Princess Leia's gold bikini sells for $96,000 at Star Wars memorabilia auction

The gold bikini worn by Carrie Fisher in 1983 Star Wars sequel The Return of the Jedi has sold for $96,000 (£63,000) at auction, reports CNN. The auction also included a miniature model of Leia’s “Blockade Runner”, the first spaceship seen in 1977’s Star Wars, which sold for $450,000 (£300,000) – more than twice its $200,000 opening bid.

The “slave” costume, which also included a collar and several chain links, was worn by Fisher in a scene at Jabba the Hutt’s palace on the desert planet of Tatooine. A letter of authenticity from designer Richard Miller, of the Star Wars creator George Lucas’s special effects firm Industrial Light and Magic, was included in the sale to an anonymous bidder by the Hollywood auctioneer Profiles in History on 2 October.

Fisher, who will return as Leia in the forthcoming Star Wars episode The Force Awakens, told reporters at the Hay festival last year that she had had no interest in keeping the gold bikini after filming, though she did admit enjoying a later scene where she got to strangle the alien mob boss with one of her chains. “Why would I keep a stupid outfit like that?” asked Fisher. “So that years later I could say to you I have it?”

The Force Awakens, directed by JJ Abrams, opens in the UK on 17 December and in the US a day later.