I feel like every character in Star Wars has one outfit that people will always picture them in when hearing their name; Leia and the white senatorial dress with the cinnamon buns, Queen Amidala and the crimson red throne room gown, Luke and his all-black Jedi robes. I would argue that when Qi’ra is mentioned, it’s the elegant black gown she wears on the Crimson Dawn yacht that springs to mind for most. And why wouldn’t it be? By design, this outfit was created to signal a stark change from the girl we saw in the sewers of Corellia: more dignified, more elegant, more dangerous.
QI’RA – FIRST LIGHT YACHT PARTY
PARTS OF THE OUTFIT
- Black satin long-sleeve dress with a deep V-neck and long slit up the right side of the dress. The sleeves are slightly longer than wrist length, with the inner sleeves rising to a point against her forearm with two gold semicircle details just above the point. The dress is lined with a deep, mustard gold satin. The shoulders are slightly padded. The back of the dress is left completely open from the shoulder to the top edge of the belt
- Simple d’orsay style pointed black suede heels with a strap around the ankle
- ACCESSORIES:
- Necklace/harness is made of thin black strips that connect to both the front and back of the dress, going over her shoulders. A gold Crimson Dawn pendant hangs from the horizontal strip across her chest
- Thin, shiny black belt with a gold strip encircling it. The back features a slightly smaller version of the Crimson Dawn pendant on her necklace
- Three rings; two gold, one silver
- Gold ring with a thin band and large greyish-green marble sized stone
- Thick, matte gold ring with a thin, shiny band around the middle
- Large silver diamond halo ring with a yellow square-cut stone (maybe topaz?) in the centre
- Silver diamond halo earrings
- Dark, metallic nail polish with slight greenish-gold overtones
- Muted, light red lipstick
*Big thank you to Jen Eyre Cosplay for her very detailed overview of how she found/assembled Qi’ra’s accessories for this costume1
ON EARTH PRODUCTION
According to David Crossman and Glyn Dillon, there were multiple concepts drawn up for this dress, at least 10 are confirmed, but possibly more. In fact, we know from leaked set pictures from the Lord and Miller era of Solo that the original yacht dress was completely different. The set picture shows Qi’ra in a gauzy, flowing, slightly sheer white dress, seemingly based on Dillon’s concept art. The goal with this iteration of the dress was to have a more Japanese aesthetic, by constructing it from Habutai silk, it would allow for formality, but the sheerness of the fabric would allow you to still see her figure. It’s meant to command attention and tell you that she isn’t just a regular party guest.2 Ultimately, they didn’t choose this version of the yacht dress which I think was for the best. Although it’s a beautifully constructed dress, I don’t think it sends the right message of who Qi’ra is and what her goals are at this point in time. Not to mention, if you’re trying to differentiate Qi’ra from the other Star Wars heroines, especially Leia, putting her in a regal, flowing, white gown isn’t going to help your case much.
Another concept for Qi’ra’s yacht dress can also be seen in the Art of Solo book, which shows her in a kaftan-like, sunset coloured dress with a long, black fringe around the edges.3
While both concepts are breathtaking, ultimately the black satin gown won out. Crossman explains that it was constructed specifically to compliment Emilia Clarke’s “best features” but honestly Emilia would’ve probably looked stunning in anything they put her in. The black gown manages to stand out, but still fit in with the rest of the Crimson Dawn aesthetic: clean lines, gold finishes, and an air of severity. As for the real life inspirations behind this dress, there isn’t much to go off of beyond “1940s femme fatale” (David and Glyn, I’m in your walls). In a now-defunct blog post (the Wayback Machine is truly a life saver4), fashion researcher Lord Christopher Laverty describes the dress as being “straight out of Studio 54,” and more reminiscent of the 1970s disco era. While I’d agree that many, if not most, of the costumes in Solo: A Star Wars Story are based on the aesthetics of the 70s, this dress is absolutely not.
This is where I unfortunately have to reveal that I am Former Vintage Girly™ so I have possibly too much knowledge when it comes to vintage fashion, especially that of the 1940s. Qi’ra’s yacht dress is so 1940s femme fatale it’s almost too on the nose. The cut, the neckline, the light shoulder pads, all fit the standards of a 1940s evening gown. I didn’t have to look for long to find several period accurate examples of some very Qi’ra-esque gowns. But I will be fair and say that women’s trends in the 70s did heavily borrow from the 40s, mimicking earlier silhouettes like wrap tops, strong shoulders, and wide-leg pants (that’s also a pro tip if you want to dress with a 40s aesthetic but don’t have hundreds of dollars to drop on a single dress).
