Suspensas were Naboo fashion accessories comprised of dangling ornaments, such as a string of pearl beads or a thin metal chain, worn for decorative or symbolic purposes. They were associated with Monarchs of Naboo, such as Queen Padmé Amidala and Queen Apailana; clusters of multiple suspensas would hang from certain headresses and frame their painted faces.
In 32 BBY, Amidala wore suspensas after she fled to the planet Coruscant due to the invasion of her homeworld by the Trade Federation. She visited Senator Palpatine in his apartment and wore her lilac visitation outfit with a Shiraya fan headdress that included white suspensas. During her first address to the Galactic Senate, her Senate gown was paired with an escoffiate headpiece that had orichalc finework suspensas. Her black foreign residence gown was also worn with matching black suspensas.
During the Padmé Amidala's funeral in 19 BBY, Queen Apailana represented the Royal House of Naboo and wore a Shiraya fan headdress with veda pearl suspensas, or mourning beads, that symbolized Naboo's tears. The dozens of strands varied in length, with some falling to her waist or only to her shoulder blades, circling most of her head without obscuring her face.
Suspensas first appeared in the 1999 prequel trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. In the new Star Wars canon, they were first identified in the 2016 reference book Star Wars Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded, which was written by Pablo Hidalgo. The name originated in the Star Wars Legends continuity, where it was first used in the 1999 reference book Star Wars: Episode I The Visual Dictionary, written by David West Reynolds.
- Star Wars Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded
- Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia
- Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary, New Edition
- Star Wars 100 Objects