Princess Leia's Gold Bikini Just Sold for $96,000

Princess Leia’s gold metal bikini—perhaps the single most famous image from Star Wars, and not because she strangled Jabba the Hutt while wearing it—just sold at auction for $96,000. Such a great deal for the symbol of my complicated relationship to this franchise!

Yes, the BBC reports that auctioneers Profiles In History sold the “collar, several chain links, and a letter of authenticity from Star Wars designer Richard Miller” to an unnamed winner, for nearly a hundred grand. In reality, it’s made of “flexible, gold-painted red dense-urethane rubber.” Carrie Fisher pretty well explained the costume way back in 1983, in an interview with Rolling Stone to promote Return of the Jedi (via Tor.com):

“In Return of the Jedi, she gets to be more feminine, more supportive, more affectionate. But let’s not forget that these movies are basically boys’ fantasies. So the other way they made her more female in this one was to have her take off her clothes.”

And of course years later she’s still getting questions about it. The thing that most excites me about the upcoming Star Wars sequels is the fact that this broad and her wonderful are-you-fucking-kidding-me facial expressions are going to be included.