Lyons recently dusted off her own gold bikini for Star Wars Celebration 2023 in London, and says: "It felt empowering."
"I was surrounded by other Leia cosplayers, including men, which was so fun to see," she adds.
Julia Wold, the cohost of the "Star Wars English Class" podcast, which analyzes the space saga from a literary perspective, says: "I know quite a few women who cosplay this exact costume and find it highly empowering."
In November 2016, just a month before her death, Fisher told NPR that wearing the costume "wasn't my choice," and that she felt "nervous" when creator George Lucas first showed it to her.
The act of wearing the costume can be considered subversive in this context, says Wold.
"In large part, I think, they find it empowering because it is their choice to put it on, a luxury neither Leia nor Fisher had," she says.
Is the bikini too gratuitous by modern standards?
In 2015, reports emerged that Disney was looking to phase out the iconic image of a bikini-clad Leia by discontinuing merchandise and marketing that featured the revealing outfit. This sparked debate online over whether the costume was too gratuitous by modern standards.
And in 2019, a study by researchers at Florida State University argued that Leia is objectified in the original "Star Wars" films in part due to her costumes like the gold bikini, which leads to her being seen, not as "a strong-willed leader, princess, and politician," but "viewed through the male gaze."
In 2023, however, Richau argues that even if the costume was meant to sexualize Leia — and by extension Fisher — back in the early 1980s, when the film was made, preserving the scenes serves as a historical record of how far we've come.
Related stories
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
"It has always been common for filmmakers to find excuses to have female stars wear skimpy outfits, and I think this is one of the most famous examples of that from that time period," says the author. "I'm not a fan of changing the original versions of films, so I wouldn't want anyone to change it now."
Harrison, the film and media lecturer, meanwhile, says that modern censorship of the bikini is misguided.
"I don't think the story is necessarily worse off for the gold bikini," she says. "For a start, I don't buy the idea that it's always degrading or demeaning for people to appear in clothes like the gold bikini and chains, which are essentially fetish wear that others may find sexual."
Matt Hudson, the cohost of the popular "Star Wars Sessions" podcast, argues that the stark contrast between Leia's meager costume and her transgressive actions — killing Jabba — is what differentiates her from the myriad gratuitous bikini-clad movie scenes of the era.
"Can you imagine how the scene plays out if it's an entirely different costume… if it's the white 'New Hope' costume? Does the scene have the same impact without the bikini?" he says.
"Star Wars" is ultimately a story of "hope and rebellion," says Hudson.
And who better epitomizes the rebellious essence of the franchise than Leia?
"This costume," and Leia's personal act of rebellion in it, "has gone a long way to proving that point," says Hudson.