From Princess Leia’s cinnamon buns and white robes to Darth Vader’s shiny black helmet and billowing cape, the costumes in the seven episodes of Star Wars are among the most famous in modern film. Rebel, Jedi, Princess, Queen: Star Wars™ and the Power of Costume , a new exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute, puts 60 of these elaborate getups on view and reveals the nitty-gritty of their design processes.

There’s a subtle, pervasive way that Star Wars costumes influence fashion.

While George Lucas may have invented an entire galaxy far, far away, the clothing worn in that galaxy is deeply influenced by that of our own. We spoke to Laela French, senior manager of archives and exhibits at Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, about the creation processes of six Star Wars costumes. Their stories reveal how the films’ costume designers pulled sartorial references from world history both ancient and modern, referencing everything from the robes of Buddhist monks to Nazi uniforms to costumes in classic Western films. (Dogs also get a shout-out.) Since costume is a tool for creating character, using real-world fashion as inspiration for styles on Tatooine or the Death Star gives viewers a visual shorthand for typifying characters–if Darth Vader dresses like a Nazi, you know he’s evil even before he starts his sinister wheeze-speak.

Here, six behind-the-scenes stories of Star Wars costumes you’ve probably never heard that reveal how styles around the globe inspired the looks of Darth Vader, Han Solo, Padme Amidala, and more.

Nazi Helmets Inspired Darth Vader’s Headgear

When Darth Vader was just a dark glimmer in George Lucas’s eye, the director told concept artist Ralph McQuarrie* he envisioned the character as a “dark lord riding on the winds, with an evil essence about him,” French says. McQuarrie sketched Vader with a billowing cape and a sinister-looking breathing apparatus. Costume designer John Mollo took it from there, fusing elements of various real-life uniforms associated with war and evil. To design Vader’s infamous black helmet, Mollo looked to the black, shiny headgear Nazis wore during WWII. He then added a gas mask, a motorcycle suit, black leather boots, and a monk’s cloak found in the Middle Ages department of a costume warehouse. Darth Vader’s helmet isn’t the only German army reference in the films: his army of Stormtroopers are named after specialist German soldiers in World War I.

Han Solo: A Riff on the Old West

Han Solo’s character was modeled partly after the lone, rogue gunslinger archetype of Western films. “Han Solo’s a riff right out of the old West,” French says. “He uses a blaster like a gunslinger. His shirt style is called the Custer shirt–if you go to any western clothing store today, you’ll find a Han Solo-esque cream-colored shirt. Even his vest has sense of the old West to it.” To update the look and make it seem original to the Star Wars universe, Mollo, who won an Oscar for his work on the films, added red and yellow striping down the side of Han Solo’s leggings, and didn’t include a cowboy hat.