From EU to Episode II: Aayla Secura

When word came down that Lucas wanted Aayla Secura in the arena, it fell to Costume Supervisor Gillian Libbert to determine how best to turn a character of pencil and ink into flesh and blood. "This is a comic book character, which doesn't have a realistic proportion to the human body," says Libbert. "That was our first challange." The Aayla Secura character, as illustrated by artist Jan Duursema, is more dynamically heroic than a typical human extra. Libbert had to determine how much, if any, of that cut, muscular form to emulate in the costume. "Getting the character to look like what George wanted was our primary goal" says Libbert. "He answered a few questions we had related to the character's body image, but it ended up that he wanted the costume to look like the comic book character and the body to be human-like."

Libbert began gathering fabrics and materials to construct the outfit for Aayla, who at the time was often just referred to as the "Oola Jedi." By the time of Episode II, Secura was a full-fledged Jedi Knight, but she definitely doesn't dress like the other more conservative keepers of peace and justice. Secura's brief wardrobe shows a fair bit of blue skin, but that didn't make Libbert's fabric-gathering job any easier. "What was helpful was since I was in Sydney [during principal photography], I had an idea of what fabrics were available and not used for any other character. There were a lot of incredible fabrics purchased from around the world to choose from."

Libbert and her crew had a scant two weeks to make an outfit and dress Aayla for Lucas' approval. Delving into storage, she uncovered several Twi'lek headdresses from Episode I and the Special Edition Trilogy. Pouring through eight huge costume crates of fabric, she collected materials to present. "I brought many different types of fabrics, leathers and trims for George to pick from. He picked the color of the headdress first and then we began dying fabric."

Throughout the process, Libbert was on the phone to Scotland, keeping in touch with the Episode II Costume Designer, Trisha Biggar. "I would call Trish to get her advice and throughout the construction of the costume, I would send her fabric swatches and photos as the design progressed."

As the outfit came together, Allen would come in and be fitted. Libbert and her crew would snap pictures of the developing Jedi. This was before Allen was painted the proper shade of blue, so those pictures were sent off to the ILM Art Department to digitally color Allen's skin, to present Lucas the whole ensemble in context.

"George liked the overall look. We had to change the headdress a couple of times because he wanted a different style. He was very specific in what he wanted, down to the detailing on leather pieces and the way the leather trim was wrapped around the tentacles or lekku. " explains Libbert.

Assisted by lead seamstress Barbara Hartman-Jenichen and leather craftsman Alan Peterson, Libbert supervised the costume's development. The final piece-list consisted of the following items:

• 1 x boots w/ covers
• 1 x belt w/ tabs
• 1 x trousers
• 1 x leather vest
• 1 x top w/ bra

Trivia hounds take note -- even extra scraps of Jar Jar's leather tunic found its way into Aayla's outfit.

The fitting of the costume was quick compared to a four-hour paint job that Allen had to endure. Lauren Vogt, from the ILM Model Shop, handled Allen's makeup, applying the blue hue thick enough to cover Allen's own tattoos. "She'd done the makeup the first time I had done the Twi'lek for the DVD, so she got all the little details like painting my nails and everything," notes Allen.