imagine what it might do to your boobs.

Not my problem any more, because after a long bout of back and leg pain, an injection-wielding surgeon ordered me to desist. But oh, those morning endorphins. What to replace running with became a preoccupation. Every time I overdid it on a static bike or in a faddy class, my body made me aware of its displeasure. Some days I dreaded getting up.

And before you say Pilates yes, love it. But I needed something to really get the lymph flowing; give me the whoosh of a run. I took up walking. Sometimes eight miles a day. I listened to so many In Our Time podcasts my head swam. Then my knees began to hurt. Talk about intimations of mortality.

Self-pity rising, I found myself unburdening to Stephanie Moore, the nutritional therapist at Grayshott spa and herself a compulsive runner, who recommended a mini trampoline I was as sceptical as you probably are now. I bought a rebounder years ago and used it twice. Uncomfortable, dreary, it had no upsides, unless you count pathetic bounces.

Moore had other ideas: a Rolls-Royce of a rebounder, built by a German company called Bellicon to your specifications. You decide the tension you want, tell them your weight and height, choose the colours of the bungees… It’s nearly as much fun as buying a handbag. Two months in, I’m up to about 25 minutes every other day. I face a (wide-open) window on to my garden. It’s almost like being outside, but unlike the resistance you feel when your foot hits tarmac, the sensation you get with bouncing is elongating and opening. You feel your core strengthening, your pelvic floor tightening; you start to bounce with weights. Between this, yoga, TRX suspension training and Pilates, I’ve ditched the painkillers and moved on from podcasts to pounding music. I’ve found my new high.

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