I’ve made over a hundred Slave Leia costumes over the years that have ended up on TV, in a movie, lots of magazines and two documentaries. And now that I no longer make them for sale, I’m sharing my patterns and tutorials on how to make the iconic costume for yourself.

The costume goes by many names: Princess Leia’s metal bikini, gold bikini, Hutt Slayer, Captive Leia, etc., but the one it’s most known as is the “Slave Leia” because when it is first revealed, Leia is chained to Jabba the Hutt. She later slays him with that very chain, earning the name Hutt Slayer.

I’ll be sharing how I make the costume piece by piece and have linked to the materials on Amazon. You’ll find three free templates in this post, along with step-by-step instructions and a video at the end.

Overall, my costume design is not screen accurate to Return of the Jedi. I made some modifications to make it easier to wear. But my costume is screen accurate to the one worn by Kristen Bell in the movie Fanboys, because I made that one! I also updated the pattern I use for the gold plates to be closer to the real costume.

I took photos of the real costume, which was in a museum display, enlarged them and then copied the design for the pattern. The front and back plates are different, unlike my original Leia design that has the same front and back.

I’m providing three gold plate templates: One is my original one used in the movie Fanboys, and the other two are the updated front and back plates.

Slave Leia Costume Templates

The new updated pieces:

Materials Needed to Make Slave Leia Gold Skirt Plates:

1 – A Base Material like Styrene sheets, Worbla, Craft Foam- anything durable, flexible, and easy to cut. My first costumes, including the one worn by Kristen Bell were made from cardboard! I do not recommend that, as you can see where the front plate got all bent up on her costume in the photo above.

Since then, I switched to Styrene sheets and still prefer those over anything else. Styrene, also known as Polystyrene, sheets are lightweight, flexible, and sturdy. I use the .030 size, which is thin enough to easily cut with scissors. I also use these sheets to do the hair accessories.

Click here to get a 4-pack of Styrene sheets on Amazon

2 – Tulip Dimensional Paint – I have always used this paint, because it is dries raised. It’s not a puffy paint, it will stay the same size line as you paint it. You can actually use any color, I just usually use gold since it will be gold in the end.

I use this painting technique for a lot of things, where you paint a dimensional design and then paint over it.

In the video, I use a bottle of Tulip Dimensional Paint in Metallic Gold. Tulip has changed their name and packaging, and it is now called Tulip Puff Paint.

Click here to see Tulip Gold Paint

3 – Googly Eyes – The last secret ingredient is googly eyes! My first domes were made from tea lights. I used a spoon to smooth out the aluminum into a dome. I later found out that they easily get crushed. Next I tried small furniture sliders, but they didn’t have the right shape.

Googly eyes in the 40mm size are just right for the domes on the plates and the hair pieces.

Click here for a 6 pack of googly eyes

4 – Full Sheet Sticker Paper – I print the template out on full sheet sticker paper, then cut it out and stick it on. You can print it on regular paper and glue it as well.

5 – Pick Your Pattern

This first one is the one I used for years and made the skirts with the same front and back plates. Click on the image to bring up a page with the full-size image. You can save these and then print them at the right size for your body.

My Original Slave Leia Plate Design:

The more movie-accurate front Slave Leia plate:

And the Back Slave Leia skirt gold plate:

How to Use the Templates:

1 – Print out your design and cut out the plate. Make sure it is the right size for your body. You don’t want it too big or too tiny.

2 – Stick it or glue it to your base, making sure it is smooth with no air bubbles.

3 – Follow the lines with your dimensional paint. It may take a few tries to let parts dry and then go back so you don’t smear it.

Make sure you do a line around the outer edge of the design. These it what seals the edges down.

4 – Make big blobs of paint and push the googly eyes on top until it squishes out around it.

5 – Squirt paint heavily in the shaded areas, and then go back and use the tip of the bottle to make dents all through the paint, which gives it a hammered metal look.

6 – Once it is dry, cut out the plate, leaving a small lip outside the final painted line.

7 – Spray paint the whole thing with metallic gold spray paint.

8 – You can attach them any way you prefer, but I use large strips of Velcro on the back, which I’ll cover in the next tutorial.

Want to see how I make the Slave Leia costume pieces? Watch this tutorial on YouTube:

This is part one. My apologies, but I haven’t gotten around to doing the next steps and video yet! I plan to get that done this year.

About the Author

Candy Keane is a digital content creator and long-time cosplayer, most well-known for being on the cover of the Star Wars documentary Jedi Junkies. After making costumes professionally for over a decade, she now writes about geek culture and mom life, and continues to cosplay for fun, while sharing her love of costumes on Instagram @SewGeekMama. Her first children’s book, I’m Going to My First Comic Convention, was published in 2020 and won a Story Monsters Approved award for Excellence in Literature.

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