Today’s review features the women’s Princess Leia boxed sleepwear set by Peter Alexander. The Australian based sleepwear designer has released several Star Wars collections over the years, and this is definitely one of my favourite pieces from the range so far. I always love Princess Leia on women’s fashion, but some brands take that extra step and make it more special than just a printed design – like this set does.
Available in sizes XXS to XL, the sleepwear boxed set is priced at NZ$109.00 per set (approximately US$75.05 per set). Peter Alexander has stores across Australia and New Zealand – they can also ship internationally. Peter Alexander currently has 20% off everything online and in stores – valid until 10th December 2017.
Princess Leia knit pj tee and short set – NZ$109.00 per set – sizes XXS to XL
Take charge and overthrow the empire in this women’s Star Wars print PJ set! Crafted from soft cotton, it features sparkly fabric t-shirt with Princess Leia print, and grey elasticated waist shorts with pockets and drawstring. Comes in a matching box.
The sleepwear set comes in a fantastic rectangular shaped glossy gift box with Princess Leia artwork. This grabbed my attention straight away in the store – it is gorgeous. The artwork features a line art-style image of Princess Leia with blaster, in her classic senatorial white dress from A New Hope. The background is a pink and purple toned galaxy style design, with scattered stars.
The gift box opens with a square-shaped top lid that lifts off. The lid has the same artwork as the box beneath, so it overlaps nicely. 2 sides of the lid feature the Peter Alexander logo printed in silver, but this is not on the sides of the box underneath – so you can easily reuse the box without the lid for another purpose if you like (it looks great on a desk or shelf alongside Princess Leia collectibles).
The underside of the box has the garment information and Star Wars logo. There is a small sizing sticker on one side of the box, which comes off cleanly. The top of the lid has ‘Star Wars by Peter Alexander’ printed in silver against a soft pink background. The box measures approximately 10.5cm by 10.5cm by 24cm.
At my local store, there were several sleepwear sets displayed on the clothes racks, so customers can see the t-shirt and shorts outside of the box before purchasing. This particular set came folded neatly inside the box – perfect if giving this set as a gift these holidays.
Inside, the sleepwear set is folded up neatly, with tissue paper between layers to protect the holographic speckled fabric (more on that later). This Princess Leia sleepwear set includes a women’s printed sleep tee, and matching drawstring sleep shorts. It is summer here in New Zealand and Australia, so this soft lightweight sleepwear set is perfect for the current weather.
The t-shirt has a store tag attached by a cord – the cardboard tag features a lovely promotional image of Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia from A New Hope. The back of the tag has the usual store information – bar code, regional pricing, and the ‘Star Wars by Peter Alexander’ logo.
This set is size XS – the t-shirt measures approximately 53cm across the chest (underarm to underarm), and 61cm from front neckline to bottom front hem. Measured flat, the sleeve openings are approximately 15.5cm wide, with a 1.4cm wide cuffed edge of contrast fabric.
The matching/included sleep shorts measure approximately 31cm across the waistband (unstretched), approximately 37cm from top of waistband to leg hem (down the side seam), and approximately 37cm across the leg at the lower hem.
The front of the shirt is sewn from a printed fabric – in that the soft galaxy print design goes all the way to the seams. The pink and purple colours are soft toned, feminine without being too overpowering. Personally I love pink and purple in my wardrobe, so it is great to see them used well here.
The t-shirt print is clean, with bold black outer lines. Leia’s face features colour details (hair, eyes, lips, cheeks), and her blaster is also shaded in grey. Lower down, the Leia print fades into the galaxy pattern, so her dress is no longer white. The print itself is soft, and doesn’t affect the drape of the fabric.
The t-shirt neckline is made from a soft heather grey knit fabric, with holographic speckles affixed to the surface. Inside the collar seam is finished across the back with pink ribbon, to conceal the seam. The pink fabric garment tag features the Star Wars and Peter Alexander logos, while the back includes the standard Lucasfilm copyright text.
The printed stars around Princess Leia are most white, while the ‘shooting stars’ with trails are accented with silver glitter sparkles – this is different to the holographic speckles used on the heather grey fabric. I love the silver glitter stars – they are soft to the touch, not at all rough or stiff.
The short sleeves are finished with an contrasting edge of heather grey fabric with holographic sparkles, the same as the neckline.
The sides have a short slit up each side, which measures approximately 13cm long. This gives a little more movement around the hips, which is nice in sleepwear designs. Inside, there is a garment care tag sewn into the lower left side seam, which also includes the usual Star Wars logo and copyright information.
The back of the sleep tee is made from the same heather grey fabric as the sleeve hems and neckline – covered with a scattering of holographic speckles. Alongside the silver glitter stars, these sparkles give another touch of ‘star dust’ to the design. Considering Carrie’s love of glitter, I love to see sparkly touches like this on Princess Leia items, even if it was not directly inspired by the actress. It is probably more a ‘starry sky’ design, referencing the opening crawl scenes from the films, but it is still it’s a lovely touch that makes me think of Carrie (even if it does make me tear up a little, but most Leia things do).
The matching sleep shorts are made from the same 100% cotton heather grey knit fabric as the back of the t-shirt. The shorts also have the holographic speckles all over the front and back, and even inside the pockets. The speckles are affixed to the top of the fabric, but they don’t affect how soft the cotton is – running my hand over the fabric, I can’t feel the spots. They shouldn’t ‘shed’ like glitter does, though in saying that I do expect to loose some over time with wear and washes, just like any embellished fabrics.
The garment tags of the shorts and the t-shirt are the same. They note the items can be machine washed (turned inside out), but not tumble dried – I assume the holographic speckles and silver glitter accents aren’t so fond of strong heat, as it also notes not to iron the embellishments (but I don’t usually iron sleepwear anyway).
The sleep shorts feature an elastic waistband, with additional pink ribbon drawstring for adjustment. This is the same ribbon used at the neckline of the sleep tee. The waistband elastic measures approximately 2cm wide, while the ribbon measures approximately 1.5cm wide.
The sleep shorts have side pockets, with pink ribbon (same as the waistband) sewn into the front pocket seam as decorative edge trim. It is interesting to note that there is no external Star Wars logo or design on the shorts – only on the garment tags on the inside. Lastly, the classic little Peter Alexander ‘Penelope the sausage dog‘ logo is embroidered in pink thread on the lower left leg of the shorts.
This is such a lovely Princess Leia sleepwear set, with lots of decorative touches that I expect from Peter Alexander. This is a designer sleepwear label, with a higher quality than the usual department store pyjamas. I love the attention to details, and soft cotton fabrics of this set – perfect for wearing this summer as we lead up to our last time seeing our beloved Carrie Fisher on screen as Leia.
