Star Wars: A New Hope changed the sci-fi genre forever, but it’s definitely not a perfect film, though George Lucas did his best with the resources he had. As a result, the film has various costume mistakes, some more noticeable than others, but they all add to the film’s legacy. The Star Wars universe began in 1977 with the film now known as Star Wars: A New Hope, which along with the sequels Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, forms what’s collectively known as the “original trilogy”.
The Star Wars universe kept expanding in the late 1990s/early 2000s with the prequel trilogy, which explored the backstory of Anakin Skywalker, from his days as a young slave to his rise as Sith lord Darth Vader, and following the acquisition of Lucasfilm by Disney, a sequel trilogy was developed, bringing closure to the Skywalker saga. Although all trilogies have their strengths and weaknesses, A New Hope will always have a special place in the hearts of Star Wars fans and in film history, serving as an inspiration to many other sci-fi and fantasy works, even with all its mistakes.
Making Star Wars wasn’t easy for Lucas, who struggled to get the film financed as many studios found the concept to be too strange and sci-fi to not have much future. Another concern was the film’s budget, which Lucas considered to be low but studios had a different perception. Most of the budget (and attention of the team) went to the film’s special effects, with other details not getting the same attention, including the costumes. Over the years, eagle-eyed fans have pointed out various mistakes in Star Wars: A New Hope (some of them even getting special treatment, like the stormtrooper who hit his head on the door frame), among those some wardrobe malfunctions, continuity mistakes, or little details that show how tight the film’s budget ended up being.
Among the costume mistakes that can be found in A New Hope are a stormtrooper whose armor had to be fixed with tape; a stormtrooper whose left leg armor is lacking the knee protector plate in one shot and then it magically appears in the next; the chain holding Darth Vader’s cape changes places, going from over his mask to under it; the rubber soles on Chewbacca’s feet are visible when he runs, and his ammo belt appears and disappears between shots in the Millennium Falcon; the paw of an alien at Mos Eisley cantina changes from a regular leather glove to a hairy paw; and when Luke is dressed as a stormtrooper, one of his shoulder pads disappears between shots.
These, of course, are just a few of many costume mistakes that can be found in Star Wars: A New Hope, of which most are very easy to miss. As there are usually a lot of things happening in one scene or the sets are too distracting, mistakes like a shirt changing color or parts of the stormtroopers’ armors appearing and disappearing can go unnoticed, no matter how many times you have watched the film. Ultimately, these aren’t mistakes that affect the story or the film in general, but they certainly add to the legend of Star Wars: A New Hope.