Now - I must admit that I didn't even remotely notice this costume in the movie. I didn't even remember anyone being in this scene except Padmé, Anakin and Obi-Wan until I saw the movie again.

However, after the latest exhibit pictures, I got interested in this costume - as in: A lot.
I mean - look at it, it's wearable, extravagant everyday clothing - and beautiful, too!
I especially like those 'lapel pockets', which can best be seen in the exhibit pictures.

Here's a study of the costume in the movie:

First, look at the collar of the underdress. It's split several times, not only along the seam with which it is sewn to the bodice, but it also has seams from top to bottom.

These three pictures show the gown in full length - almost. It's all we see from it in the movie; and as I have already said - those pockets are barely guessable.

These pictures show the top of the costume in motion.
Alright - there's this coat with those pockets, which closes with some kind of short belt at the waist. It has a double collar, which ends in (respectively: as!) those pockets.
The back waist is split with a fake belt; the back collar is split (see fourth picture - the shimmer of the fabric is a clear indication for that).
It also seems as if the back bottom was split - there's some kind of 'folding' there that lets me think so.

Anyway... back to the costume.

For quite some time I could not decide which fabric I should choose for the coat and dress.

The original costume consisted of the following fabrics:

• First, the coat - made of some kind of 'herringbone weave' brocade (the second picture shows the vague scale of the pattern, if you compare it to the hand of the exhibit mannequin).
  It *could* also be some kind of burned out velvet, though, from the way the material is shimmering at those strange, yet wonderful pockets:
  
  but I will go for some kind of brocade / damask / whatever I can find that I think would become a beautiful coat.
• Second, the contrasting lapels - consisting of what I think to be blue-golden changeant silk taffeta.
• And third, the gown itself, made of some kind of crushed fabric - I'd guess that this stuff is knitted.

And then there's this brooch on the coat "belt" closure:

Which vaguely looks like an embroidered appliqué, set onto a firm base of what could be gold metal. It *could* also be enameled in various colors, though.

I've programmed this flower in my embroidery software; the preview looks like this:

(I know - the colors are off. However, that can easily be corrected by using better colors when embroidering the actual flower with the machine.
Plus - that embroidery software often doesn't have the 'correct' colors, so I program embroideries often with colors that are easily to be recognized just by their names; as my embroidery machine doesn't have a color display, so it displays colors by showing their names)

And as I'm currently in an awfully good mood - you can download the zipped embroidery file here.
You'll need a Brother embroidery machine to use that file, though; or any other high end embroidery machine and software that can convert a *.pes file. The file is made for the *medium sized* embroidery hoop - 18x13cm (about 7x5 inch).
The "brass" color should be replaced with metallic golden embroidery thread; and it might be a good idea to use a changeant / color changing thread in blue/green / peacock for the blue parts.
This above shown piece of embroidery, which is about 6cm / a little more than 2 inch high, consists of 10491 needle stitches and 8 colors. It should be embroidered over embroidery padding foam, like the one from Sulky, to make sure that it 'stands out'. The padding should be black, if possible.

It was totally clear for me that I wouldn't be able to find an exact fabric match for the cloak's brocade, considering that I'm working on a budget:

• I had estimated that I would need about five meters (one meter = a little more than a yard) of that 'brocade' fabric, and each yard shouldn't cost more than about $20.
• Plus I would need some (silk) taffeta - not necessarily in the shot blue/golden combination, though. Silk taffeta is - where I live - about $50 / meter, and I guessed that I would need at least two meters.
• And then there's that knit fabric for the underdress - of which I estimated to need four meters and didn't want to spend more than $15 on each.
• Makes a budget of max. $260 for the whole costume's material; and the material for the brooch is not yet included - neither is some lining for the coat (again approx. 5 meters).
  However - taking into consideration what a designer coat & dress (or even a *simple* nice coat and dress off-the-rack!) costs today, this is not much...

Update October 2005:

I have found fabrics!

A jeans-like, black/grey fabric for the outside, which is additionally woven with finest silver threads. Looks beautiful and a little sparkling - plus, it was just 3 EUR per meter (that's about $4/yard).
It's a tad too stiff, though, so I have to think about a solution for the "knotted" pockets, as this fabric won't be able to be knotted this way.
I'm thinking about re-dyeing the fabric in brown, which would result in a color combination (though not that basket weave pattern) closer to the original coat.
I got "just" 4.5 meters of that fabric, though - there wasn't more left on the bolt. But as I don't have to follow a pattern in the fabric, this might just be enough.
Aaannnddd... a shot blue/golden washed acetate taffeta for lining. It's more blue than golden, though, which I like a lot. Cost EUR 6/meter (about $7/yard). I got 2.5 meters of that fabric, hoping it will be enough to line the front lapels, the insides of the sleeves and to make piping for sleeves and lapels.

I'm courageous enough to state that I would like to have that coat finished until Christmas, even if I'm currently in the process of making several other Elizabethan garments as well - plus, I'm still in the middle of writing my book.