The typical femme fatale is dark, sultry, and mysterious. She wears dresses that enhance and hug her figure, or stylish wide-legged pants with shoulder-padded blouses when she needs to get down to business. Her face is often obscured by a tilted hat or curtain of hair, and she never leaves home without her fur stole. She dresses with a purpose: she knows how to capture the interests of men and use this lust to her advantage. The vampy, noir style dress that Qi’ra wears on the yacht sends a message to anyone that has even an inkling of how femme fatale characters behave: Qi’ra is as beautiful as she is dangerous.
IN-UNIVERSE MEANING
She was gorgeous now, clean, refined, elegant. Nothing like the beautiful and rough scrumrat he had grown up with.
Mur Lafferty, Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition p.138
Like I said in the last issue of this series, when we first meet Qi’ra on Corellia she is in dirty, damaged clothes, yes, but they are the finest clothes she’s ever had, and have given her a taste for more. When Han turns around to see her on The First Light, this is the first time we see Qi’ra at her full, dignified potential. As I mentioned before, the dress is perfectly suited to the aesthetics of Crimson Dawn. The sleek black dress, the polished gold accents, and the touch of red on her lips are all very much in line with the streamlined, yet opulent look of Crimson Dawn. If the original white yacht dress was created to make Qi’ra stand out from the crowd, this dress is meant to make her look right at home in the syndicate, which ultimately, is the message she wants to send.
Unfortunately, there aren’t any references in the text to Qi’ra’s thoughts on this dress, only a brief description of it from Han who just calls it “a long, slim black dress with a slit up the side.”5 However, the necklace does in fact have a history, but regrettably it’s from That book. The gold and black necklace/harness was given to her during her mission on Thorum after successfully acquiring information from the Banking Clan’s protocol droids, unaware at the time that it had come from Dryden Vos himself.6
Qi’ra had never owned a necklace before, and certainly not something so fine. It was Crimson Dawn’s symbol, of course, but in gold. It hung around her neck on stiff black leather, highlighting both her collarbones and the symbol itself.
E.K. Johnston, Crimson Climb, p.112
Later on in the novel, the necklace is damaged and subsequently replaced with an identical one. This necklace ends up being a staple piece for her, and she pairs it with several different outfits mentioned in the book. By the time of the events of Solo, she has had the necklace in her possession for at least two years. Although she hasn’t been in Crimson Dawn’s ranks for a remarkably long time, pairing this necklace with the black gown signifies to outsiders that she is well respected by the higher ups, and to insiders it serves as a kind of statement piece to remind them of her service to the syndicate.
As a story-telling device, the most important detail of this dress is one so slight that it’s hardly noticeable when Qi’ra is in a resting position. The sleeves of the gown feature a pointed cutout that reaches about midway up her forearm, baring her Crimson Dawn brand to the world. Since the sleeve allows us (and Han) to see the brand, it helps to fill in gaps in her story that she simply doesn’t have time to explain. Shortly after when Dryden Vos joins their group, he places his hand on Qi’ra’s shoulder, displaying a large ring that matches the symbol and approximate size of Qi’ra’s brand. This is a perfect example of how subtle details in costuming are able to move the narrative along without the need for exposition.
Ultimately, I think there’s less to say about this costume in-universe because it does rely so heavily on the real-world connection to the femme fatale archetype (which isn’t a bad thing!), but even with that being said, the dress suits the scene and Qi’ra’s character perfectly.
Next up in this series I’ll be talking about the outfit Qi’ra wears for the greater duration of Solo and its three? four? variations. Until then, MTFBWY and go watch The Acolyte!
- Jen Eyre Cosplay, “Qi’ra’s Jewelry.” JenEyre.com, July 6, 2018:
https://www.jeneyre.com/2018/07/qiras-jewelry.html ↩︎ - Phil Szostak, The Art of Solo: A Star Wars Story, pg.49 ↩︎
- Phil Szostak, The Art of Solo: A Star Wars Story, pg.48 ↩︎
- Lord Christopher Laverty, “Superfly Solo.” Clothes on Film, June 18, 2018: https://web.archive.org/web/20210723230651/https://clothesonfilm.com/superfly-solo/ ↩︎
- Mur Lafferty, Solo: A Star Wars Story: Expanded Edition, p.136 ↩︎
- E.K. Johnston, Crimson Climb, p.112, 147 ↩︎
